Meath's time to even the score

Brian Stafford's clearest memory of Meath's 1986 All-Ireland semi-final loss against Kerry is Ger Power's goal.

"You might recall that a long ball went in and three of our defence - Joe Cassells, Mick Lyons and Mickey McQuilllan - collided in the goal-mouth and the ball fell to Ger, who basically had an open shot. I think, in fact, it might have been me that lost the ball around centre-field before it went in. Bomber Liston tackled me, as far as I remember."

Stafford can chuckle about it now. A lot has happened in the 15 years since. Back then, Meath were just enjoying the novelty of their first Leinster championship since the mid-60s.

"It was a novelty to us and we were just enjoying the idea of playing Kerry in a match of that magnitude. Of course, there was an aura of invincibility about Kerry then as they had brought the game to a new level. But, while we gave them respect, I don't think we were overawed by them at all."

A trawl through contemporary press clippings confirms as much. In The Irish Times the next morning, Paddy Downey wrote that, Meath would have beaten any other team in Ireland yesterday.

The feeling was, however, that for all their fine approach-work, Meath lacked for killer instinct, twice relinquishing hard-earned leads. It is a characteristic that the county has long since left behind. After the defeat, Seβn Boylan addressed the Kerry dressing-room and expressed the hope that his own team had learned from this.

"I think we definitely did, it showed us that we were capable of competing with the best in the country and we had the composure and maturity to go on and win the All-Ireland the following season," says Stafford.

That 1986 All-Ireland semi-final marked a changing of the guard in many respects. Meath has been the pre-eminent gaelic football county since that time. But given Kerry's re-emergence in the mid-90s and Meath's consistency, the fact that this Sunday's match bridges a gap that stretches back to that 1986 occasion is hard to fathom.

"Definitely," says Stafford, "and for me, it gives the game real potential, I think it has the makings of a real classic encounter. It's only natural that both counties would be keen to get one over on the other.

"After 1986, that Kerry team disbanded and Cork enjoyed a period of dominance and their rivalry with us became the main thing. The Ulster period followed that. But this current Kerry side is as good as has been seen for a long time."

So has Seβn Boylan spent the last decade and a half yearning for a renewal of rivalries with Kerry?

"No, I wouldn't go that far," says Stafford. "Seβn is very diplomatic and simply takes every game as it comes and plans for it accordingly. But, once the draw was made, he probably would have relished it for the challenge it undoubtedly is and, of course, he would now like to have a championship win against Kerry on his record." Stafford's career as one of the most immaculate inter-county place-kickers of modern times began the year after the 1986 loss. His utter implacability was one of the most memorable features of that dynamic Meath squad of the 1986-'91 era.

On Sunday, he will enjoy the routines of two of the finest free-takers in the current game, Kerry's Dara ╙ CinnΘide and Trevor Giles and feels their percentages could have a major bearing on the outcome.

"But really, I think it is very hard to predict. Kerry will go in as favourites, they have been tipped to win the thing all year but I am hopeful that if Meath dig deep enough, we can keep it going."

1986 All-Ireland Semi-Final

KERRY: C Nelligan; P ╙ SΘ, S Walsh, M Spillane; T Doyle (0-1), T Spilane, G Lynch; J O'Shea (0-1), A O'Donovan; J Kennedy, D Moran (0-1), P Spillane (0-2); M Sheehy (0-4, 2 frees), E Liston (0-2), G Power (1-0). Substitutes: W Maher (1-1), for Kennedy (31 mins), T O'Dowd for O'Donovan (54 mins), M Galway for Liston (66 mins).

MEATH: M McQuillan, J Cassells, M Lyons, P Lyons; C Coyle, L Harnan, T Ferguson (0-1, free), L Hayes (0-2, frees), G McEntee; F Murtagh (0-1), B Stafford, D Beggy; C O'Rourke (0-2), M O'Connell (0-1), B Flynn (0-5, 4 frees). Substitutes: PJ Gillic for Beggy (52 mins).