Westmeath will be a step up in class

Three points from three games played. Not a bad return for Meath in the NHL Div 2A so far, but now the bar gets a little higher for Nick Fitzgerald and his troops. 

They face Westmeath at Cusack Park, Mullingar on Sunday 12.30pm and if they hope to win that contest they will have to produce a high-quality performance over 70 minutes, something they didn't do against London on Sunday with a rousing, high-energy first-half performance giving way to a somewhat subdued, low-wattage second-half display.  
Meath have their injury concerns with Shane Brennan and Sean Quigley among those who shipped knocks against London while others such as James Toher are still struggling for full fitness.   
Westmeath have Limerick man Joe Quaid at the helm and he will be looking to add to the victories already notched up against London (2-17 to 0-15), Kerry (4-13 to 2-17) and Antrim (1-17 to 1-15).  The Lake County, who lost the Div 2A final last year, are clearly on a roll and are a side bristling with talented players such as Niall Mitchell and Killian Doyle. 
While he fully accepts that Westmeath are motoring nicely - and will be strong favourites to win on Sunday - Fitzgerald also points out that Meath could be up there, if the dice had rolled a bit kinder for them in their opening two games against Mayo (which finished 0-17 apiece) and Antrim which they lost by one (2-15 to 3-13). 
"Westmeath are obviously going well, they have three wins from three, when you reflect back on the games played so far, we could have been up there with them but we're not, we have three points and we'll go to Cusack Park looking to get the five and we'll go from there," said the Meath manager.
"Westmeath have an endless number of quality players, but there's also an endless number of quality players in Meath as well, there is as many certainly. I've had this conversation with numerous people over a long time and Westmeath have probably a more seasoned team than we have.
“They have that little bit more experience at a slightly higher level than Meath and they are in the Joe McDonagh Cup this year which will help them again, but this is Meath's second year in 2A and that's a help to us."
Fitzgerald added that at some stage Meath must seek to be more ambitious and push on to reach that higher level suggesting that the game against Westmeath offers them a perfect opportunity to do just that. 
Whether they are capable of carving out a win is another thing entirely with the home side sure to start as hot favourites.
Meath have found it difficult to produce a consistent level of high quality hurling over the course of games, a fact highlighted in the way they relinquished a sizeable lead against Mayo before they were caught by a late, equalising point scored by the Connacht side.
Then there was Sunday's second-half fade out despite the fact that for most of that half they had an extra man following the red card shown to London's Aaron Sheehan.  
If Meath can conjure up the kind of fast-paced hurling they produced in the first 35 minutes against London - and for much of the Antrim game - they have a chance.
However, all the evidence points to one outcome to Sunday's showdown - a win for the Lake County men who have already recorded a Kehoe Cup victory this year against their neighbours.