Meath ready for the taking

Meath v Donegal: THE very fact that they are still in the championship makes Meath dangerous but it has been difficult to be overly-impressed by their performances to date.

The team seems to lack the consistency that has characterised the county under Sean Boylan and is struggling in key areas.

Poor against Dublin - despite coming as close as they did prior to the second Cosgrove goal - they were nearly eliminated by Louth and then had the good fortune to be drawn against a Laois team that parodied their potential for 70 minutes, allowing Meath an easy win.

Donegal, on the other hand, have been impressive. From the comprehensive defeat of Cavan to the hard-won battle with Derry to the Ulster final, there has been a good standard of play. Outsized by Armagh they still stayed in touch until the very end when their opponents pulled away.

So where are Meath's problems and can Donegal exploit them? Literally central to the decline has been the retirement of John McDermott and the failure to replace him at centrefield. Nigel Crawford, at his best, is more in the Liam Hayes mould, but at present Meath also need a Gerry McEntee.

Ollie Murphy is not 100 per cent and struggles with injury. Gifted with a goal chance against Laois he obliged, but goals will be harder earned tomorrow. Graham Geraghty has played well, particularly out deep, but to thrive Meath need both him and Murphy jointly spooking defences with their individual attributes and the telepathic understanding they have developed in unison.

Trevor Giles is playing very deep and although capable of sublime touches - the soccer pass to Murphy in Portlaoise brought the house down - isn't controlling games to the extent he can when at his best.

Donegal bring a few things to the table. Up front the combination of Adrian Sweeney and Brendan Devenney has been productive, although the latter wasn't in form against Armagh. Centrefield did surprisingly well against a muscular Armagh pairing and given Meath's discussed frailties in the sector, John Gildea and Jimmy McGuinness may well stretch the cover.

The down side for Donegal concerns a couple of factors. For a start, both Gildea and Sweeney had to be talked out of travelling to the US instead of lining out tomorrow, which has to be regarded - at best - as a disruption of focus. Secondly, captain Mark Crossan is injured and misses the match. The most impressive defender on the team, he will be a major loss if Geraghty and Murphy establish any sort of rhythm.

Despite these distractions, this promises to be a very competitive outing. To what extent Meath on current form can meet the challenge has to be open to doubt.