Big challenge for Meath teams in local league

One of the big questions that looms large over the local soccer scene ahead of a new Meath & District League season is: can the dominance exerted by the Louth clubs in the Premier League be broken by one of the Meath teams? There are other issues that will be resolved during the coming campaign which will kick-off in earnest this week. Can, for instance, Navan Cosmos do what they looked like they were going to go for so long last season and push on to win the Div 1 title? Who will claim the honours in what appears to be a super competitive Div 2 and how will the new-look Div 3 work out? In Div 4 there's a slew of new teams and there will be an interest in how big an impact they make. The first full series of league fixtures get underway in the top three divisions on the week ending Sunday, 6th September. Some league games may be played on week ending Sunday, 30th August. Before all the league action starts teams have a chance to fine-tune their form in shield competitions. But back to the Premier. Trim Celtic showed in 2007 that the control enjoyed by the Louth clubs can be broken. The success of the Trim side, however, was a rare break in the otherwise vice-like grip clubs from the Wee County have exerted in the MDL's top flight. The Royal County side that looks most likely to make that all so difficult breakthrough is Duleek. After finishing fourth last season they appear poised to push on and take that extra step up. There have been some significant changes in the club over the summer with co-managers Terry Cashin and Gary Duff stepping back to make way for Pat Reilly to take the reins. Reilly is a Balbriggan man who coached at Dundalk and Athlone Town. Duleek can't be accused of taking it too easy over the close season. They have been back training since early July and have engaged in a number of friendlies. They also hosted the annual James O'Connell / John McKenna tournament although they lost to Rock Celtic, one of their great rivals for the Premier crown. They will hope that is not a sign of things to come. Included in the Duleek first team squad will be Ian Devine who chalked up close to 40 goals for the reserves last season. Duleek, under Brendan McKeown, went on to win the Premier Reserve title with Devine's goals a huge factor in that achievement. Chris Jein, who missed a large chunk of last season because of injury, is back ready for selection and there's plenty of experience in the side provided by the likes of Bryan Murphy, Chris Dowd, Paul Dowd and Derek Cummins. They have kept most of their squad from last term although James Guilfoyle has moved on to Drogheda Town. "We will be hoping to push on and maybe challenge the likes of Woodview and Rock, they still look to be the teams to beat, although it will be difficult," added McKeown. Only three Meath sides are in the Premier shake up this season - Duleek, Trim Celtic and Torro. Under former Slane Wanderers boss Joe Price, Torro, only secured promotion from the MDL Div 1 on the last day of the season. Torro have a mixture of seasoned campaigners such as Colin Leonard and Keith Farrell as well as youngsters emerging from the club's healthy under-age set up. Last season the Torro u-17s won the league and cup double under Peter Glynn and a few of their players have graduated to the first team. Despite the infusion of new blood Torro will do well to consolidate their place back with the big boys. Trim Celtic's Challenge Cup run distracted them from the league last season and they were fortunate to avoid the drop. They have a new manager this season with Dubliner Brian McCreery taking over from Dom Martin. They have not significantly added to their squad and have basically the same team that won the title in 2007. "Our league form wasn't great although the cup run did provide some light at the end of the tunnel for us," added Trim Celtic secretary John Kelly. Navan Cosmos will look to put last season's disappointment behind them and claim the Div 1 title although a few other teams will also be looking to lift the silverware including arch rivals Navan Town. Kentstown Rovers, Kells Celtic and OMP Utd are just some of the other teams that could bag the Div 2 crown while Div 3 has been divided up into two regional sections. Two teams will emerge from each section and be involved in a play-off to decide what team goes up. A sizeable contingent of new teams make up Div 4 including Drogheda outfits Dynamo Drogheda, Glen Abbey Rovers, Lourdes Celtic as well as BJD Celtic from Ballyjamesduff. They all bring with them an unknown factor into the mix. Plenty of drama promised as a new season gets underway.