Meath's Ronan Jones targetting promotion to Division one after Tailteann Cup glory

"We will still go full steam at it from day one," insists the midfielder.

UP FOR THE CHALLENGE: Ronan Jones of Meath in action against Pat Havern, left, and Daniel Guinness of Down. Photo by Daire Brennan/Sportsfile

Ronan Jones is confident that Tailteann Cup winners Meath can be even better in 2024, insisting they will go 'full steam' at their quest for a return to Division 1.

The Royals turned the corner on a difficult season with a strong tier two campaign to secure a free pass to next year's Sam Maguire Cup competition.

Ambitious boss Colm O'Rourke is already talking about targeting promotion back to the top flight of the National League and a strong 2024 Championship.

Tailteann Cup final goalscorer Jones agrees that they'll be in a strong position to push forward with a talented young panel.

O'Rourke handed Championship debuts to 12 new players but key forward Shane Walsh missed it all through injury while star full-back Conor McGill didn't feature this year and could return.

"Shane Walsh is one who will be back but there are more lads who have been in and around things and also lads who have been away and will be looking at this and seeing the excitement that comes with winning and maybe looking to get back in," said powerful midfielder Jones.

"I know other young lads who are still only 18, 19 and who can hopefully push players on next year too. So it's going to be exciting next year for sure.

"I don't think anyone is going to sit back and say, 'Well, we're in the All-Ireland series next year, we'll use the league to just play around with things'.

"We will still go full steam at it from day one. There's a bit of joy there now from winning the Tailteann Cup but there's still a hell of a lot of tough feelings from the league and with how things went there, and also with the Leinster championship."

Meath's Ronan Jones with Pat Havern of Down

Meath won all six of their Tailteann Cup games to lift the cup and were paraded to several thousands supporters at Pairc Tailteann on Monday night.

But the previous six games failed to yield a single win, resulting in a Division 2 relegation battle and an early exit in Leinster.

"There was definitely a period during the year where it could have went one of two ways; it could have got a hell of a lot worse or it could have been a case of 'this is as low as we go, we're definitely not playing to our potential here'," said Jones. "Thankfully it was the latter and we rebounded."

Dunboyne man Jones counts himself as one of the 'old dogs' in a young group full of former minor stars.

He made his 16th Championship appearance at the weekend while captain Donal Keogan, Padraic Harnan and James McEntee were the only final starters with more than 20 appearances.

Jones' commitment has paid off because his job with Whoop, the fitness tracker wearable, often takes him to the US.

"I was living in Boston for two and a half years. I used to fly back for the odd game. So I'm going back and forth. I was actually in the Whoop headquarters last week, they opened a new office over there, so I only flew back last Thursday morning. It wasn't ideal preparation for the Tailteann Cup. I was down a few hours of sleep but I was looking after myself and I bounced back thankfully."

Jones admitted Monday evening's homecoming and the excitement generated by Meath's silverware success caught him by surprise.

"It did surprise me," he said. "Often when you're playing games and part of the squad, you're a bit isolated from the supporters and the people who are following the county team, people who were there long before I was playing and who will be there long after.

"I was down at the ground on Monday evening a bit early and even at that stage people were walking up in crowds from the town. It's a great feeling, it makes it very enjoyable."