Opening victory a possibility

Meath will be without the suspended Brian Meade when they face Armagh in the first round of this year's NFL on Saturday evening.

With all the tinkering and toying with team selections out of the system during what was an exciting O'Byrne Cup campaign, Meath will return to NFL Div 2 action on Saturday evening with a familiar look about them when they tackle Armagh at Pairc Tailteann, 7.30. The game will also be televised live on Setanta Sports 1.

The O'Byrne Cup served its purpose by unearthing new talent for manager Eamon O'Brien, but last Sunday's disappointing semi-final defeat by DCU will have raised some fresh fears regarding quality.

Meath struggled to turn their supremacy into scores against the students who showed 13 changes from the team that defeated Offaly the previous week. A repeat of such profligacy in front of goals next Saturday could make for an embarrassing night at Pairc Tailteann for the Royals.

Of the new faces, Summerhill's Davy Dalton and Conor Gillespie, Na Fianna's Ollie Lewis, St Patrick's Niall Mooney and Rathkenny's James Macken are probably best placed to receive further opportunities during the league. Jamie Queeney enhanced his growing reputation with a brilliant three-game run that yielded 2-13 and is sure to figure against Armagh.

O'Brien will also be pleased to have got game-time into Nigel Crawford and Cian Ward and with Brian Meade set to miss the opening two games because of suspension it will mean a hastier return to competitive action than expected for Crawford with Mark Ward, Damien Sheridan and Gillespie all vying to partner the Dunboyne man.

Meath have plenty of options in attack despite the hamstring injury that will force Joe Sheridan to miss out. Queeney has made himself an almost automatic choice with a string of brilliant displays and with Cian Ward, Stephen and David Bray and Peadar Byrne all set to start up front it should leave for an interesting battle for places when everyone returns to full fitness.

This time last year O'Brien was embarking on his first league campaign as manager and was wary about raising expectations, but this time around, after a run to the All-Ireland SFC semi-final and impressive performances against Dublin in the O'Byrne Cup, much is expected of Meath, starting with Saturday's game against Armagh.

"Next Saturday evening against Armagh will be as close to championship football as you can get," the manager told the Meath Chronicle.

"Hopefully we will get a good crowd and a good night with decent conditions so we can play good football.

"Every time we go out on the field we want to win and I'm disappointed that we didn't win against DCU. It is an awful feeling when you don't win.

"We have a few injuries. Seamus Kenny and Eoghan Harrington picked up knocks in the draw against Dublin, but hopefully they will be okay. Anthony Moyles and Joe Sheridan won't be in the reckoning for next weekend, but we should have everyone else available," said the manager.

Armagh's stand-in captain Brendan Donaghy is refusing to make any bold predictions, insisting that they will be taking it one game at a time.

"We'll not be saying 'we have to get promoted this year' or 'we have to do this or that' - we'll just go out and do whatever we can to win and then look forward to the next game. I wouldn't be looking too far ahead, talking about winning this or that, but we'll definitely be trying to win every game," said Donaghy.

"Ciaran McKeever would walk onto any team, along with Andy Mallon and Aaron Kernan and there's boys the same age as myself, James Lavery, Charlie Vernon, and there's good forwards in there like Stevie McDonnell and Ronan Clarke. There definitely is a hell of a team to work with. The talent is definitely there," he added.

Armagh will come to Navan with a victory over Meath in last year's league to boost their confidence. However, the Orchard County are very much in transition and rely heavily on the impact of Clarke and McDonnell.

That duo will test the Meath rearguard that are still looking for a mainstay full-back in Kevin Reilly's continued absence while Maurice Kennedy faces a lengthy spell on the sideline with the knee injury he sustained in the replay against Dublin.

Meath should have enough in their tank to get the league off to a winning start. It will be tough, but Saturday night's opponents know each other well and Meath might have the edge.

Meath (probable)

Paddy O'Rourke; David Dalton, James Macken, Eoghan Harrington; Shane McAnarney, Cormac McGuinness, Mickey Burke; Nigel Crawford, Conor Gillespie; Peadar Byrne, Stephen Bray, Seamus Kenny; David Bray, Jamie Queeney, Cian Ward.