Old school rules okay with Reilly and Royals

Graham Reilly believes Meath can punch a hole deep into the All-Ireland championship by playing a traditional brand of open football at odds with the massed defences increasingly favoured in the modern game.

Mick O’Dowd’s side have bettered Wicklow and Wexford in the Leinster championship and scored 1-35 in the process with a style that bears no resemblance to some of the stultifying football being played elsewhere.

Ulster, in particular, has embraced the more pragmatic approach with even a previously free-flowing and exuberant Down side adopting the tactics to good effect against Donegal in Cavan last month.