Old rivals meet again in game of high stakes

Louth v Meath; Croke Park, Sunday, 2.0: The stakes are certainly high in the opening game of the Leinster football championship. With Dublin and Laois tucked away in the other half of the draw, this game is seen as the first step to a potential Leinster final.

Not that Louth or Meath are daring to look beyond this one. Their great rivalry has cooled in recent years but both teams have so much to play for tomorrow that this comes with a 100-per-cent guarantee of fervour.

There are several subplots. Eamonn Barry finds himself under some early pressure having taken up the unenviable challenge of replacing Seán Boylan as Meath manager after 23 years. He started well with an O'Byrne Cup victory, but things went off track during the league and Meath ended up relegated. The backroom unease over Graham Geraghty's sudden removal from the panel raised the pressure, and while Geraghty returned, there has to be a question about that relationship.

Geraghty is back in his familiar full-forward role, and Meath definitely have a dangerous forward line built around Peter Curran, Joe Sheridan, Daithí Regan and Brian Farrell. If they start to connect like they did in flashes during the league we could see a vintage Meath performance. But that is probably pushing optimism too far.

Their defence is somewhat less striking and includes the debutant Niall McLoughlin of the Wolfe Tones club. There is experience, though, in the likes of Kevin Reilly and Niall McKeigue. Curran is another player making his first start but he proved his worth during the league, not least with his accurate free-taking.

Young Mark Ward also joins the captain and veteran Nigel Crawford at midfield, while Brendan Murphy gets his chance in goal at the age of 30, having spent several seasons in the lower divisions of English football.

Barry at least got to experiment with plenty of players during the league campaign and the feeling is this is the first-choice team he wanted.

Few teams in the country, however, are more settled right now than Louth.

Manager Eamonn McEneaney announced the same line-up that defeated Donegal to win the Division Two league title after a replay just last Sunday week, with that same line-up also starting in the drawn match and the semi-final win over Limerick.

They lost only once in the league, to Westmeath, when already assured of promotion. And when they are at full strength there is real skill and experience through the team, from full back Colin Goss to midfielder Martin Farrelly and seasoned forwards Mark Stanfield, JP Rooney and Aaron Hoey.

The records say Louth haven't beaten Meath in the championship since 1975, when, incidentally, Terry Lennon and Anthony Hoey, the fathers of current Louth players Shane and Aaron, were in the starting line-up.

What the records don't say is that they've come desperately close a few times since, including the 2002 qualifier match where only late goals from Richie Kealy and Geraghty saved Meath.

Given the events of recent months Louth finally appear equipped to end that run, but even with Boylan gone, you just can't write off Meath. If it comes down to a tight finish they're the ones who will know how to win.

MEATH: B Murphy; N McLoughlin, K Reilly, N McKeigue; S McGabhann, C King, S Kenny; N Crawford, M Ward; P Curran, J Sheridan, P Byrne; D Regan, G Geraghty, B Farrell.

LOUTH: S Reynolds; D Brennan, C Goss, J Carr; J O'Brien, P McGinnity, J Neary; M Farrelly, P Keenan; C Grimes, M Brennan, M Stanfield; JP Rooney, A Hoey, D Clarke.