O’Dowd uses break to advantage

Wicklow 1-12 Meath 1-17

The Royals were among four counties who belatedly joined the championship fun over the weekend just gone, six weeks after Leitrim and New York had cut the ribbon in the Bronx and seven after Meath and Monaghan met in the Division 3 final.

O’Dowd’s reasoning was solid enough: with a new management team and an evolving squad that boasted some less than familiar faces, the more time they had to prep for this initial audition the better.