Meath skipper craves return to Royal highness

MEATH captain Mark O’Reilly accepts that the time has come to start beating the country’s top teams again — laying their Fermanagh bogey to rest this Sunday would be the perfect place to start.

Twice in as many years, Meath’s summer has come to an abrupt end at the hands of the Ulster county in the All-Ireland qualifiers.

And, while Sean Boylan’s team came through Division 2B unbeaten to get to this weekend’s semi-final, O’Reilly accepts that they will have to step up the pace from this week on.