Published: Wednesday, 20th January, 2010 4:59pm

Another away day at Parnell Park

by Fergal Lynch

Meath manager Eamonn O'Brien.
Pic by==: 97

Once again Meath will have to make a journey to the capital to take on Dublin after last week's O'Byrne Cup first round wins pitted the Leinster rivals in a quarter-final battle at Parnell Park on Sunday, 2.0.

The word 'battle' is very appropriate when it comes to early season Meath against Dublin contests. The last time the two sides met outside of the Leinster SFC was in the final round of NFL Div 2 in 2008. An all-out brawl in the early stages of that contest led to suspensions for eight Meath players.

So there is sure to be plenty of spice about Sunday's meeting. Dublin were far from their best when disposing of Wexford by 2-10 to 0-8 on Sunday last, but Meath will not be getting carried away with their 2-13 to 0-13 victory over Longford either as the midlanders were short many regulars.

Meath manager Eamonn O'Brien wasn't too concerned about the level of performance against Longford. He is more focused on getting quality football matches and he is eagerly looking forward to Sunday's trip to Dublin.

"At this time of year it's all about getting football into lads and we need challenges to test a few more players, we intend to do that again next Sunday against Dublin," O'Brien told the Meath Chronicle.

Meath supporters must be wondering if their team will ever get to play Dublin on home soil again.

It is 21 years since Dublin last visited Pairc Tailteann for a clash with the Royal County, but Meath will not view travelling to Parnell Park as an excuse for failure.

O'Brien is likely to continue to mix youth and experience as he seeks to find new talent to add to his panel for the forthcoming NFL and championship campaigns.

The manager will have been pleased with the display of many of his new faces last Sunday. David Lyons looked comfortable in goals while David Dalton and Graham Reilly had excellent outings in defence with the Summerhill man making a significant impact when following his opponent further out the field.

While many of the old reliables including Cormac McGuinness, Seamus Kenny, Peadar Byrne and Joe Sheridan also did well, O'Brien is sure to be pleased with the input of Conor Gillespie, Eoin Gilsenan and Jamie Queeney and they could find themselves back in the line-up.

Dublin too are also likely to continue with their experimental phase of development. They also mixed the familiar with the unknown on Sunday, but had little difficulty in seeing off a poor Wexford side.

Stephen Cluxton, Paul Casey and Eamonn Fennell are likely to get another run out and don't be surprised if some of the leading attackers are brought back earlier than expected for what is sure to be another tough, uncompromising encounter between the two old foes, and one certainly not to be missed.

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