Sean barry set for meath u21 opener
Meath u-21 footballers will be in action against Cavan in the opening round of an expanded Hastings Cup FT at Kingscourt on Saturday where the throw-in is scheduled for 2pm.
With up to 10 players from the 2014 u-21 football campaign included in Mick O’Dowd’s senior panel for Sunday’s O’Byrne Cup opener against Westmeath, manager Sean Barry and his u-21 selectors will be able to give the other 30 players in the panel a run out in one of the three group games over the next three Saturdays.
Barry will be in charge of the u-21s for the third year and is eagerly looking forward to the short trip to Kingscourt on Saturday where Cavan will provide the opposition for the Royal County in a tough group that also includes Roscommon and Kerry.
“We lost two games in 2014 at u-21 level, against Roscommon in the Hastings Cup final, and Dublin in the Leinster u-21 FC final and both those teams contested the All-Ireland u-21 final,” Barry told the Meath Chronicle this week.
“We have a panel of about 40 players, but there are about 10 involved with the senior panel for the O’Byrne Cup and we won’t see any of them until after the second round of the NFL Div 2 when there is a two-week break in the league.
“For the Hastings Cup we have three games and we will look at all the players in those games because we also have to facilitate colleges football commitments.
'Everyone will get a chance to make an impression and alhtough it's a tough group, hopefully we can qualify for the knock-out phase as that will also help our Leinster Championship preparations
“Hopefully some of the players will progress on to the senior panel, that has to be the long-term aim and if we can win a u-21 trophy along the way, then everyone will be pleased,” he added.
Meath will face Westmeath in the Leinster u-21 FC quarter-final in Navan on Wednesday 4th March.
HASTINGS CUP FIXTURES
Saturday 3rd January - Cavan v Meath at Kingscourt, 2.0.
Saturday 10th January - Meath v Roscommon at Ashbourne, 2.0.
Saturday 17th January - Kerry v Meath at Thurles, 2.0.
Saturday 24th January - semi-finals.
Saturday 31st January - final.