Just how far have Meath come?

Allianz FL Division 3 final

The good stuff first. Promotion to Division 2 has already been secured and, this evening, they have an opportunity for revenge when they travel to Croke Park to face Monaghan in a national final.

That they are seeking revenge at all, however, is a neat introduction to the early difficulties experienced by new manager Mick O’Dowd.

On the opening day of the Division 3 campaign they were hammered by Monaghan, 1-18 to 2-3. In the entire game, they managed two points from open play. The local newspaper described Meath, Leinster finalists just last year, as caught in a ‘Clones cyclone’. Another labelled it a ‘horror show’.

Four and a half games in, things looked even more grim. Another thrashing, this time by Cavan, had followed and, at half-time against Sligo, in Navan, Meath trailed by seven. In the stands, everything was up for discussion, from O’Dowd’s barren CV before taking the job to, perhaps, ill-treatment of previous manager Seamus McEnaney.

Consider the irony then that exactly three weeks later, O’Dowd was savouring promotion at Páirc Tailteann and describing the achievement as “only scratching the surface of what we can achieve”. Even more pointedly, he noted that it was only the tip of the iceberg “of what our ambitions are”.

The turning point of their campaign was that quarter of an hour or so at half-time in the Sligo game. A storming second-half saw Meath outscore Sligo by 12 points to three. They won the game, were boosted by favourable results elsewhere and rode a wave of optimism all the way back to Division 2.

Against Fermanagh in the final round, effectively a shoot-out for promotion, they looked a much more balanced side. Kevin Reilly, Graham Reilly and Stephen Bray took three of the four positions up the spine of the team; centre-back, centre-forward and full-forward. They are the county’s marquee names but didn’t start against Monaghan while only Graham Reilly made it against Cavan.

The Joe Sheridan midfield experiment, which failed so miserably in Monaghan, has been binned. In fact, it is a sign of the changed times that despite playing for Leinster in the Interprovincial series, Sheridan only made the bench against Fermanagh, along with their best player in 2012, Brian Farrell, and Cian Ward.

The fourth part of that spinal column, full-back Bryan Menton, was man of the match in the Sigerson Cup final for DIT. If O’Dowd has gone for experience in the central roles, he has filled the corners and wings with rookie talent. Like Mickey Newman, a gem from the Kilmainham club outside Kells. He shot a blistering 1-5 in the defeat of Fermanagh and has been their find of the season. The other corner-forward, just out of minor, has been Eamonn Wallace, a sprint specialist and medallist at the recent Irish inter-varsity championships.

Caolan Young, David Larkin, Ciaran Lenehan and Donal Keogan (absent this evening due to exams) have their best years ahead too. Midfield continues to confound but with some heavy hitters now available on the bench the screw is slowly turning in O’Dowd’s favour. Exactly how far Meath have come since they last faced Monaghan will become clear this evening.