Meath can return to winning ways against Donegal

If Seamus McEnaney thought he was in for an easy ride when he took over the Leinster SFC champions, he was wrong as all is not well in the Royal County. Next Sunday McEnaney will attempt to inspire Meath to victory over Donegal when the Ulster side come to Pairc Tailteann for a vital NFL Div 2 fourth round clash. It has been a difficult transition for the former Monaghan boss. He came into the job with high hopes, but just seven competitive games into his reign he already has a three and four losing record and is likely to find the going very tough on Sunday against a Donegal side that are unbeaten in the league. That gives the impression that Donegal are formidable, but while they may cause Meath plenty of problems, they are nowhere near as impressive as the tag 'unbeaten' might imply. At one stage against Sligo, Donegal trailed by eight points. It was only when they were reduced to 14 players that they started to fire and they managed to salvage a draw. They scored a 1-10 to 0-6 victory over an emotionally-scarred Tyrone side and in their last outing they played out a drab, low-scoring draw with Kildare. All the indicators point to another close contest on Sunday. Home advantage should help Meath, but they need a major boost in form if they are to maintain their winning ways at home. McEnaney was dealt a further blow with injuries to key players which means he will have to dig deep into the panel he has worked hard to assemble. Definitely out are Kevin Reilly and Graham Reilly (both injured) and Tom Walsh (suspended) following his red card against Antrim. Graham Reilly has been Meath's best forward and Kevin Reilly has looked impressive at the back, but those injuries will open the door for others. "It is sure to be tough against Donegal. There are no easy games in this division and now we have made life difficult for ourselves. We are not playing as well as we would like to be playing," McEnaney told the Meath Chronicle. "We will be without four or five core players, but that will give an opportunity for others to come in and show their worth. Stephen and David Bray are not available to us yet, Peadar Byrne and Tom Walsh are suspended and we have injuries to Kevin Reilly and Graham Reilly while Jamie Queeney is just back in training. "We were very disappointed with the loss to Antrim. We got together the next day and had a chat about the way we played. I'm confident that we will get a positive response against Donegal. "The important thing is that everything is still there to play for. When this division is over there will be very little separating any of the teams so we have to get ourselves back into it," concluded the manager. The vacancy at full-back could allow the manager to give more game time to Bryan Menton. The u-21 star came on for Kevin Reilly against Antrim and once he settled, proved to be a capable defender. Graham Reilly's absence could allow Alan Nestor, Paddy Gilsenan or Cian Ward force their way back into the starting 15. No matter what team McEnaney selects he is sure to demand a higher work rate from his players. The quality of Meath's performance against both Laois and Antrim was not good enough and while Meath did enough to fend off Sligo, there is plenty of room for improvement. Much is expected of the highly-rated forward division Meath possess, but so far they have managed just 2-34 in three games against the so-called minnows of the division. Shane McAnarney's outstanding energy and work-rate will ensure plenty of possession for Meath, but they need to be more clinical and decisive in front of the posts. Meath could re-ignite their NFL Div 2 ambitions with a more disciplined approach in defence and a higher work-rate against Donegal.