Westmeath’s promotion hopes could hinge on Clare clash

KEVIN EGAN previews Westmeath's Allianz Football League Division 3 campaign which begins with a clash against Sligo at TEG Cusack Park tomorrow Sunday (2pm).

If you were in TEG Cusack Park for the final round of the 2025 National Football League, watching as Westmeath reeled in Roscommon to eventually salvage a draw, you’d have found it hard to imagine that those two teams, who each dominated for long stretches but probably only deserved a draw in the end, would be two divisions apart in 2026.

Yet here we are and starting this Sunday in Mullingar, Westmeath supporters will hope that Mark McHugh is the lucky general that Dermot McCabe absolutely wasn’t in 2025. Considering that Roscommon are the overwhelming favourites for relegation from Division One, the two counties could well meet again in the 2027 league.

If the bookmakers’ assessment is to be afforded any weight - and it probably should since they are the ones who stand to gain or lose money depending on how accurately they assess the lie of land - Down are all but past the post in the race for promotion, and Westmeath are narrowly ahead of the Shannonside duo of Clare and Limerick in the race to fill the second spot.

It’s rarely that simple. Offaly’s run to silverware at this level in 2025 is proof that a team that is well-organised and that hits a run of form at the right time can come from the pack, while nothing that Down have done in recent years suggests that they are immune to dropping points to most of their rivals.

If Westmeath are to put themselves in the hunt, then the first of just three home games, against Sligo on Sunday, feels like a game where there will be a lot of pressure to get an early result, and that might have informed Mark McHugh’s decision to field comparatively strong teams in the O’Byrne Cup.

This time last year, Sligo were seen as dark horses for this league. Tony McEntee had made solid progress with the established seniors while the players that got to the 2023 All-Ireland U-20 final beating Galway, Mayo and Kerry along the way were coming to maturity.

Then they hit a glut of wides that cost them dearly in Tullamore and the wheels came off a little bit, never really fitting back on. The talent is still there so this is a minefield of a fixture, but one that Westmeath should still win.

A second round trip to Clare is a very different story. The Banner County beat both of the teams that contested last year’s Division 3 league final (Offaly and Kildare), but slip ups cost them and they will be fully-focused and ready for this one. By the time Clare play Westmeath, they will either have picked up a win in Newry to start the campaign with a bang, or will be feeling the pressure of needing to put a win on the board. Either way, this will be an incredibly tough test against a side with no small amount of physicality and experience.

What goes around comes around, as either Westmeath will come away with something from Ennis, or else they will have two weeks to prepare for their own trip to Páirc Esler knowing that a positive result against Down is absolutely crucial.

The main positive around the Mourne County is that few teams were as quick to adapt to the new game, specifically the two-point threat. Across the 2025 intercounty season, Rory Beggan topped the two-pointer chart with 24 orange flags, followed by Down’s Pat Havern and Luke Loughlin with 23 each. Daniel McGuinness and Danny Magill (six each) were others who were capable of landing haymakers from outside the arc.

Where they might struggle is the next step of their evolution. Kilcoo extended their dominance in the county and across the club championship and the preseason, the refrain in Down has been that no-one really put their hand up as a bolter, it’ll be the same faces as last year carrying the fight.

Of course, this is the toughest game of the league on paper for Westmeath, but it’s far from unwinnable and could even be the making of the season.

For the past quarter of a century, Fermanagh have consistently punched above their weight in the league but it’s getting harder and harder to see them find their way back into the top two tiers of competition.

Declan Bonner is a solid manager and former Leitrim star Emlyn Mulligan is an interesting and intelligent addition to his backroom team for 2026, but he has leaned heavily on his established players in the McKenna Cup and the challenge match circuit. Cian O’Brien is one interesting new face, scorer of 1-2 for University of Ulster against MTU Cork in the Sigerson Cup last week.

This should be another high-scoring game with plenty of two-point firepower on both sides, where Westmeath’s mediocre defensive record should be enough to overcome a downright poor Fermanagh rearguard.

A trip to Portlaoise generally meant a 50/50 game for any Westmeath team in recent history but Laois have stagnated in recent seasons, losing touch with the top half of teams in Leinster. Evan O’Carroll’s return is hugely significant but just when it looked like they might have a bit more scoring threat, Mark Barry stepped away.

This won’t be a ‘gimme’ of a game, but promotion hunters will know that anything other than a win over the O’Moore County would be points dropped.

Last year’s championship defeat to Limerick will then resurface when the Treaty men travel to Mullingar for a game that could be every bit as consequential as that Tailteann Cup game. Limerick’s win in Portlaoise last year cost Westmeath a home quarter-final in the Tailteann Cup and Wicklow went on to eliminate the Lake County men in Aughrim.

Unlike previous years, this doesn’t look like a championship draw where there will be any Division Three or Four teams can reach provincial finals. If Kildare can keep their Division Two status – albeit that’s not to be presumed at all – then this could be the first year where losing a Division Three final is enough to secure a place in the All-Ireland championship.

If Westmeath have got a result in at least one of their two games against Clare and Down, then it will likely all come down to this game. Last year’s win for Limerick was seen as a shock, so lightning shouldn’t strike twice.

That leaves Wexford in Wexford Park, which could be either an incredibly treacherous fixture, or a dead game for one or both teams. It was hard not to laugh at one online media portal aimed at Carlow readers describing their recent O’Byrne Shield fixture against Wexford as a “crunch clash”, which is a description that has never been brandished before when it comes to the O’Byrne Shield.

Nonetheless, Carlow won the game and Wexford have racked up a lot of poor showings over the winter by all accounts.

Manager John Hegarty deliberated before committing to a fourth season and over the winter he lost Kevin O’Grady, Mick Furlong and Conor Carthy to retirement, albeit all three men were well into the latter end of their careers. Eoghan Nolan, Liam Coleman and Páiric Hughes is a fine central axis at 6, 8 and 11 but at either end of the pitch, they are less convincing and could well be in relegation trouble or even condemned to the drop at this stage.

Either way, if Westmeath need the points from this game, expect them to get them, and they will hope to secure a ticket to Croke Park in the process.