Young Meath players don’t have Dublin complex – Costello

The sides face off in Leinster this weekend. 

MAIN MEN: Footballers, from left, Mathew Costello of Meath, Aidan Forker of Armagh, Stephen O’Brien of Kerry and Pat Spillane of Sligo pictured for AIB ahead of the launch of the 2024 GAA All-Ireland Senior Football Championships. Pic:  David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile

Listening to Mathew Costello speak of the Meath-Dublin relationship, that great Tom Morrissey line comes to mind: “We’re not a group burdened by past lives.” But until Meath go and beat Dublin, he wouldn’t dare repeat the Limerick hurler’s words. Until that losing championship run that currently extends to eight defeats, it would sound hollow.

Costello does however counter the idea Meath have been cowed into playing a defensive way to limit the damage Dublin generally cause – the average margin between the teams going back to 2012 is almost 12 points.