Meath spirit off the leash

Meath manager Seamus McEnaney would have preferred an extra day to prepare for Saturday's All-Ireland SFC fourth round qualifier against Laois at Tullamore, 3.30. He made that clear after Sunday's Leinster SFC final defeat by Dublin, but he will not be using it as an excuse ahead of what will be a huge game for the Royal County. At stake - a place in the All-Ireland SFC quarter-final and a clash with one of the other provincial winners, Cork, Mayo or Donegal. Victory on Saturday will leave Meath only two games away from a place in the 2012 All-Ireland SFC final. Such a scenario would have seemed an impossibility in the days after Louth sent Meath crashing through the NFL Div 2 relegation trapdoor. Remember the day the supporters booed the players off the Páirc Táilteann pitch? However, McEnaney has, and always maintained that he had, a great belief in his players and in their ability to respond to adversity. "This group of Meath players is going to test this myth about the six-day turnaround, there is serious spirit in the dressing room, we want to be back in Croke Park in a fortnight," he commented. "Anyone that wants to travel to our game next Saturday will see the real fighting spirit of the Meath team. "We are going to give this game against Laois one hell of a lash, we want to be back in an All-Ireland quarter-final," he pledged. Regarding team selection, that will provide McEnaney with another headache as he will definitely have to plan without inspirational full-back Kevin Reilly. "Kevin will definitely be out for Saturday's qualifier, he hurt his Achilles again, the same as before," said McEnaney referring to the withdrawal of the Navan O'Mahonys man during Sunday's action. "But the future is very bright for Meath, we have a lot of very good young players, we have character in the team. "They were beaten five times in-a-row by Kildare and came back and won at the sixth attempt. "We just came up short against Dublin in Sunday's Leinster decider, that's history now, we can't live in yesterday, but we can live in tomorrow," he concluded. That tomorrow for Meath will start on Saturday at O'Connor Park, Tullamore. No one has mentioned it yet either, but surely McEnaney has done enough to warrant a third year in charge, which could be his first where the snipers might focus on other matters that need some serious attention? There was also disappointment for Meath in the Leinster MFC decider when they went down heavily to a talented Dublin side, but they too will have a second chance when they face Tyrone in the All-Ireland MFC quarter-final on Saturday 4th August.