A feature of last year’s All-Ireland preliminary quarter-finals was that the beaten Joe McDonagh Cup finalists were more competitive than the winners.
It’s Westmeath’s misfortune that they find themselves coming into this fixture having lost the final once again as Laois pulled away from them to win well in the end at Croke Park last Sunday.
Twelve months ago they troubled Wexford for long periods on the back of their defeat to Carlow before losing by 11 points.
Carlow were mauled by Limerick, losing 5-22 to 0-13, and have only won one League or Championship game since.
The respective results were probably more a reflection on the step up in opposition that either side faced more than anything else.
Wexford went out at the quarter-final stage with something of a whimper against Clare the following week while Limerick stormed to the All-Ireland.
Playing the week after losing a major final was proven to be a major drag on performance in the football qualifiers over many years and the same principle applies with Westmeath here: manager Joe Quaid would have found it especially difficult to lift his players this week.
Cork boss John Meyler came up against Westmeath regularly during his time managing Kerry and Carlow and will surely lean on those experiences to banish complacency.
Limerick rejigged their side somewhat for the Carlow game last year and it got them going again after a loss in Ennis, which is exactly where Cork are coming from now themselves.
They’ll be hoping for a similar upturn from this fixture, which they should win with quite a bit to spare given the circumstances and the obvious gulf in class.
VERDICT: Cork
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