Injury woes for Meath hurlers

When the draw for the Nicky Rackard Cup paired Meath with an away tie against holders Sligo it was a fixture that not too many people outside the relatively compact circle of Royal County hurling really noticed. The fact that Sligo are the current Nicky Rackard Cup holders may also have escaped the notice of the many Gaels who might consider making the two-hour trip into the north west next Saturday as a kind of appetiser for the Leinster SFC showdown between Meath and Dublin at Croke Park on Sunday. Sligo have made steady progress in the last few years, apart from winning the Nicky Rackard Cup last year, they also won the NHL Div 4 this year when they defeated Monaghan by 1-13 to 2-8 after extra-time in the curtainraiser at Breffni Park to the NHL Div 3A final between Meath and Kildare. Sligo managed 16 wides in that game and will be anxious to improve on that statistic when they face Meath at Markievicz Park, 3.30 on Saturday. Sligo should not be taken lightly however and in full-forward Keith Raymond, they have a promising 21-year-old who was the only non-Galway player on the Connacht team for the Inter-Provincial final against Leinster in Abu Dhabi where Meath"s Stephen Clynch featured for Leinster. Raymond played at midfield and managed to get on the scoresheet. He could pose a serious threat to a Meath full-back line in which Enda Fitzgerald will probably have the job of policing the Calry / St Joseph"s player. The men from the Yeats County also boast a Kilkenny hurler in their ranks in the form of Colin Herity who plays his club hurling with Dunnamaggin. He scored 31 points in the qualifiyng series of games on the way to the Div 4 final. Add in Galway duo Walter Gill (Turloughmore) and Joe Bannerton (Ahascragh) and the Sligo men begin to look more solid. 'We are defending the Nicky Rackard Cup and that puts a bit of pressure on us, but Meath will be expected to win on Saturday,' Sligo Hurling Board secretary Brian McCann told the Meath Chronicle. 'There are only six hurling clubs in Sligo and we know that we will have to step up our performance to have any chance against Meath, but we are doing well and a win would be a tremendous boost for us,' he added. Meath manager TJ Reilly was quick to recognise the progress which Sligo has made recently. 'The people behind hurling in Sligo are putting in a massive effort to develop the game and they have to be admired for that,' Reilly told the Meath Chronicle. 'You can see the results of all that commitment, they won the Nicky Rackard Cup last year and they won the NHL Div 4 at the beginning of May when they beat Monaghan at Breffni Park. 'We will be expected to beat Sligo and any other result would be a big disappointment for us, if we can get our strongest team on the field, then we should win. 'Sligo will look at this game as an opportunity to gauge their standard, if they could beat us, then that would be a big boost for them, they have nothing to lose in one sense. 'We are coming down from the Christy Ring Cup and all the teams will want to beat us, so it won"t be easy on Saturday,' he added. However, Meath face a stern challenge to field their strongest team with injuries set to make selection difficult for the manager. 'We have a lot of injuries and I"m hopeful that they will all clear up in time for this game,' commented Reilly. 'Neil Hackett is very doubtful, Nicky Horan picked up an injury against Rathmolyon last week, Stephen Clynch is also struggling, Jimmy Boyle has a dead leg, but is on the way to recovery, Denis O"Neill of Gaeil Cholmcille injured his hand last week and Gary McNally from Kildalkey was injured against Na Fianna. 'All those problems could provide an opportunity for some of the younger players and it could happen that we will end up fielding a very inexperienced team. 'We also have Mike Cole back in the panel along with Kevin Dowd and we may have to use them if things are not going well for us. 'Some of the younger players who might get a chance would be Philip Garvey from Kiltale and Killyon"s Ray Massey, then we also have Barry Slevin and Padraig Keogh to consider. 'We brought the panel to Tipperary at the weekend where we had a coaching day and a game on Sunday, I think the biggest problem any of the players might have had afterwards was with sunburn as it was the hottest day of the year, but it went well. 'We played Lucan Sarsfields in Dublin last week in a challenge game, so we are as well prepared as possible, but defeat in Sligo would be viewed as a poor result for us,' he concluded. If Meath were to lose they would have another chance in a losers" group which would give them an opportunity to get back into the competition through a quarter-final. When the sides met in a league tie at Pairc Tailteann about four years ago Meath coasted to victory. Expect another win on Saturday. Nicky Rackard Cup Saturday, 6th June (3.30) - Roscommon v Fingal at Athleague; Sligo v Meath at Markievicz Park; Armagh v London at Athletic Grounds; Louth v Monaghan at Dundalk. Saturday, 13th June - Group A: the first round winners go into an open draw and play each other in two quarter-finals; Group B: the first round losers go into an open draw and play each other for two quarter-final places. Saturday, 20th June - The two group A losers play the two Group B winners in the remaining quarter-finals. Saturday, 27th June - semi-finals. Saturday, 4th July - final.