Longford manager Padraic Davis believes facing neighbours Westmeath in the O’Byrne Cup semi-final is ideal preparation for the start of the NFL.

The sides meet in The Downs on Saturday afternoon with a place in the O’Byrne Cup final at stake, but both counties will be looking ahead to the league campaign where they meet in a Division Three encounter.

Davis told the Longford Leader that Westmeath will prove a stern test for his young guns as the Lake County have been fielding a fairly experienced side in the early season competition so far.

“We will give it a good shot. We will try and get our match ups right against Westmeath and we have things to work on from the Louth game,” said Davis.

“Westmeath have most of their players available in the O’Byrne Cup. You look at the team they had out against Kildare; Ger Egan, Callum McCormack, Kieran Martin, James Dolan. They have those core players that are experienced. They will have a strong side out against us.”

He concluded: “From the players point of view they are getting a taste of what to expect when the league comes around. We matched Louth. What happens now is that we are going to have another tough competitive fixture this weekend against good Westmeath opposition as the preparations continue for the Division Three campaign.”

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