Leinster SFC Quarter-finals: Westmeath 2-13 Meath 2-13  No regrets. Standing on the doorstep of history, with time suspended and Croke Park waiting to bear witness, and again the winds of change refuse to shift. Still, Westmeath have no regrets.

The fact is that was about their only consolation after a game that took the meaning of lost opportunity to a new level. So the teams which for the last two years have defined the thin line between victory and defeat are once more inseparable early on. The rematch is in Portlaoise on Saturday evening (7.0).

And one overbearing statistic will still dominate this next meeting of these two counties: Meath have never lost to Westmeath in the championship. Yesterday the pens were ready in hand to draw a line through that fact, only for Westmeath's hopes to be cut down cruelly.

Games are often won and lost with the last kick of a match, but few victories have ever been surrendered more sensationally with the last kick than here. That Dessie Dolan's name should be attached to the miss is perhaps the most unfortunate element to the whole thing, as his contribution over the previous 70 minutes - including a score of 1-7 - was simply colossal.

What history will recall, however, is that Dolan stood some 20 metres directly in front of the posts to take the free that would see Westmeath through to the Leinster semi-final. Also to beat Meath for the first time since the long records of championship football began. In other words, the kick to take Westmeath into never-before land.

Everything was perfect up until the launching point. Dolan, kicking from the hands, seemed to clip the ball rather that connect with it cleanly, and it swerved a few feet right of the uprights. A couple of Westmeath players seemed sure it had gone the correct side, but the umpires were certain and there was nothing in the television pictures to dispute them.

"The fact is, were it not for Dessie Dolan, we would never have been in that position," said manager Luke Dempsey afterwards, clearly in no mood for regrets.

"He was outstanding. He is very down on himself, but he'll pick himself up again and I'm sure will put on a similar display the next day."

For Seán Boylan, there was no disguising the thoughts that Dolan had indeed been unfortunate: "Sure Dessie had covered every blade of grass on the field, and no more than anyone else was probably a bit weary. But you know the easy ones can be the most difficult ones, and when you saw the way he was kicking you'd expect him to put it over. But I would never envy a player in a position like that."

Trying to summarise what took the game to that last deciding chance is not easy. Fortunes had swung to the extremes, with Meath starting the better - including a goal from Hank Traynor after just 59 seconds - and holding a grip up to half-time. Their 1-10 to 0-8 lead at the break was well deserved.

More importantly, Meath's youthful elements were delivering. Shane McKeigue was standing out in the forward line (hitting 0-2), and Charles McCarthy had a firm hand on midfield. The free-taking of Daithí Regan was also largely reliable.

From the turnaround, though, Westmeath suddenly took off and played some of the most dazzling and wildly attacking football ever seen in Croke Park. It was an all-out assault, and brought two goals inside the 50th minute that at the time seemed certain to have spelled the end for Meath.

Having erected a magnetic field around the ball so that no Meath player could touch it, Westmeath pressed forward tirelessly from the half back line all the way up, to devastating effect. Already they had scored the first four points of the second half, the best coming from Joe Fallon, and now they would move in for the kill.

The first goal was helped by a Meath error. Martin Flanagan had swung in a high ball that was dropped into goalkeeper Cormac Sullivan, but he failed to properly collect and instead it bounced off his chest into the path of Dolan, who calmly palmed it into the net.

Moments later, Damien Healy ended another assault by laying off to Gary Dolan, whose shot was initially blocked but redirected towards the goal by Shane Colleary. Again Sullivan failed to get the necessary grip and the ball slipped first through his legs and then the legs of Nigel Nestor on the goal line, before crossing the line.

So Westmeath were in the clear, up 2-12 to 1-10, and smelling the sweetness of the victory that in the previous 19 championship meetings with Meath had been denied to them.

With Martin Flanagan now in complete control at midfield, and half backs Brian Morley, Derek Heavin and Healy seeing more of the ball then they could have dreamt of, the signs were not good for Meath.

Dominance of that sort is always impossible to maintain, and Meath finally clawed back a little more possession. Evan Kelly hit over a free after 18 minutes, their first score of the half, and another free from Giles and then a big point from Traynor reduced the gap to two - 1-13 to 2-12 - with some 10 minutes to play.

Five minutes later Graham Geraghty reminded everyone exactly why he can walk straight back into the Meath team. Set up perfectly by Cormac Murphy, he produced a one-handed fisted goal in the way only Geraghty can, and so Meath were back in front.

The last five minutes were played out in a haze. Meath substitute Donal Curtis was shown a straight red card for a head butt on Martin Flanagan, and then Dolan levelled the scores again by sending over an incredible sideline ball some 20 metres from the corner flag.

Still, it was all about Westmeath, and when Traynor was penalised for picking the ball off the ground, up stepped Dolan. And the rest, as they say . . .

WESTMEATH: A Lennon; P Rouse, D Gavin, F Murray; B Morley, D Healy, D Heavin; R O'Connell, M Flanagan; F Wilson, S Colleary (1-2), J Fallon (0-4, 2fs); JP Casey, G Dolan, D Dolan (1-7, 4fs, 1 sideline). Subs: P Conway for Wilson (half time); A Mangan for Casey (64 mins); D O'Shaughnessy Colleary (66).

MEATH: C Sullivan; M O'Reilly, D Fay, N McKeigue; P Reynolds, H Traynor (1-1), T O'Connor; C McCarthy, T Giles (0-3, all f); E Kelly (0-2, 1f), G Geraghty (1-0), N Nestor; D Regan (0-3, 2fs), D Crimmins (0-2), S McKeigue (0-2). Subs: A Moyles for Fay (23 mins, inj); R Kealy for Kelly, D Curtis for Nestor (both 55); C Murphy for O'Reilly (64, inj).

Referee: M Curley (Galway).Croke Park Match statistics