NFL Division One B/ Westmeath 0-9 Down 0-7: There were warnings this would be the most competitive and therefore unpredictable league in several years, and yet no one predicted this - Westmeath storming through Division 1B, leaving several big contenders in the dust.

First Laois, then Derry, and now Down, who quickly found out for themselves why there's some hype building around Westmeath.

"We're like the child going up the stairs, who has to take one step at a time," said their manager, Tomás Ó Flatharta. "You know what will happen if he tries to do anything else. It's the same with us, taking one game at a time. If we look too far ahead we'll stumble.

"And we've achieved nothing whatsoever yet, and we could still end up down in the bottom half if we don't get a few more points. But for now definitely I'm very proud at the way the players are working for each other."

Ó Flatharta is obliged to play down any hype, but in this sort of form Westmeath won't be easily denied a place in the play-offs. Their spirited teamwork, good attitude and determination were evident throughout, and while it was far from the most convincing win, they never looked like losing.

Down, in contrast, looked slack and disorganised, and their chances of winning essentially ended in the 28th minute when forward James McGovern was shown a straight red card for striking Paul Bannon - who at that stage was possibly a marked man given his influence on the game.

But Down were never in front anyway, and though they did close the gap to a single point early in the second half, they never got close to the goal they needed to win it.

Surprisingly then, Down did dominate midfield, with Dan Gordan in outstanding form, and Westmeath will be glad David O'Shaughnessy reappeared at half-time after a long lay-off, albeit clearly lacking full fitness.

Martin Flanagan was also missing here, but Bannon had his best game of the year - kicking over two excellent points - and of course Dessie Dolan contributed generously as usual, this time with four frees.

Denis Glennon and Fergal Wilson also popped up for a point at key moments, but the tactic of playing David Duffy at full forward, à la Kieran Donaghy, didn't work. And in defence Westmeath, though not often stirred, were still a little shaky. Three of their defenders ended up getting booked in a game that saw nine yellow cards - and the straight red - even though indiscipline was seldom a problem.

McGovern's sending off, after he'd hit both of Down's opening points, probably did influence the outcome in that it denied them a real scoring threat and also allowed Westmeath get away with several errors for which they normally would have been punished. Ó Flatharta agreed it was far from the complete display from his team.

"We made a lot of basic mistakes," he said, "winning difficult ball and then giving it away too easily. But them working for each other, with good fighting qualities, and backing each other up, is satisfying. That's difficult to instil into a team but these lads have it.

"But we'll be taking things bit by bit. Our goal last year was promotion, in order to raise our standard of play in Division One.

"And I think we're doing that. But of course it's great to have six points at this stage, with a number of players still coming back such as Gary Dolan and John Connellan."

For Down manager Ross Carr there is much less room for optimism, though he is still awaiting the return of forward Michael Walsh. Losing McGovern, when they trailed 0-4 to 0-2, was an obvious handicap, and Carr reckoned it was unjust.

"Coming to Mullingar was going to be tough enough anyway, even if it had remained 15-a-side. Going a man down made it an uphill struggle for us.

"We needed to score early in the second half, but just didn't get the chances. And every time we did score, we conceded a score, so we couldn't close the gap. So what stands out after this is we need to get some scoring forwards.

"But I did see the sending off, and thought it was harsh.

"After James McGovern played the ball the Westmeath player came to take him out. Yes, James put his hands up, but whether he connected I'm not 100 per cent sure. And if he did connect, it definitely wasn't intentional. So it was tough for him to go, maybe a home-town decision, yeah."

With only one point from their previous draw against Kildare, Down now find themselves bottom of the division, with the real threat of ending up in Division Three next year unless they get their skates on soon.

"Oh yeah, we can easily go from Division One to Division Three," admitted Carr, "although the way things are going Division Three could be harder than Division Two next year. Because there are some big teams down in the dog-fight already.

"I still think we can turn the corner. Whether it's this year or next year I can't say."

Next up for Westmeath is a trip to Louth, and another two points would certainly leave them in pole position for a play-off place. Not that anyone is about to predict that.

WESTMEATH: G Connaughton; F Boyle, M Ennis, K Gavin; A Rigney, D O'Donoghue, D Heavin (0-1); D Healy, P Bannon (0-2); F Wilson (0-1), D Dolan (0-4, all frees), J Smyth; A Mangan, D Duffy, D Glennon (0-1). Subs: D O'Shaughnessy for Duffy (half-time); J Keane for Gavin (45 mins).

DOWN: B Conell; M Cole, D Cunningham, S Toner; R Murtagh, D Rooney, J Clarke; B Coulter, B Turley; J McGovern (0-2, one free), A Carr (0-3, frees), P Murphy; R Sexton, D Gordan, D Hughes (0-2). Subs: M McVeigh for Conell (half-time); J Brown for Cole (58 mins); M McClean for Turley, M Poland for Sexton (both 64 mins); G Johnson for Hughes (71 mins).

Referee: G McCormack(Dublin).