Back door has proved hazardous

It"s not a road that is well travelled by Meath, but next Saturday night Eamonn O"Brien will set off down the All-Ireland SFC qualifiers route again with what should be a simple enough task against Waterford in Pairc Tailteann. Only once in the nine-year run of the qualifiers have Meath not been involved in the lottery and that was in the first year of the initiative when they made it to the All-Ireland final as Leinster champions before being hammered by back door boys, Galway. Ever since, Meath have had to negotiate the tricky backwaters of the qualifiers and it hasn"t been a happy hunting ground, apart from the great success in reaching the All-Ireland SFC semi-final in 2007 and to a lesser extent losing out to Donegal in the final round of qualifiers in 2002. With the exception of the defeat by Cork in the semi-final two years ago Meath have been dumped out of the All-Ireland race by teams they should have realistically expected to beat, but traditionally they managed to overcome the bigger sides. In the qualifiers Meath have enjoyed wins over Galway, Tyrone and Down, but almost came unstuck against sides like Leitrim while losing to Fermanagh (twice), Cavan, Laois and more disappointingly to Limerick. It seems that Meath struggle against weaker teams and they won"t come across much weaker than next Saturday"s opponents Waterford. For that reason alone any complacency or negative attitude needs to be wiped from the minds. Waterford may have operated from NFL Div 4, but they did manage a few notable results in that campaign and created a bit of a winning habit that saw them score four wins and a draw from their eight games. The farcical 23-point win over Kilkenny can be discarded as any proof of the strength of Waterford football, but the wins over Carlow and Clare would indicate a decent level, while the draw with Wicklow, who pushed Westmeath all the way in the Leinster SFC, suggests they will be no walkovers. It should be made clear that none of the opposition Waterford faced in the league was of Meath"s standard and the Deise"s 14-point hammering by Cork in the Munster SFC quarter-finals could be a clearer indication of their strength. Some Meath supporters are demanding a 15-20 point win for their side on Saturday, but against Cork, Waterford proved for long periods that they were no pushovers, while against Dublin, Meath indicated that the fight might not be in the belly. Don"t be fooled into believing that Meath will be anything less that 100 per cent prepared for the challenge that will be offered by Waterford. The memory of the humiliation in Limerick 12 months ago is still fresh and no one will want a repeat of that fiasco. The loss to Dublin in the Leinster SFC was a disappointing defeat, but realistically few gave Meath any chance in that game prior to throw-in. What was frustrating is that Dublin played so poorly and Meath failed to take advantage. There were some glimpses of good performances during a mediocre league campaign, but against Dublin, Meath produced their worst performances of the year and let a game that was there for the taking slip through their fingers. There were many mistakes made that day, both by the players and the management, but hopefully lessons have been learned and the rehabilitation process can began in earnest in Navan on Saturday night. It is likely that O"Brien and his selectors Donal Curtis and Robbie O"Malley will opt to field a full-strength side and avoid taking any unnecessary risks. However, a number of players are carrying significant knocks with Stephen Bray less than 50-50 to figure. If Bray is not 100 per cent fit then this may be the opportunity not to risk him, but O"Brien might not want to take any chances. Kevin Reilly, Barry Regan, Anthony Moyles and Cian Ward are all carrying minor knocks, but should be OK and substitute goalkeeper David Gallagher has withdrawn from the panel due to his persistent back issue. So apart from Stephen Bray the manager should have a full deck to choose from. With most players available the selection will be scrutinised because it was felt that the positioning of some players out of their comfort zone contributed to the loss against Dublin and players need to revert to their best positions. The one who suffered most from being played out of position was Niall McKeigue. The tidy and tenacious corner-back was given a torrid time at centre-back by Alan Brogan and could revert to his more traditional number two role. That would allow Moyles take up the troublesome centre-back role. Turning Caoimhin King back into a defender should also be a priority. The Dunshaughlin man was like a fish out of water at full-forward so a return to wing-back with Joe Sheridan filling the void at full-forward might be the best option. With King back in defence that could free up Seamus Kenny to take up a more attacking role as wing-forward with Brian Meade missing out or maybe taking over from Mark Ward in a midfield that mis-fired badly against Dublin. No matter what team selection or tactics are employed Meath cannot afford any more mistakes. Waterford will come to Navan with nothing to play for, while Meath are in a no win situation. If Meath win easily and in good style then the critics will say 'ah well, it was only Waterford", but if Meath win narrowly or even worse, lose, then Meath football will have plummeted to new lows and the reverberations will be felt for years. Possible Meath team - Paddy O"Rourke; Niall McKeigue/Chris O"Connor, Kevin Reilly, Eoghan Harrington; Cormac McGuinness, Anthony Moyles, Caoimhin King; Mark Ward/Brian Meade, Nigel Crawford; Shane McAnarney, Cian Ward/Peadar Byrne, Seamus Kenny; Cian Ward/David Bray, Joe Sheridan, Brian Farrell.