John Heslin’s 75th-minute pointed free proved to be the winning score at Mullingar, where Westmeath squeezed out Clare by 2-9 to 1-11.

Anthony McGivney and Jack Smith were the winners’ goalscorers as the Lake County marked their return to the second tier with a priceless victory, the battling Banner County contributing enormously to an enjoyable game of competitive football but ultimately going home empty-handed.

Gavin Cooney netted first for the visitors in the sixth minute, following an exchange of frees between Heslin and David Tubridy, but – after Tubridy’s second free stretched the gap to four - an unanswered run of 1-3 from the midlanders, comprising McGivney’s 16th-minute three-pointer and points from Heslin, Ray Connellan and Callum McCormack, helped Jack Cooney’s men on their way to a 1-5 to 1-3 interval advantage.

Smith’s 49th-minute major pushed the lead out to five after the first four points of the second period were shared but the Munster men seemed to have grabbed a share of the spoils when Dermot Coughlan completed their comeback with an equalising point in stoppage time.

Heslin, however, had other ideas, striking emphatically at the very end of a game which both sides finished with 14 men following 70th-minute red cards for Killian Daly and Clare substitute Alan Sweeney.

Westmeath - E Carberry; J Smith (1-0), K Maguire (0-1), B Sayeh; K Daly, R Wallace, J Dolan; D Corroon, R Connellan (0-2); A McGivney (1-0), J Heslin (0-4, 3f), D Lynch; C McCormack (0-1), R O’Toole, L Dolan (0-1). Subs: C Slevin for A McGivney, T McDaniel for C McCormack, L Loughlin for L Dolan, C Coughlan for D Lynch.

Clare - S Ryan; K Harnett, C Brennan, G Kelly; S Collins, P Lillis, D Ryan; C Russell, C O’Connor; C O’Dea, E Cleary (0-1), D Coughlan (0-1); G Cooney (1-0), D Tubridy (0-8, 7f), K Sexton (0-1). Subs: C Murray for G Cooney, A Sweeney for D Ryan, E Collins for S Collins, C Downes for C O'Connor, D Masterson for C Russell.

Referee - N Cullen.

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