Younger brothers will sympathise with Gary Dolan's plight. Growing up in the shadow of a truly great sibling ensured comparisons began the first time he bent his back for an O'Neill's size four.

Only now is the balance being redressed. When Offaly put Westmeath to the sword on May 14th, Dessie Dolan was absent through injury. The younger Dolan bravely attempted to carry the load but others failed to follow and the qualifiers beckoned.

We also discovered, what Westmeath folk already knew, that Gary Dolan is actually the more prolific brother in front of goal.

The first hint came with an extra-time strike to fell Sligo in Markievicz Park two weeks back. Confirmation arrived on Saturday evening when he exchanged passes with the brother, rode a challenge, and arrowed the ball past Alan Keane. It secured a valuable four-point cushion heading down the home straight.

Two Westmeath goals in as many outings naturally atone for a nine-game barren spell in the championship dating back to 2004.

The Dolans were the last two off a field of unbridled joy. The younger one was collared first. A quick word, Gary?

"I don't know if I have very much to say, lads. Words can't describe it. It's brilliant. To beat them boys on their own patch is unbelievable.

"Against the wind the defence played absolutely awesome. We tried to give the backs an extra second or two to get on their men. Put a bit of pressure out the field, and I think it worked. (Damien) Healy - he ruled it out there. And so did JK (John Keane)."

One early moment sums this up. Galway were generating an attack from deep but the Dolans, Alan Mangan and Derek Heavin were on them like a swarm of wasps.

"A couple of wins in the qualifiers built up our confidence and built up our spirit," said the Westmeath captain, Dessie Dolan.

"When you have good spirit inside, you see results like that. I think it was a team performance. It was gritty but most important was the determination." (En route to hospital, an injured Ja Fallon stalls the interview to pat Dessie Dolan on the back. "Thanks, Ja.")

What about the brother, Dessie? "He's some man to score goals. We all know it in Westmeath and now he's getting a good run of goals.

"I'm delighted for him because he gets a lot of knocks and gets a lot of bad press but that was some finish - it was fairly tight. I'm delighted for the whole team."

The win wasn't just about the brothers. Nice to have them though.