After two back to back victories over Antrim and Roscommon in the Qualifier series, that target is now peeping above the horizon.

One more win and the Erne county will be on the cusp of repeating the fantasy adventure of 2004 which saw the county career into an All-Ireland semi final.

Over the top hype perhaps, but there can be no disputing the sense of euphoria engulfing Fermanagh following the sensational triumph over a highly rated Roscommon last Sunday week in Brewster Park.

And the prospects of making it through to the last eight of the Sam Maguire chase are distinctly promising for upcoming opposition Westmeath are definitely the side we would have hoped to be paired with at this stage of the race.

This is opposition Fermanagh can beat. It is a statement of the obvious to say the losers of the Munster final would have been significantly more testing opposition.

But fortune has favoured us and the opportunity is there to go another step towards replicating the sheer exhilaration we all experienced over a decade ago.

Needless to say McGrath and his management cohorts will be earnestly dousing any hint of looking too far ahead, the age old mantra of ‘one game at a time’ will be relentlessly harped on as the preparations for Saturday’s showdown in Breffni Park continue.

But at the same time will be optimism in the camp that another victory can be chiselled out.

Fermanagh’s record against the Midlanders is quite good and our last meeting with them was two seasons back, again in the Qualifiers, when we scored a terrific away victory in Mullingar.

That was then, of course, but nevertheless it can be taken as a positive indicator that this is company that we can handle.

In the intervening period the National League fortunes of the counties has been sharply contrasting, Fermanagh on the rise, Westmeath on a downward spiral.

Westmeath have had a roller coaster this year, poor in the league where they were relegated to Division 3 for 2016, and then an astonishing championship that hit the peaks and plumbed the depths.

The peak was their amazing semi-final against Meath a county whom they had never beaten in championship. That Croke Park comeback was in many ways more remarkable than Fermanagh’s feat against Roscommon.

But unhappily for Westmeath, the reward was a David v Goliath Leinster final pairing with all-powerful Dublin and they were, as predicted, decisively dispatched.

How they react to this is a moot point. Will they be able to shrug off what was in any case a predictable result or will they fail to rally themselves for another shot.

They have grounds for pulling themselves together not least the fact that for the opening half in the Leinster final they stymied Dublin to an appreciable extent before they were undone by a two goal salvo on the resumption.

And there is another highly pertinent reason why Westmeath should be able to pick themselves up.

For if Fermanagh were happy with the pairing, the same applies to the Midlanders. They too will have been relieved at the draw and that has to be a huge factor in how they tackle this Round four tie.

Apparently there was criticism from sections of the Westmeath support after the Dublin match, questioning their ambition.

This was based on the defensive set up of the team for the Leinster final, but it is difficult to see how manager Tom Cribben could have approached the game differently.

For the Fermanagh encounter we can expect a different strategy from Cribben and his squad will be coming with a much more attacking strategy.

Putting it bluntly, Fermanagh are not Dublin and Westmeath, if they can put the disappointment of their heavy defeat in the dustbin, could be arriving in Briefing as a side who still believe.

They still have quality and Fermanagh have absolutely no grounds for taking them lightly regardless of their poor National League or their limp performance against Dublin.

That said however, in a game which perhaps will see neither side viewed as pre-match favourites, Fermanagh travel in great heart.

The side has shown it possesses excellent qualities in very many areas and boosted by the sheer drama of what transpired at Brewster Park on Sunday week an Erne win is very much on the cards.

August championship football is most definitely on the agenda.