Best enemies braced for battle royal

THE times, they are a-changing. Only two years have passed since Dublin and Meath last clashed in the Leinster Championship, but the teams that do so again tomorrow will be radically different entities to the 2007 versions.

So many of the actors who have dominated the stage throughout recent meetings have retired or been demoted to the role of understudies. Men who had come to personify this rivalry.

None did so more than Ciarán Whelan and Graham Geraghty. Both were players the opposing fans just loved to hate, yet Whelan will watch the game, initially at least, from the bench, Geraghty from the stands.