Opportunity knocks for Westmeath and Clare in Mullingar this evening.
Having spent the last four years in Division Two and competed in an All-Ireland quarter-final as recently as 2016, Clare are in and around the same level as Armagh and Kildare though, crucially, they managed to avoid Mayo and Tyrone.
And yet they are a team that Westmeath will rightly feel they have the beating of as they join them in Division Two next year and enjoy home advantage for this fixture.
Both counties have beaten Division Four opposition to get here after being eliminated from their provinces and the margin for error always diminishes come round three of the qualifiers with the softer draws generally eliminated.
Whoever wins this tie will likely be underdogs, but certainly not no-hopers, for their round four tie which carries the prize of the ‘Super 8s’ and a further three games at least.
“We’re at a stage in the Championship now where if your standards or concentration levels dip for even five minutes over the course of the game, then you will be punished,” Westmeath manager Jack Cooney told the Westmeath Independent earlier this week.
“Our overall performance will have to improve for Saturday’s contest. It’s a quick turn around but I think that it’s not a major issue when you’re winning.”
The counties have only met once in the Championship before, back in 2005 when Clare beat Westmeath in the qualifiers in Ennis and Cooney was one of the late Paidi O Se’s selectors.
It was quite the scalp for Clare at the time with Westmeath having won their only Leinster senior title the year before and the result saw O Se immediately step down as Lake County boss in the aftermath.
Over a year later he was appointed at Clare manager in what proved to be his final inter-county managerial job.
VERDICT: Westmeath
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