On the right track

There was a time that, once out of Leinster, Championship life finally began for Meath.

Incredibly, after their 21 provincial senior titles, the Royals have only failed five times to win their next game.

The majority of that history pre-dates the qualifiers so winning Leinster, in effect, used to mean a golden pass to the All-Ireland final.

For Meath fans, it is an equally striking but worrying statistic that since the qualifiers were brought in, in 2001, they haven’t managed even once to win their next game after a Leinster decider.

Four times, including this year, Meath have contested provincial finals and the nearest they have come to winning their next game was a draw, in 2001 — though they won the replay and progressed to an All-Ireland final.

It is some turnaround but, clearly, it is the new reality for a Meath team struggling to get back among the game’s elite. They return to Croke Park this evening looking to avoid their third straight defeat on the back of a Leinster final appearance since 2010. For his part, captain Kevin Reilly is optimistic they can finally prove there is life after Leinster.

He says the ‘grieving process’ that followed their provincial decider loss to Dublin almost a fortnight ago is complete and that they are finally ready to flourish beyond provincial boundaries.

“ We’re looking forward to playing Tyrone,” said Reilly. Last year, we only had a six day turnaround after the Leinster final and it was a bit too soon. You’re still trying to process the events gone by. We were definitely still hurting after such a defeat.

“To process it, you need to adapt and to move on. This year, we’ve had two weeks to do that and I really think we’ve moved on.”

The big positive that Reilly is taking from this year’s Leinster final episode is that Meath actually played well, regardless of what a seven point defeat suggests.

Powered by a commanding midfield and a speedy new forward line, they led at half-time and trailed by just three with 10 minutes to go.

“Dublin beat us by three last year — but our performance this year was far better,” continued the Navan O’Mahony’s man.

“We tried to win the game by going for goals late on, rather than taking some of our point chances. So when Dublin counter-attacked and popped over a few scores, it ran the scoreline up a bit.

“But seven points wasn’t a true reflection of how the game went. This one was in the balance until the second goal went in.

“The disappointing thing for me and the rest of the lads was that we were in such a good position. For long periods, we were the ones in control.

“We were playing good football, we were comfortable, very comfortable at times. So that was the real disappointing thing, that we couldn’t finish it out.”

The disappointment has been overcome though and just as well too because Tyrone will require all of their focus.

Full-back Reilly doesn’t need reminding Tyrone are the only team to beat Dublin in League or Championship this year.

By the same token, he deserves to be upbeat because Meath have never lost to Tyrone beneath the summer sun.

Admittedly, they’ve only met twice in the Championship, in 1996 and 2007, but Meath have a 2-0 record.

“I remember 2007, it was a nice sunny day in Croke Park and we got the result,” said the International Rules ace. “We played them last year in the League and they beat us fairly well. We drew with them in the League the year before. They’re an established team, they’ve been around a while. They’ve got some great footballers. We know we’ll be up against it but, after a Leinster final, that’s not a bad thing. You want a match like this to grab your focus.”

Both bosses have made one change to their teams. Meath have drafted in big Joe Sheridan for Peadar Byrne in attack. Ciaran McGinley replaces Aidan McCrory in the Tyrone defence.

The switches won’t affect their game plans because Meath will still go all out attack — and Tyrone will defend for their lives.

“We would have faced this style a lot during the League,” said Reilly. “Cavan and Fermanagh played that way and Monaghan were ultra defensive. You saw it again from them in the Ulster final. So we’re no strangers to that type of game.”