Meath hurlers hit by absentees

ATTEMPTS by new Meath hurling manager TJ Reilly to cobble a team together for next Sunday"s Kehoe Cup encounter at home against Down have been seriously hampered by a combination of flu, injuries and players on holidays. 'My main concern at the moment is getting a panel together for Sunday"s game. There"s a serious flu going around, a lot of players who I had wanted to include have been hit by it and hopefully they can recover during the week,' he said. Neil Hackett, who was the only Meath player selected on the Christy Ring Cup team for 2008, Stephen Quinn and Noel Kirby are among those who were hit by flu although they could recover in time to take their place against the Mournemen. Enda Keogh is out injured while Padraig Geoghegan, Tony Fox, Stephen Forde and Sean Heavey are just some of the other players unavailable as they continue their travels in Australia. Alan Ryan and David Crimmins will not be available for Sunday"s game at least. Also missing are the Kilmessan players as they continue their preparations for an All-Ireland Club IHC semi-final and the Kiltale contingent have also been ruled out for the moment at least as Moynalvey go in search of glory in the All-Ireland Club JFC. One player who has announced that he will be available for selection is the long-serving Mike Cole who looks poised to embark on another year of inter-county hurling. Cole has been one of Meath"s most loyal servants since the early 1990s and his experience and ability will be important assets as Reilly attempts to lead his team out of Div 3 and win the Nicky Rackard Cup. Just some of the others likely to feature this year include Enda Fitzgerald, Paul Fagan, Andrew Snowe, Barry Slevin, Michael Foley, Kieran Dunphy and Derek Muldoon. Whatever Meath team takes the field against Down is sure to have a very experimental look about it as Reilly seeks to get his term in charge off to a winning start. Up to 28 players turned up for a training session on Sunday however, many of them are part of the u-21 set up and have no experience of playing at senior inter-county level. Reilly has yet to finalise who his selectors will be as he attempts to put in place the backroom team ahead of the NHL Div 3 campaign that is scheduled to get underway against Kildare next month. No longer chairman of the Hurling Committee Reilly opted to take over as hurling boss after his predecessor John Andrews stepped down in November saying that he could no longer work with members of the Co Committee. Reilly has a major task on his hands in rebuilding Meath"s crumbling fortunes and he has identified a return to the Christy Ring Cup as his main priority for the coming season. 'If Kilmessan go well in their All-Ireland competition we won"t have their players for the start of the National Hurling League. Our priority really is the Rackard Cup, to win that and get back into the Christy Ring Cup. The first task is to get the morale going, more than anything else,' he added.