John Egan has stressed the need for Westmeath to come back down to earth quickly after their historic victory over Meath last Sunday.

The Athlone man came off the bench to play his part in the Lake County's sensational comeback win at Croke Park, which paves the way for a Leinster final showdown with All-Ireland favourites Dublin in nine days' time.

"It's easier said than done," Egan told the Irish Independent at yesterday's GPA 'Fair Play Campaign' launch.

"We met Tuesday night and we were still on a high. There's no point trying to forget about it all of a sudden. It was a huge day for us.

"There's a core group of players there who had a bad three or four years at this level.

"It's a huge high, but obviously on to Dublin now and that's a different kettle of fish. If we're as open as we were in the first half against Dublin, the game could be over after 10 minutes."

Egan attributed Westmeath late flourish against the Royals to their high fitness levels.

"It's only a human reaction that when you're so far ahead, you think the game is over and all of a sudden, you're back in the heat of battle again," Egan reflected.

"We knew we had the legs. It's been said to us all year that we had the legs. Last year in Division 1, we seemed to fall away against the bigger teams in the last 15/20 minutes.

"I think mentally we didn't believe that we had the fitness to sustain the 70 minutes but now we know that we have it in the legs, it's just about getting through that mental block and staying at it."

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