Perfect setting for Royal recovery
ALLIANZ NFL DIV 2
Wednesday March 03 2010
THE new Meath jersey with The Comer Group logo will be unveiled at Pairc Tailteann this Saturday evening, but two precious NFL Division 2 points will surely be of more concern to Eamonn O'Brien and his Meath players as they attempt to bounce back from defeat and a very poor showing against Down in Newry.
Anything less than a comprehensive victory will hardly be good enough if Meath are to be considered genuine contenders for one of the two promotion spots.
Westmeath have taken something of a walloping in their two matches so far in the campaign. They lost 1-13 to 0-9 to Donegal in Mullingar and then received a 17-point thumping by Armagh, 2-19 to 0-8 in Round 2 in Crossmaglen.
It's difficult to imagine Meath repeating that Armagh scoreline on their form shown so far. Scoring was particularly problematic in Esler Park and a tally of eight points was a poor return for 70 minutes of football.
The form shown by the likes of Stephen Bray, Peadar Byrne and Cian Ward must be a concern, though Meath should be boosted for Saturday night by the return of Joe Sheridan to attack following injury.
Sheridan scored 1-2 in a challenge against Cork last Saturday and then accounted for six points for Seneschalstown the following day.
Brian Farrell, who recently returned from a three-month sojourn abroad, came on as a sub in that game against the Leesiders and converted two frees.
Sheridan's return could free Jamie Queeney to play on the 40 though Brian Meade, eligible again following suspension, might have to be content with a place on the bench.
A groin injury will likely rule out Mickey Burke while Cormac McGuinness has an ankle problem and Graham Reilly is also out with a jaw injury.
The Leinster under-21 match earlier in the day will in all probability rule out keeper Paddy O'Rourke and Seneschalstown's David Lyons should deputise. Gary O'Brien could get his first 'league cap' at wing back and Anthony Moyles might be handed the number six jersey.
Brendan Hackett is Westmeath's new manager and he has been handed something of a poisoned chalice with the midlanders going through something of a transition period.
Key attacker Denis Glennon is rumoured to have withdrawn from the panel after missing a number of training sessions and another missing star is former talisman Dessie Dolan.
Westmeath operated in the top tier in 2009 but have been in freefall since and lost to DCU in the O'Byrne Cup and Wexford in the Shield.
The game should be an ideal opportunity for Eamonn O'Brien's charges to get their act together in a much more meaningful way than of late and reignite their promotion push.
- Sean WALL
