O'Neill seeks to get off to a winning start
NATIONAL CAMOGIE LEAGUE PREVIEW
This weekend, Anton O'Neill will take charge of Meath camogie senior side for the first time having previously been part of the backroom team in 2023 alongside Brendan Skehan, writes Tom Gannon
The Kilmessan native will be delighted if he can replicate or better what his former mentor achieved with the Royals in 2023. O'Neill's journey starts on Saturday against Armagh in the opening round of the Div 2A Camogie National League.
Newly promoted Armagh presents somewhat of an interesting challenge to Meath in that the Royals are relatively unfamiliar with the opposition. One member of this Armagh set-up that O'Neill and Meath will be familiar with though is the man wearing the Bainisteoir bib. PJ O'Mullen was in charge of Derry when they defeated Meath in the All Ireland Intermediate final replay in 2023.
This Meath side should have too much for an Armagh team that are lacking experience at this level. However, O'Neill and Meath can't take anything for granted as they are well aware of what O'Mullen is capable of as a manager.
Looking beyond the Armagh contest, Meath faces a trickier task in round two against the side that were relegated from Div 1B in 2024, Kerry. Meath can take some confidence from the fact that the last time the sides met, back in July, it was Meath who came away with the win in Rathmolyon. However this time around, Meath will have to make the long journey to Kerry and that may prove to be too tough an ask for the Royal Camogs.
After their trip to the Kingdom, Meath face into two games that will most likely make or break their league campaign for 2025.
A tough away fixture against the side that knocked them out of the 2024 championship, Offaly, is followed by the renewal of a rivalry with old foes and runner-ups in the league last year, Derry.
If O'Neill's side can come away with two victories from those two encounters, it will be crucial to their chances of qualifying for a league final. Similarly, dropped points here could be detrimental to their hopes of promotion.
Their final game of the league will be against a Carlow side that Royals know relatively well. Meath have had Carlow's number on the last few meetings of the sides and if they do need a result against them for whatever reason, they can be confident in the knowledge that should be able to come away from their final league fixture with a victory.
On paper, the division looks quite competitive this year. A third-place finish and above would be a good result, but the Royals know they are capable of giving this league campaign a good rattle.