LATEST TEAM NEWS
'We are given an absolute zero chance'
Meath team for tomorrow's Joe Mcdonagh cup clash with Carlow - Charlie Ennis (Trim); Brendan McKeon (Kildalkey), Shane Brennan (Kilmessan), Sean Geraghty (Kilskyre); James Kelly (Kiltale), Shane Whitty (Blackhall Gaels), Stephen Morris (Blackhall Gaels); Nicky Potterton (Kildalkey), Paddy Potterton (Kildalkey); Mickey Burke (Longwood), Jack Regan (Kiltale), David Reilly (Drumree); Adam Gannon (Killyon), Damien Healy (Longwood), Mikey Cole (Trim). Subs - Conor Ryan (Kiltale), Mark O’Sullivan (Kiltale), Eamon O Donnchadha (Clann na nGael), Jack Walsh (Navan O’Mahonys), Kevin Kenna (Kilmessan), Chris Reilly (Kiltale), Adam O’Connor (Dunboyne), Ger Murphy (Dunboyne), Justin Coyne (Killyon), Padraig O’Hanrahan (Ratoath), Trevor Healy (Rathmolyon).
MATCH PREVIEW
REGARDED as strong favourites to be relegated from the McDonagh Cup this year Jack Regan says Meath have a point to prove starting with their first game of the campaign on Saturday against familiar foes Carlow at Pairc Tailteann, 2pm.
The Kiltale man expected his team to be bottom of the rankings when it came to the betting but he was somewhat surprised to find just how much they were considered outsiders to win the McDonagh Cup when he checked.
It all means an awful lot of people are expecting Meath to relegated.
"That's probably what everyone in Meath even thinks that's going to happen. There's about 40 people involved with the panel between players and backroom staff then there's the wives and girlfriends, mothers and fathers and so on, they might believe we can get a couple of victories but nobody outside of that is giving us any chance, we are 80-1 to win, I just checked the betting on it. The next team to us is Down so we're given an absolute zero chance," he says before focusing on some of the reasons why Meath have reasons to be hopeful.
"The management team, the set-up is unbelievable. They couldn't have us in better shape we had a training weekend in Limerick a couple of weeks ago, it was brilliant. It was very good, we took an awful lot form it, worked on a lot of scenarios. It's given nice weather for the weekend, championshp weather, I can't wait."
Meath have faced Carlow on two occasions already this year and lost both games. In the Kehoe Cup at Kilmessan in January Carlow won, 2-22 to 0-19. Then there was the NHL Div 2A clash in March when Carlow won again, this time by 2-21 to 1-21, a defeat that confirmed Meath's relegation. That was a painful experience but Regan insists that a lot of valuable lessons can be learned from such a setback. Lessons that can be stored away and used to the team's advantage on Saturday.
"I do feel we gave them a hell of a lot of scorable fees in that game and Carlow do have an extremely good freetaker in Martin Kavanagh who scored something like 15 points, nearly them all from frees and '65s'. That's just not good enough, our discipline has to be so much better, he was coming back as far as his own half-back line to score from frees. If we have any chance of beating Carlow we have to brush up on that aspect of our game. Our discipline is something we've been working on so hopefully we can get that right on Saturday."
Regan, of course, is one of the top freetakers himself in the McDonagh Cup, if not the country, regularly clocking up big scores from all sorts of angles and distances. It's a skill he keeps finely honed by unremitting practice.
The 26-year-old Kiltale player is edging ever closer to a decade playing senior for Meath but he has lost none of his hunger and bite for inter-county hurling. He's fully committed to his county's cause.
The fact that Meath are now about to take on Carlow in the championship just a few weeks after playing them in the leauge is something that Regan welcomes. He feels Meath left that league game behind them. Meath are better than they showed that day. He also feels relegation hasn't undermined the team's spirit or morale.
"The fact we have them now in the first-round of the championship is all the sweeter, it give us a chance to get our revenge. We met the Tuesday after that league defeat, small chat about it, that was it, that game was done and dusted. It was about moving on and staying fully focused to get them back for what happened in the league. I don't think relegation is damaging to team morale."
So the chance for redemption beckons for Meath; a chance to finally bury the Carlow hoodoo.