Published: Wednesday, 28th July, 2010 4:51pm

Clear and present danger for Meath in quarter-final

by Fergal Lynch

Meath's Joe Sheridan gets his shot away despite the attentions of Kildare's Emmet Bolton when the side's clashed at Pairc Tailteann in the NFL Div 2 in April.
Pic by==: 97

Meath footballers can look forward to another big day out at Croke Park this weekend when they take on Kildare in the All-Ireland SFC quarter-final.

Meath and Kildare have already clashed this year in the final round of the NFL Div 2 at Pairc Tailteann on Sunday, 11th April when the Royal County won by 1-15 to 0-13.

However, Kildare will go into Sunday's game full of confidence following last Saturday's success against deflated Ulster finalists Monaghan. The momentum of six games in six weeks could have a positive impact.

Conversely, the lack of rest between such high intensity games could also be detrimental to Kildare's chances against a Meath side that enjoyed two weekends free from inter-county action that will have allowed bruised bodies time to heal.

It remains to be seen how Meath will react to their Leinster SFC victory. It is unlikely that the players will let the manner of their win over Louth fester, but that will only be revealed when they cross the white line.

Kildare will probably look at the draw as favourable. Connacht champions Roscommon was the team all the fourth round winners would have wanted, but if they were to have a second choice, they would probably have chosen Meath.

All of the provincial champions would have preferred to avoid Dublin and Cork, so to be paired with Kildare gives Eamonn O'Brien's side a decent chance of booking an All-Ireland SFC semi-final place against either Kerry or Down.

Meath will pinpoint Kildare's frailties that were apparent when they were outclassed by Louth in the Leinster SFC quarter-final at Pairc Tailteann. Louth won that game by 1-22 to 1-16.

Meath will also look to an uninspiring Kildare performance against Antrim which required a replay.

Little can be read into the Lilywhites 1-12 to 0-6 win over Leitrim, but the superb win over Derry and last Saturday's comfortable victory over Monaghan suggests Kildare are on a roll.

They showed some weaknesses in defence when the opposition ran at them. Kildare don't like to be forced onto the backfoot while players like Cian Ward, Stephen Bray, Graham Reilly and Joe Sheridan will relish the prospects of running at them.

Midfield will be an intriguing battle where Dermot Earley and Daryl Flynn will cause problems if Meath fail to fire on all cylinders.

While there are obvious defensive frailties in the Kildare side, much like Meath, it is their attacking unit that has impressed most.

Johnny Doyle has been the Kildare talisman for many years and while he had a poor outing against Monaghan, he can still be a potent threat and will provide a stiff examination for Caoimhin King.

Much of the scoring weight has been placed on Doyle's shoulders, but in recent games James Kavanagh has started to come to the fore and he is turning into one of the finest players in this year's championship.

Kavanagh gave an exhibition against Monaghan and when he clicks he provides an inspiration to those around him.

Meath will look at their summer as a mixed bag. They had the good with a huge win over Dublin, the bad when they were held to a draw by Laois and the ugly when scraping the Leinster SFC final win over Louth.

They need to find a consistency that will set them apart from Kildare. If they perform to the same level as they managed against Dublin, then victory next Sunday will be assured, if they repeat their form from the Louth game they can kiss goodbye to the summer.

The controversy that surrounded the win over Louth disguised a lot of shortcomings for Meath. For the second successive outing they were out-gunned at midfield and defensively against Louth they committed several basic errors.

There was a slight element of complacency ahead of the Louth game. A repeat of that this weekend will give Kildare the initiative.

Meath need to win the midfield battle and the fitness of Nigel Crawford is crucial. If the captain is struggling, then Meath could be in trouble. He is a major driving force for this Meath team and his presence is vital.

O'Brien also needs his forwards to be on fire. Kildare have been involved in a number of high-scoring games this year, but they concede on average 12 points a game and have only kept goals out against Antrim and Leitrim.

If Meath can punish the Kildare weaknesses then they will have one foot in the semi-finals, but more importantly, Meath will need to be watertight at the back.

Chris O'Connor, Kevin Reilly and Eoghan Harrington will have to be at their peak, while King will have his hands full with Doyle.

Kildare have scored 90 points from their six games and have managed five goals.

The danger is clear and present, but Meath have the defensive capability and the attacking finesse to eliminate the threat and secure a place in the last four against either Kerry or Down.

Meath (probable): B Murphy; C O'Connor, K Reilly, E Harrington; A Moyles, G O'Brien, C King; N Crawford, B Meade; S Kenny, J Sheridan, G Reilly; C Ward, S O'Rourke, S Bray.

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