Westmeath's victory over Wexford on Sunday was a landmark result in more ways than one.
Not only was it their first in championship over the Model men since World War 2 raged in Europe, it also marked the biggest shock to date in the Leinster round-robin competition, which is in its fourth season.
Speaking ahead of Saturday's Joe McDonagh Cup final against Offaly (live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player), Carlow's Paul Doyle suggested that Westmeath's win showed what regular exposure to top-level opponents can result in.
"It was great to see," he told RTÉ Sport. "I was delighted.
"It just shows that counties like ourselves are well able to hurl at that level, that on any given day we can try and turn over a big team.
"You really have to earn the right to be up there. Westmeath's performance the other day, they did that."
Wexford are now faced with the prospect of relegation to the Joe McDonagh Cup for the first time, and Carlow know how difficult it is to bounce straight back.
This weekend marks the Scallion Eaters' first opportunity to return to Leinster hurling since dropping down to McDonagh level four years ago.
"If you go back down, it’s not necessarily that you’re going to go back up," said Doyle.
"As we found. We did it in 2019. We lost all our games, went straight down. Then in 2020 we really struggled to come back up straight away. That just shows you. It's a cut-throat competition.
"The four games we played [before a big win over Offaly] were tight games. We were lucky enough to get two wins and two draws, and the two draws could have gone any way. If we didn’t get that last-minute free to draw the game against Laois, to get the penalty that Mouse (Marty Kavanagh) scored, I wouldn’t be here today."
Jason Sampson of Offaly (L) and Paul Doyle of Carlow with the Joe McDonagh Cup
Offaly's Jason Sampson concurs, suggesting that, "any of the teams can beat any of the other teams.
"I think everyone takes points off one another, generally, so if you go down, it’s not a foregone conclusion you’re going to come straight back up, regardless of who you are. It is a very competitive competition."
Sampson himself has been waiting seven long years for another taste of Leinster championship, having made his debut in 2016 then missing Offaly's relegation in 2018 in the wake of hip surgery the year before.
"It would be fantastic," he says, of the promotion back to the top table on offer this weekend.
"That's where you want to be hurling, you want to be going playing the big teams.
"I think we got great experience from Division 1 last year, it didn’t go well and ultimately we got relegated but you want that exposure playing the best teams and marking top-quality players."
Watch the Joe McDonagh Cup final, Carlow v Offaly, live on Saturday from 4.30pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow updates on all of the day's GAA action on the RTÉ News app, RTÉ.ie/Sport or radio updates on Saturday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1
