Meath aim to beat the recession Blues

Ireland should be thankful for sport. During times of depression, recession and darkness one constant source of joy and relief remains and that is the pleasure derived from sport. It brings a welcome distraction from the woes of the world. Ray Houghton almost singlehandedly dragged Ireland out of bleak times in 1988 with a header that despatched a football to the back of an English net. Other sporting heroes like Stephen Roche, Barry McGuigan, Dennis Taylor and John Tracey all played their roles in diverting attention from the troubles that afflicted most of the society. Now heroes are needed again. With so much doom and gloom in the news, people are once again turning to sport as a positive outlet. The exploits of the Leinster and Irish rugby teams in recent months has raised spirits and with others such as Shane Lowry, Adam Carroll, Bernard Dunne and Padraig Harrington doing their best, Ireland should be grateful for their sporting heroes. On a local front, there is no greater distraction in the GAA than Meath v Dublin. All other local derbies pale into insignificance and aside from the All-Ireland football and hurling finals there are no other games that can fuel the imagination quite like it. When thoughts turn to Meath and Dublin, problems take a back seat, for a few weeks at least, and when up to 80,000 supporters descend on Croke Park for next Sunday"s Leinster SFC quarter-final, all attention will be firmly focused on 70 minutes of football, and maybe even some extra-time? If form was to be considered then Dublin would have to be red-hot favourites, but in a game like this form goes out the window. It doesn"t matter what has happened in league campaigns or previous meeting between Meath and Dublin, when the green and gold clashes with the navy and blue it is as unpredictable as the Irish weather and likely to be just as stormy. The last time the sides met, a half-hearted, mini-ICA sponsored handbag brawl in Parnell Park drew nationwide exposure for the toughness and roughness regularly associated with Meath and Dublin games, but most people forget that these games are often classics. In 2007 Meath were massive underdogs going into their championship game against Dublin, but if it weren"t for a couple of dubious refereeing decisions from Armagh"s Jimmy McKee that disallowed a perfectly good Graham Geraghty goal, denied Geraghty a penalty and allowed a dubious Alan Brogan goal stand, Meath would have won the drawn encounter. Then again who is to say that if Meath had won whether or not they would have gone on to reach the All-Ireland SFC semi-finals that year? Traditionally, after Meath v Dublin games there are a lot of ifs, buts and maybes. There are many sectors of the media and so-called experts that don"t give Meath a hope on Sunday because of the disappointment of 2007, but the Royals might not be too far off the mark. The results from 2008 can be misleading. The win over Carlow was very impressive and for almost 50 minutes against eventual All-Ireland semi-finalists Wexford, Meath were totally dominant before capitulating. The embarrassment against Limerick in the qualifiers can be put down to a lack of appetite amongst some of the players. The seven-week gap between the loss to Wexford and qualifier didn"t help, but Meath are not as bad as 2008 suggested. Dublin made hard work of maintaining their NFL Div 1 status and while Meath didn"t exactly set Div 2 alight, they did play against some formidable opposition and held their own to retain their status. Games against Munster champions Cork, Ulster finalists Fermanagh, All-Ireland semi-finalists Wexford, All-Ireland quarter-finalists Monaghan, Ulster Champions Armagh and a resurgent Kildare all gave Meath good tests - and they survived. Considering where both counties are coming from, Dublin should be in a better position, but they will underestimate Meath at their peril. Manager Eamonn O"Brien has stated from the outset, that his sole focus was the Leinster meeting with Dublin. That single-minded determination will have Meath in the right frame of mind and if they can find the right formula on the field, then victory is not beyond the realms of possibility. The retirements of Darren Fay and Graham Geraghty has left gaping holes in the side. The full-back berth has been a troublesome position for years with Fay being the only viable option, but with the Trim man gone it appears that Navan O"Mahonys stalwart Kevin Reilly will have to fill his boots. Reilly is an exceptional footballer and will be the key man in the Meath defence for many years, but he has still to impose himself at full-back and Dublin will look to exploit that. If Meath are to achieve an unlikely victory they will need to be firing on all cylinders in attack. 2007 Allstar Stephen Bray, the magnificent Cian Ward and the potential match-winner Brian Farrell are all key to any victory. Those players need a steady supply of possession and if Nigel Crawford, Mark Ward, Seamus Kenny and Shane McAnarney can provide that, then Meath will have a great chance. Dublin are a team also in transition, but their threats are well documented. Alan Brogan, Mark Vaughan, Conal Keaney and Tomas Quinn are excellent attackers and with Shane Ryan and Ciaran Whelan at midfield and Paul Griffin, Bryan Cullen and Paddy Andrews in defence, Dublin look solid all round. It will be a tough ask to expect Meath to go out and beat one of the favourites for outright glory, but if ever there is a time to catch Dublin on the wrong foot, then it is in their first game. Four successive Leinster SFC titles and no All-Ireland title. That will cast a doubt in the Dublin minds about the importance of another provincial crown. However, a Leinster title would mean everything to Meath and their supporters and that hunger may help them to negotiate the first hurdle.