Dessie Dolan Snr reckons his son and namesake is the greatest footballer Westmeath has ever produced.

And very few would argue with the Garrycastle manager after the former All Star drove the Athlone club to their seventh Flanagan Cup since 2001 at the age of 35 yesterday.

"Marvellous. Marvellous. He's a great bit of stuff," Dessie Snr enthused in an interview with RTE.

"He's an absolutely outstanding footballer, the best footballer, in my opinion, that Westmeath has ever produced."

Dolan Snr, himself a former Westmeath and Leinster star, says it was a special achievement for a number of the Garrycastle players, including the likes of Dessie Dolan, David O'Shaughnessy, Karl Henson, James Duignan and Cathal Mullin, to win their seventh SFC medal.

"We just looked at an U16 picture this morning, and there were seven of the U16 team playing today," he said.

"That just tells you the amount of dedication and the type of guys that these fellas are.

"As well as that, then, the young lads that came on today - we had five or six young lads there in their first season, and they were absolutely outstanding; played marvellous football, the way it should be played, and I'm very proud of that."

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