A new era dawns for football

A new dawn, a new day and an new era for Meath football will get underway at Pairc Tailteann on Sunday when the first manager from outside of the county, Seamus McEnaney, will lead his charges into an O'Byrne Cup game against the students of UCD, 2.0. Because of the ban on collective training for November and December and the poor weather conditions, McEnaney has been unable to explore all his options, but this week he plans to make up for lost time and supporters can expect to see a lot of new faces for the game against the Belfield boys. Last Sunday's White Collar Boxing exhibition did allow the players to gather for some strength and conditioning training over the last five or six weeks, but McEnaney will be keen to get his charges out of the gym and onto the football field. “We will only be starting our preparations (on Tuesday night of) this week and the lads will be delighted to get out onto grass. “They have had their own fitness programmes and they have worked very hard over the last few weeks with the boxing,†McEnaney told the Meath Chronicle at last Sunday's White Collar Boxing exhibition. “The boxing was totally different for these lads. They have really enjoyed the training and they really enjoyed the boxing. They have not held anything back and that is what we want. We are all in this together and we are all rowing the one boat and the lads showed that after the fights that they are a team together. “I would have preferred to get a few weeks of trials and football under our belts, we couldn't do that because of the weather, but we will do all that in January. As time goes on we will get to know our team better. “Our plan for January is to play UCD in the O'Byrne Cup on Sunday, then take each week as it comes. I will face a good old friend of mine in Dave Billings in the opposite dugout. “UCD will be a tough proposition because they are in the middle of the Sigerson Cup. “We will train this week, we will have trial games on Saturday and then the O'Byrne Cup on Sunday and that is what we will do the following week as well. January will be for finding the best 35 players in Meath. “We are trying to find our feet and we will be looking to find our best 15 for the championship. The O'Byrne Cup will be used for us to find our best 35 players in Meath at the moment.†Traditionally Meath have a strong O'Byrne Cup record, but supporters shouldn't be expecting too much from the team this time around. McEnaney will give fringe players and a few of the county's bright young prospects a turn at the wheel as he will attempt to steer Meath to success in the summer. Players like Ciaran Lenehan, Craig Berrigan, Philip Rogers, Paddy Gilsenan, Niall Mooney, Davy Dalton, Tommy Johnson, Brian Sheridan and Davy Lyons have all been training with the panel in preparation for the White Collar Boxing and they could feature in a hugely experimental side with the exception of Lenehan who could feature for UCD. McEnaney will also look as supplementing his experimental team with experience so players like Kevin Reilly, Brian Farrell, Seamus Kenny, Joe Sheridan, Shane O'Rourke, Cian Ward and Mark Ward will also be available. Niall McKeigue and Ollie Lewis are ruled out with injury and David Bray has yet to return to action from the knee injury that ruined his 2010. After reaching All-Ireland SFC semi-finals in 2007 and 2009 and annexing a Leinster SFC crown in 2010, Meath have to push on to the next level in 2011. McEnaney knows there is pressure involved with taking the Meath job, but he is looking forward to the challenge and is happy he has surrounded himself with the strongest team possible. “I won't be nervous ahead of the start of this journey because I've been down this road before. It is just a case of getting the best players available. They have shown serious enthusiasm and have made themselves fully available. Everybody, including myself, is on trial and that is important. Our biggest focus right now is the first round of the NFL against Laois in February,†said McEnaney. “I'm delighted to have Liam Harnan and Barry Callaghan on board. They are two really good lads with proven records in Meath. They are top class men and exactly the type of lads I want behind me in the weeks and months ahead. “Martin McElkennon and Paul Grimley will start to come on stream now with the training and the players are going to get a number of different types of football into them and they are really looking forward to it.†McEnaney received a great reception from the huge crowd that gathered for the White Collar Boxing at Knightsbrook Hotel, Trim on Sunday and he was delighted. The new manager has settled into life as a Meath man with ease and he is hoping to repay the strong support that the county has shown him so far. “It was nice to get a great reception. As far as I'm concerned I'm not an outsider anymore, I'm an insider now. I've a job to do here and the people of Meath have put their trust in me, I'm looking forward to this challenge that has been put in front of me. I got a strong recommendation from the clubs in Meath and I'm looking forward to carrying out my duties,†concluded McEnaney.