By Cóilín Duffy

Louth 1-15
Westmeath 2-10

It was certainly an evening to savour for Louth footballers, as they stood firm to book their place in a first Leinster final since 1960 following a hard-earned two-point victory at Croke Park.

The Wee County withstood second half goals from Paul Bannon and Martin Flanagan for the Midlanders, as they held out for a famous win.

Peter Fitzpatrick's charges were determined early on, with midfielders Paddy Keenan and Brian White; along with full-forward Shane Lennon all bagging a brace of points each in the opening half, as Louth led by 0-08 to 0-05 at the interval.

Westmeath lost half forward Derek Heavin through a knee injury in the 21st minute, with manager Pat Flanagan confirming afterwards that Heavin was taken to hospital, and is unlikely to feature in Westmeath's Round 2 All-Ireland qualifier clash.

The Lake County bounced back on the restart with Paul Bannon netting a 48th minute penalty, but this was cancelled out by a Colm Judge goal.

Flanagan added a 65th minute goal for Westmeath, but Louth weren't to be denied a famous victory.

Louth began this game in determined fashion as they raced 0-4 to 0-0 clear in the seventh minute.

Scores from Brian White (2), Paddy Keenan and Shane Lennon set the Wee County off to the perfect start, with Louth showing well from defence to attack at this stage.

Dessie Dolan got Westmeath off the mark with his only point of the opening half, but the Lake County weren't without their chances at this stage.

Denis Glennon's 11th minute free may have came off the upright, but it broke kindly for corner-forward Paul Greville to cut the gap at 0-4 to 0-2.

But, Louth's strong start stood to them well in the opening 35 minutes, with firm dominance also in the midfield sector.

Midfielder Paddy Keenan, showed great attacking prowess to edge Louth three points clear, after an assist from Adrian Reid in the 12th minute.

Louth continued to press hard, and despite Ger Egan taking a superb point for Westmeath in the 17th minute from an acute angle; a Reid score quickly restored Louth's three-point lead.

Westmeath took some fine points in the opening half, including a 21st minute Paul Bannon score, but an injury to Heavin soon-after, held up the game for over four minutes; and threatened to halt Westmeath's momentum.

However, on the resumption; Pat Flanagan's side pushed Louth strongly; with Denis Glennon cutting the deficit to a point in the 29th minute; but other chances to level the tie were spurned by the Midlanders.

Scoring chances from both Dolan and Glennon finished in the hands of Louth netminder Neil Gallagher; while Louth proved effective at the opposite end with Lennon and Colm Judge claiming scores, to ensure a 0-8 to 0-5 interval lead.

Westmeath began brighter in the second half, with Greville slotting over his second point inside 20 seconds of the restart.

Indeed the Lake County looked hungrier in the third quarter, outscoring their opponents by 1-2 to 0-3 during that spell.

Westmeath's goal arrived from the penalty spot after midfielder Paul Bannon slotted the ball to the net, to cut the deficit to the minimum in the 48th minute after substitute Pauric Smith and White had fired Louth scores.

The Wee County showed great determination as a 58th minute Colm Judge goal pushed Louth six points clear.

Despite Mark Brennan canceling out Greville's fifth point, Westmeath were hungry to pull this game out of the fire.

They were handed a lifeline when substitute Martin Flanagan despatched a close range effort to the net in the 65th minute, to cut the gap to two points.

But despite late pressure from Westmeath, Louth stood firm in defence as they held out for a historic win.

Rivals Meath are next up, as the dream for Fitzer's men continues apace.

Louth - N Gallagher; E McAuley, D Finnegan, R Greene; R Finnegan, M Fanning, J O'Brien; P Keenan (0-3), B White (0-4, 3f); A McDonnell, M Brennan (0-1), A Reid (0-1); C Judge (1-2, 1f), S Lennon (0-2), JP Rooney. Subs: P Smith (0-1) for McDonnell (HT); D Maguire (0-1) for Rooney (53).

Westmeath - G Connaughton; F Boyle, D O'Donoghue, K Maguire; M Ennis, K Martin, D Harte; D Duffy, P Bannon (1-1, 1-0pen); D Heavin, C Lynam, G Egan (0-1); P Greville (0-5, 2f), D Dolan (0-1), D Glennon (0-2). Subs: J Smyth for Heavin (22); J Keane for O'Donoghue (46); M Flanagan (1-0) for Lynam (54); T McDaniel for Egan (61); D Healy for Martin (64).

Ref - S Doyle (Wexford).