Westmeath out to prove a point against the Royals

The Royals will take on neighbours Westmeath on Sunday in the Leinster SFC quarter-final

There was a sense of inevitability that it was always going to be Westmeath who Meath would face in next Sunday's Leinster SFC quarter-final.

The Lake County had to negotiate Longford in round one, but while there is no such thing as a foregone conclusion, Robbie Brennan and his management would surely have focused most of their prep work over the last few weeks on Mark McHugh's men.

Not only did Westmeath get the job done, they did so in fine style and issued a stern warning to Meath that they will not be travelling to O'Connor Park in Tullamore for 2pm next Sunday just to make up numbers, they'll be there ready to cause a shock.

Westmeath's 5-25 to 1-16 hammering of Longford will serve to ensure Meath approach the quarter-final with plenty of caution. They will still be favourites having reached last year's All-Ireland SFC semi-finals and gained promotion to NFL Div 1 this year, but Westmeath are dangerous foe - and they are hurting.

Westmeath are still smarting from the way they lost last year's league meeting to Meath when Conor Duke's must disputed buzzer beater gave the Royals a 3-14 to 1-17 win in Mullingar.

They will also be angry about the way they threw away promotion from NFL Div 3 this year when losing to a last second goal to Wexford in the final game having been in control of their destiny before coughing up possession in the closing seconds and shipping the goal.

It was a mixed bag of a league for Westmeath. They slumped to two other defeats in their campaign, losing to eventual champions Down by three points and to a Laois side that showed their form in a fine and convincing Leinster SFC win over Offaly last Saturday.

The one-point win over Sligo in round one didn't exactly strike fear into potential championship opponents, but as the year has progressed, the loss to Wexford aside, they have steadily improved with a five-point win over Clare, a 12-point hammering of Fermanagh and a 16-point annihilation of Limerick proving they are no slouches in the scoring stakes.

Meath's one Achilles heel throughout the league was their propensity to leak big scores.

Meath's 141 points against in the league was the second worst in the top four. Cork's was the worst on 159, but both sides' ability to outshoot their opponents was the key to their successful promotion bids.

Meath's return of 174 points from their seven games was second only to Mayo (178) in the entire country and proves that they capable of outgunning opponents if it comes down to a street fight.

However, Meath will want to avoid getting into a forwards battle with a Westmeath side who possess one of the finest individual players in the country - Luke Loughlin.

The Downs man scored 2-2 in the win over Longford, while Brandon Kelly also chipped in with two goals. Wing back Matthew Whittaker scored three points, dangerous midfielder Ray Connellan proved his two-point threat with a couple of organge flags in his five-point return and the dangerous Shane Corcoran added 1-4 as 5-23 of Westmeath's 5-25 tally came from play.

Consideration must be given that Longford were particularly poor, with Dylan Farrell their top scorer with 10 points that included four two-point frees and another single point from a free, but Meath will need to be wary.

This has the potential to be a real banana skin if Meath are even 5% off their game. However, if Meath approach the quarter-final contest with the same vest, vigour and determination as they did throughout the league, then the quality is obvious that they should be too strong - but it promises to be a mighty game.