Westmeath manager Michael Ryan had mixed emotions following their comfortable win over Armagh.

On one hand, it was a brilliant performance and two points on the board, but on the other, it proved that if they had played like that in every game, then they would still be in the hunt for promotion.

The Lake County looked imperious as they led from start to finish at Cusack Park last Sunday.

With just two games left in the campaign, Westmeath's chances of promotion are all but a distant memory and that is something that hurts the Waterford native.

"It was a bitter-sweet kind of day because we played really well and played some lovely hurling," Ryan told the Westmeath Examiner.

"That was an indication of what we can do. We did the kind of things we didn't do the last two days. We shook up the team after the loss to Kildare and I thought the response of the lads was very good. They played good hurling and they used the ball well. We moved the ball quickly and simply.

"The attitude, the commitment, the fight, the willpower of everybody was excellent." He added: "We have two very important games left, starting with London next weekend. There's a nephew of mine playing for London, but there'll be no sentiment there!"

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