Down, Westmeath face Tailteann Cup fate in All-ireland Senior Football Championship
Down, Westmeath or Cavan will be in the all-ireland senior football championship or the Tailteann Cup by Sunday evening. Two provincial semi-finals this weekend will decide which counties stay in Sam Maguire football and which one drops into the second tier.
Down and Westmeath face direct stakes
Down play Armagh in Clones at 16:00 BST, while Westmeath meet Kildare in Tullamore at 14:00 BST. If Down win, they stay in the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship this summer. If Westmeath win, they do too.
The margin for error is gone. If one of them wins and the other loses, the winner remains in Sam Maguire football and the loser falls into the Tailteann Cup. If both lose, Westmeath go into the Tailteann Cup because Down hold the higher ranking through their Division Three league success.
Luke Loughlin and Westmeath
Westmeath also go into the weekend without Luke Loughlin, whose season is over after a hamstring tear and tendon rupture that requires surgery. He scored six points in the five-point win over Meath, and his loss strips Mark McHugh’s side of one of the players who drove them into the Leinster semi-final.
Westmeath’s route has been built on that Meath win, with goals from Matthew Whittaker, Shane Corcoran, Robbie Forde and Danny McCartan. Down reached this stage after beating National League winners Donegal away from home in their Ulster opener, and Conor Laverty now takes them into a game that decides whether they stay in the summer championship.
Cavan wait on the weekend
Cavan are the third county tied to the outcome. If Down and Westmeath both win, Cavan drop into the Tailteann Cup. They survived relegation from Division Two this year, while Kildare finished below them in the league and still carry a place in the Sam Maguire race through last year’s Tailteann Cup success.
Monday’s Tailteann Cup draw already set Team 16 at home to Leitrim in the opening round, with that competition due to begin on the weekend of 16/17 May. By Sunday evening, the provincial picture will be set and one of Down, Westmeath or Cavan will be preparing for the second-tier route instead.
