ALL-IRELAND SFC QUARTER-FINAL GROUP ONE
Meath v Kerry
(tonight, Páirc Tailteann, 6pm, live on Sky Sports Action)
KERRY’S season is on the line in Navan this evening but there’s little chance of the last rites being issued against a down-and-out Meath.
Back-to-back defeats to Donegal and Mayo have left the Royals out of contention for a semi-final spot with a round to spare. That leaves pride and pride alone at stake for Andy McEntee’s side and that’s never going to be enough to bridge the gap in quality between the counties.
Still, there should be a nice sense of occasion as Kerry visit Páirc Tailteann for the first time since November 1996. Meath, who had lifted the All-Ireland crown two months earlier, won that game by two points on a day when former Kingdom boss Eamonn Fitzmaurice made his debut.
His successor Peter Keane will be very happy with the progress of his team since taking over in October and a fine win over Mayo and a thrilling draw with Donegal has left them in a fine position going into the last round of fixtures.
The manager has made just one change from the side that shared 4-40 with Donegal but it’s a significant one with David Moran coming back into the middle in place of Diarmuid O’Connor after recovering from a foot problem.
Moran was a colossus in the opening Super 8 fixture against Mayo and was key to Kerry winning seven of the Connacht side’s 11 long kick-outs – an extraordinary figure when you consider that Aidan O’Shea was competing for a lot of those restarts.
Navan is a lot wider than Fitzgerald Stadium but you can be sure that Kerry will be pushing up on Andrew Colgan’s kick-out, if he retains his place, especially after watching Mayo decimate it in the final quarter at Croke Park last time out.
That aggressive press should provide enough possession for line-breakers like Stephen O’Brien and Killian Spillane to feed David Clifford, who is really staying close to the opposition goal this season. He wasn’t at his best against Donegal, but you can’t keep a star forward like that quiet for too long.
If there is any hope for Meath it’s in the comfort that they didn’t actually play too badly in their losses to Donegal and Mayo.
In Ballybofey they led after 54 minutes while they were ahead in the 52nd minute of their match with Mayo. Their combined losing margin over the two games was 18 points.
And that in a way sums up Meath’s current standing right now. They are able to match the country’s best most of the way, but when push comes to shove they still have a long way to go. Kerry will reinforce that this evening.
