Meath to find telling response

Croke Park, 3.45

Tomorrow, Meath come face-to-face with the team which deposed them last year in an exhilarating afternoon's football, a plaudit not greatly qualified by Meath's secondrate defence stripped by injury and suspension. What makes the match slightly different is that the market for Meath isn't as convinced as might have been thought.

Offaly's manager Tommy Lyons was of the view as soon as the draw was made that his team would be able to creep into this match as rank outsiders with all the spotlight on Meath. It hasn't worked out that way and Offaly have recently added the League title to their Leinster crown - leaving Meath as the team entering the fray with relatively little hype behind them.

Against Offaly is the poor record of League winners in the following championship. Kerry did the double last year but didn't have to play topranked contenders for nearly four months after winning the NFL. Offaly are doing it in four weeks.

Assessing last August's Leinster final brings a couple of items to mind. Firstly, Meath's defence was under-strength and it was there that Offaly did the damage. Secondly, at the other end of the pitch the team scored quite well in amassing 1-15.

It is arguable that Meath are now stronger in both sectors, with their first-choice set of full backs restored and the promising Raymond Magee brought into the attack, plus the return of the erratic Graham Geraghty who was suspended for last year's match.

Although their progress in the NFL has obscured the point, Offaly can't guarantee last year's performance. Peter Brady's loss has been accepted for a long time, but it remains a severe blow as his ability to swing over points from whatever rations he is served is important on tense, big-match occasions.

Offaly will probably strip the attack and isolate Roy Malone and Vinny Claffey on the inside. Claffey, named Eircell Player of the Month for May, has been in exceptional form and Malone has been coming back to his best, but Darren Fay and whoever accompanies him, Mark O'Reilly or Donal Curtis, will not be unnerved by the open space.

Meath could actually be helped by such a tactic because a centrefield that resembles the Tokyo underground at rush-hour will negate the potential impact of John McDermott's worrying lack of form. With Jimmy McGuinness and Trevor Giles hovering on the Meath half-line and Sean Grennan and Ciaran McManus coming from the other side, congestion is likely.

At the other end, Offaly are risking a new full back, John Ryan, with only one match - albeit a successful NFL final - behind him and Barry Malone who coped well with a previously rampant Brendan Reilly last year but whose confidence has hardly been enhanced by being dropped for the League final and brought in because of injury to the in-form David Foley. It is also an area where Meath have proven scorers in Tommy Dowd and Reilly.

Question marks also hang over Meath's half-back line. Like John Ryan for Offaly, Barry Callaghan at centre back for Meath (assuming he can manage with his injured finger) is a new departure and one that will cause trouble if it goes wrong.

More questions than obvious answers on either side, but Meath are taken to upset the formbook and find the more telling response.

Seated accommodation at tomorrow's Offaly-Meath Leinster Championship double bill at Croke Park is all-ticket. A number of tickets for the upper deck of the New Stand will be on sale tomorrow at 11.00 in the shop opposite Ceannarus on Jones's Road. All other stand tickets have been sold.