2014 to Date
Carlow’s league couldn’t have gone any worse. They finished bottom of Division 4, 32nd out of 32 teams in the four leagues. Meath finished 21 places above them as they just missed out on one of the promotion spots.
Carlow drew with London, and beat Antrim in Dr. Cullen Park, however heavy defeats to Tipperary (-19), Wicklow (-14), Clare (-14) and Leitrim (-9) left them rooted to the bottom.
Meath finished third in Division 2, just two points off the league winners Monaghan on 11 points. It was good progression after restoring their Division 2 status at the first attempt in O’Dowds debut year. This spring they opened with a high-scoring win over Galway, before losing heavily to Monaghan away, and to a Jamie Clarke inspired Armagh in Navan. They should have beaten Donegal in Round 4, but Michael Murphy levelled the game with an injury-time free. Meath won their last three games against Laois, Down and Louth to finish on a high.
Team News
Anthony Rainbow will be without Brendan Murphy, Carlow’s best footballer of recent times, due to work commitments with the Army. Their full-forward line of Paul Broderick, Seamus Kinsella and Cathal Coughlan were some of the few bright sparks throughout the league.
Carlow: Pat Coady; Richie Mahon, Shane Mernagh, Barry John Molloy; Graham Power, Daniel St Ledger, Brendan Kavanagh; Hugh Gahan, Darragh Foley; Michael Meaney, Ciaran Moran, David Bambrick; Paul Broderick, Seamus Kinsella, Cathal Coughlan.
Mick O’Dowd was dealt a big blow last week when Conor Gillespie became the latest GAA star to fall foul of a cruciate injury. The midfielders name is added to a growing long-term absentee list; Eamon Wallace, who lit up last years Championship is out, as is another highly-rated 20 year-old, Cillian O’Sullivan. While wing-back Davy Dalton, who starred in last year’s league, but was injured throughout last year’s Championship doesn’t look like he’ll see action this year either.
Shane O’Rourke is playing his first Championship game since the qualifier against Kildare in 2011. Caolan Young is making his championship debut at corner-back. Andrew Tormey is making his first start as is Bryan McMahon, named at centre-forward, although he’ll more than likely swap with Graham Reilly in the full-forward line.
Meath: Paddy O'Rourke; Caolan Young, Kevin Reilly (capt), Mickey Burke; Padraic Harnan, Donal Keogan, Damien Carroll; Brian Meade, Shane O'Rourke; Donncha Tobin, Bryan McMahon, Andy Tormey; Graham Reilly, Stephen Bray, Michael Newman.
2013 Championship
Meath fell short in the Leinster final against Dublin last year, and were knocked out of the qualifiers by Tyrone. They were impressive at times though and could well have beaten Dublin if they had taken their goal chances. Carlow were knocked out in the Leinster preliminary round to Westmeath before losing in Round 1 of the qualifiers to Laois. Their summer was over by June 28th.
Carlow 2013 Championship
- Leinster SFC preliminary Round - Carlow 1-10 3-15 Westmeath
- All-Ireland Qualifiers Round 1 - Carlow 0-12 3-13 Laois
Meath 2013 Championship
- Leinster SFC quarter-final - Meath 1-17 1-12 Wicklow
- Leinster SFC semi-final - Meath Wexford
- Leinster SFC final - Meath 0-14 2-15 Dublin
- All-Ireland Qualifiers Round 4 - Meath 2-09 0-17 Tyrone
2012 Flashback - Leinster SFC quarter-final
There are major changes from both the Meath side managed by Seamus McEneaney and Luke Dempseys Carlow team that drew in 2012. There are nine changes to the Meath team, with just Donal Keogan, Kevin Reilly, Mickey Burke, Donnchadh Tobin, Graham Reilly and Brian Meade retaining their places. For Carlow, just three remain, Daniel St. Ledger, Brendan Kavanagh and Darragh Foley.
2012: Meath 2-21 1-09 Carlow - Leinster SFC quarter-final replay
2012: Meath 1-12 1-12 Carlow - Leinster SFC quarter-final
Talking Points
1) While Meath haven’t made the same progression as Monaghan, but they seem to be on the same road. Mick O’Dowd is building his squad though, and after a big overhaul last year, he’s brought through a number of young talents and it seems to be paying dividends. Can they go that one step further this year in both Leinster and the All-Ireland series?
2) In 2011, Carlow defeated Louth to make their first Leinster semi-final in 53 years. Wexford defeated them that day, and since then they’ve played 5 championship games and lost all five. Their also without their star of the past few years, the former AFL player, Brendan Murphy who is absent due to work duties. Meath are overwhelming favourites, but it was the same situation in 2012, can Carlow repeat that performance and perhaps win?
Watch Out For…
1) The positional changes on the Meath team, many of the players named are interchangeable and their versatility will bode well for future ties if Meath make it through. Donal Keogan will play at centre-back, although he’s been nominated for All-Stars in the corner. Damien Carroll and Donnachadh Tobin could well swap between half-back and half-forward, while Andrew Tormey should play more as a midfielder, with Graham Reilly slipping into wing-forward and Shane O’Rourke occupying centre-forward.
The winners will face Kildare in the SFC Leinster semi-final on June 29th
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