Meath injury list lengthens

Eamonn O'Brien didn't know whether to laugh or cry as he left the field at Summerhill on Sunday evening. He had just watched his Meath side blow an exhausted Galway out of the water in a SF challenge, but he also witnessed Ollie Lewis join the growing injury list. Lewis has been the find of the season for O'Brien and his performances since coming to prominence against Dublin in the O'Byrne Cup had him ear-marked for one of the wing forward positions when the Leinster SFC gets underway for Meath against Offaly on Sunday, 23rd May. The Na Fianna player was once again enjoying another excellent outing against Joe Kernan's Galway side when he shipped a heavy blow and seemed to injure his ankle. O'Brien was unsure of the extent of the injury and will have to wait until later in the week to see if Lewis will feature against Offaly. Lewis joins an increasingly large injury list that includes Niall McKeigue, David Bray and Brendan Murphy. There are also doubts over the participation of Cormac McGuinness and Jamie Queeney, both of whom are unlikely to be fit to face Offaly. Summerhill's Davy Dalton is another who is struggling in his race against time. The hamstring problem he picked up against Down on May Bank Holiday Monday kept him out of contention for Sunday's win and looks like ruling him out of the Offaly game, at least. On the plus side, O'Brien did confirm that Kevin Reilly is close to full fitness and it was only illness that prevented him from playing against Galway. With two weeks to go ahead of the Leinster SFC opener, O'Brien is confident Reilly will be ready. "We were missing a few lads today that we wanted to get football into, including Kevin Reilly. Unfortunately some of them are sick, not injured, so they should be okay," said the Meath manager. "We have lost Jamie Queeney and probably Cormac McGuinness for the game against Offaly as well as Niall McKeigue and David Bray. "Kevin Reilly is under full consideration for the game against Offaly. His lack of inter-county match practice is a worry, but he is superbly fit and he is a great athlete with a great attitude so he will be considered. We will have a few training sessions to test him out. "You can't read too much into that game against Galway. We won and played well, but how ready were Galway for this game? "They have just got back from New York after a very difficult journey. "The players are battling and everyone on the panel is giving their best. With the exception of the Tipperary game, that effort and endeavour has never let us down," said O'Brien. If everything goes according to plan for Meath this summer, then the armchair supporter will be in for a treat as every game Meath could be involved in will be featured live on television. RTE will show the Leinster SFC opener against Offaly from Portlaoise, 2.0 and the next round against Laois. Victory over the O'Moore County would set up a Leinster SFC semi-final against Dublin or Wexford and TV3 have won the rights to show that game. The Leinster SFC final will be televised by RTE on Sunday, 11th July.