By Shaun Casey

WITH repeat pairings avoided during the All-Ireland series, Monaghan knew it was going to be Westmeath or Ulster rivals Donegal up next – but full-back Killian Lavelle says they’re all tough opponents at this stage of the championship.

Monaghan had already faced off against Armagh and Mayo – in the Ulster Championship final and the first round of the All-Ireland Championship respectively – so they couldn’t cross paths with that pair again.

While they avoided their provincial neighbours, they do have a Donegal native aiming to bring their season to a close with Mark McHugh’s Leinster champions coming to town this weekend.

For the fifth time in six championship outings, Monaghan will have home advantage as they welcome the men in maroon to St Tiernach’s Park with a spot in the All-Ireland quarter-finals up for grabs.

“When you get to this stage of the competition, there’s nothing simple,” Lavelle said after their seven-point win over Roscommon. “So, we’ll just prepare the same way we prepared for the Roscommon game and go at it again, that’s all we can do really.”

Monaghan showed great control and composure in their 1-20 to 0-14 victory over the Connacht champions last Saturday evening, particularly in the second half.

With the home team in front by six points at half time, they played keep-ball in the second period as they faced into a stiff breeze blowing down the field.

Instead of panicking, they were patient in their build-up, and Gabriel Bannigan’s men got their shooters on the ball when it mattered most to keep the scoreboard ticking over in their favour.

“With the new rules, when you’re against that bit of a breeze, you don’t want to give the ball away and give the opposition a license to attack,” the Clontibret defender added.

“When we have the ball, the ultimate aim is to get a shot
away and get a score at the end of it.

“That’s probably the best way to do it in the modern game so that’s just what we did.”

Monaghan and Westmeath locked horns in the league last year but their only championship collision came way back in 2003, also at Clones, and the hosts won 0-14 to 1-9 that day.

It’s all about knockout football at this stage of the season and Westmeath have only lost once since the end of the league.

Having won their provincial title, they saw off Ulster opponents Cavan in the first round of the All-Ireland series.

The draw did them no favours the last day out as they travelled to Galway and despite putting in a solid performance, they lost out by three points and now it’s last chance saloon for everyone.

“We’re delighted to be through to this stage, it’s pure knockout football and you know what you have to do on the day,” Lavelle continued. “I suppose we knew we had to get a win last week and we probably didn’t get off to the best start.

“We came into the game towards the end of the first half and went in (at half time) ahead and we just knew, coming up against a strong breeze, what we had to do.

“We had to be more efficient in our attacks, and I think we attacked a lot better in that
second half than we did in the first.

“We were quite wasteful in the first half which we’d be disappointed with, but fair play to the boys and especially the forwards up there, they pulled us out in the second half.”

Lavelle spent the National League on the sidelines through injury and watched on as Monaghan endured a really difficult time in Division One.

Seven defeats on the bounce saw them surrender their top tier status, having just regained it by winning Division Two in 2025, but there were plenty of positives to take.

Conor McCarthy was alongside Lavelle on the treatment table, Ryan McAnespie missed the last four games, Gary Mohan was in and out, as was Dylan Byrne, so Garbriel Bannigan’s hand was forced.

He had to give gametime to the newer members of the squad and while it ultimately cost them Division One football for next season, it has paid dividends in the championship with a place in the last-eight up for grabs.

“I had surgery in December, so I had to sit on the sidelines and watch the boys. It wasn’t the best viewing experience during the league but that has stood to us now,” he continued.

“Oisin McGorman started last week, Stephen Mooney, you could count plenty of the other men that have come in and made an impact, and they started their Monaghan careers in Division One so it’s standing to us now in the long run.”

Last meeting

2025 NFL Monaghan 2-29 Westmeath 2-21

Monaghan burst out of the traps in 2025 Division Two campaign, beating Cavan and Westmeath in consecutive weeks. Their round two collision with the Leinster men was Gabriel Bannigan’s first home game in charge and they delivered a fantastic display to win by eight in the end. A Ryan O’Toole goal had them six ahead at the interval, 1-15 to 1-9 while Jack McCarron also nailed a major after being introduced from the bench. Conor McCarthy top scored with 0-7 for the Farney County while Stephen Mooney was close to hand as he kicked 0-6. By the end of the campaign, Monaghan were league champions and had returned to the topflight while Westmeath fell back down to Division Three.

Monaghan: R Beggan (0-4, 2tpf); D Byrne, K Lavelle (0-1), R Wylie; C McNulty (0-1), R O’Toole (1-0), C McCarthy (0-7); M McCarville, G McPhillips; R McAnespie (0-2), B McBennett, M Hamill (0-1); D Garland (0-5, 2tp, 1f, 1m), S Mooney (0-6, 1tp, 3f), S Jones.

Subs: B McCaul for G. McPhillips; J McCarron (1-2) for S. Jones, J Irwin for B. McBennett; K Loughran for R. McAnespie; D McDonnell for C. McCarthy.

Westmeath: C McCormack; J Gonoud, C Dillon (0-1), D Giles; D McCartan, C Drumm, S McCartan (0-3, 1tp); R Wallace (1-0), E McCabe (0-1); K O’Sullivan, B Cooney (0-1), M Whittaker (0-2); Robbie Forde (1-2, 1f), L Loughlin (0-10 (3tp, 3f), S Smith.

Subs: B Kelly (0-1) for S. Smith; E Gaffney for K. O’Sullivan; F O’Hara for B. Cooney; K Martin for D McCartan; J. Geoghegan for R. Forde.

Last five meetings

2025 Div 2

Monaghan 2-29 Westmeath 2-21

2012 Div 2

Westmeath 1-19 Monaghan 2-11

2008 Div 2

Monaghan 0-11 Westmeath 1-10

2003 Qualifiers

Monaghan 0-14 Westmeath 1-9

Season so far

Monaghan

NFL

Monaghan 0-18 Armagh 1-27

Roscommon 3-16 Monaghan 1-16

Dublin 1-18 Monaghan 0-17

Monaghan 2-11 Mayo 2-30

Kerry 1-18 Monaghan 0-7

Monaghan 2-9 Galway 1-20

Monaghan 3-16 Donegal 3-20

USFC

Monaghan 0-27 Cavan 2-14

Derry 3-23 Monaghan 1-30 AET

Monaghan 0-25 Armagh 2-28 AET

All-Ireland

Monaghan 2-20 Mayo 1-24

Monaghan 1-20 Roscommon 0-14

Westmeath

NFL

Westmeath 2-14 Sligo 1-16

Clare 1-17 Westmeath 2-19

Down 2-15 Westmeath 1-15

Westmeath 1-26 Fermanagh 2-11

Laois 3-16 Westmeath 1-13

Westmeath 4-21 Limerick 3-8

Wexford 2-16 Westmeath 1-18

LSFC

Longford 1-16 Westmeath 5-25

Meath 0-25 Westmeath 4-18

Kildare 0-23 Westmeath 2-21 AET

Dublin 0-26 Westmeath 2-28 AET

All-Ireland

Westmeath 1-31 Cavan 3-21 AET

Galway 3-21 Westmeath 2-21

Top Scorers

Monaghan

Mícheál Bannigan 1-32 (10f, 1tp)

Jack McCarron 1-27 (5tp, 6f, 2tpf)

Stephen O’Hanlon 1-26 (5tp)

Westmeath

Luke Loughlin 5-37 (5tpf, 7f, 1-0pen, 1tp)

Sam McCartan 0-42 (5tp, 4tpf, 7f)

Brandon Kelly 3-23 (1m)

Ronan Wallace 3-23 (5tp)