Westmeath sent out a warning to all those remaining in the All-Ireland football championship that they are serious contenders following the trouncing of Limerick in this second round qualifier at the Gaelic Grounds on Saturday evening.

Such a big winning margin did not seem likely at the end of an entertaining first half when only two points separated the sides - Westmeath leading 0-7 to 0-5.

It seemed Limerick had put the eight-point defeat at the hands of Kerry out of their system, but it was a totally different story in the second half.

The visitors dominated the first period, but had far too many wides, and they almost conceded a goal four minutes before the break.

Johnny Murphy made progress down the left and spotted Jason Stokes, who had advanced from midfield. However, Westmeath goalkeeper Cathal Mullin made a superb save to deny Stokes.

Westmeath captain Ger Heavin led by example and with fellow corner forward Joe Fallon, they contributed 12 of Westmeath's total, seven of them coming from frees conceded by a hard-pressed Limerick defence.

Throughout the field Westmeath dominated, with David Mitchell and John Keane marshalling a defence that easily coped with a Limerick forward unit that failed to sparkle for the second game in a row.

Limerick's cause was not helped by their ploy of short passing out of defence. Frequently, little progress was made before possession was lost and Westmeath picked off their scores at will.

The only disappointment for Westmeath was that they did not manage a goal, but on one of the few occasions they looked like doing so, they were denied by Limerick goalkeeper Alan Kitson.

It was two points apiece after six minutes. Four minutes later Pat Ahern put Limerick in front for the first and only time. But the lead lasted only a minute and while there was no score in a 10-minute spell, the visitors were moving the ball much better.

The second half was all Westmeath and it took Limerick 21 minutes to get their first score, their second coming just at the end.