Westmeath won't need much motivation for Saturday evening's Leinster SHC quarter-final against neighbours Offaly after reading this article!

Considerable spice has been added to the local derby clash after the controversial piece appeared on the Offaly Express website yesterday. Under the headline "If we can't beat Westmeath we may as well give up hurling", the Sideline Mouthpiece recalls the "embarrassment" Offaly supporters felt after losing to their arch-rivals by 14 points in last year's championship and suggests that Michael Ryan's charges should not be in the "same universe" as the once-proud Faithful County.

"Westmeath should not, and should never be, at our level. The hurling tradition in Offaly runs deep, it runs through the very fabric of Croke Park and St. Brendan's Park alike - in All-Ireland club and county titles," the anonymous writer states.

"There's no such hurling bloodline in Westmeath, and any thread they think they're sewing now should be severed by our lads next Saturday evening.

"In all honesty, no matter what excuses we get about resources or county board culture in Offaly, counties like these shouldn't be in our universe in hurling circles. It was embarrassing last year to lose to Westmeath, and if they repeat the trick on us this term, we may as well give up the sport - and that's the crux of it."

The article concludes: "We've been an inconsistent team over the last decade. Putting in admirable displays against better fancied opposition here and there, and then shipping losses like that massacre in Cusack Park last year. Surely we're better than that. It's time for us to emerge from that obscurity and put teams like Westmeath back in their box." 

The neighbouring counties will also face off in the Leinster SFC on Sunday, June 11 in Tullamore.

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