Meath face tough test in Newry

Meath minor footballers will go into Sunday's All-Ireland MFC quarter-final against Tyrone at Newry, 7.15, as outsiders after a disappointing result in the provincial decider against Dublin two weeks ago at Croke Park. That 12-point reversal (1-11 to 3-17) defeat by Dublin was only Meath's second defeat this year, they also lost to Dublin in the Leinster MFL decider at Páirc Táilteann However, Meath manager Andy McEntee can adopt a positive attitude ahead of Sunday evening's trip to Páirc Esler where Meath will feature in a double-header with Dublin tackling Monaghan in the curtainraiser. McEntee has always claimed that a place in the Leinster MFC decider was the target for 2012, but by achieving that it also meant that a quarter-final ticket in the All-Ireland series would be achieved. McEntee has no injury worries ahead of the big game and will be hoping that his players can produce a match-winning performance next Sunday evening. "We played Tyrone earlier this year in a challenge game, but we were assessing players and so were the Tyrone selectors, so I wouldn't read too much into the fact that we won narrowly," McEntee told the Meath Chronicle. "This will be a tough game for us, Tyrone have achieved in Ulster what Dublin did in Leinster, won the league and championship, so it won't be an easy assignment for us. "It's a great opportunity for our players to go out and put the record straight after the disappointment of the Leinster final and if they do then we won't be too far off the mark," he added. Twelve months ago Meath faced Tipperary at the same stage of the championship and lost that game in Portlaoise against a team that went on to defeat Dublin in the All-Ireland decider. Now Meath face another stern challenge against the Ulster champions who recorded a hard-earned 0-14 to 1-8 final victory against Monaghan. That was Tyrone's 23rd provincial minor title, but they had to dig deep for that Clones victory. Tyrone were ahead by 0-8 to 1-4 at the interval against Monaghan and the teams were level three times in the second-half in what turned out to be an absorbing contest. Tyrone managed a late flourish with points from Mark Bradley and Kieran McGeary for a victory that keeps a winning run intact. Bradley will be one of the players that Meath will have to mark tightly and it's likely that Simonstown's Shane Gallagher will be handed that task. If Meath hope to advance to the last four they will have to produce a performance similar to the one they delivered against Westmeath in the semi-final where they showed some fine battling qualities. For Meath, players of the calibre of Cillian O'Sullivan, Fiachra Ward and Barry Dardis (pictured) will shoulder most of the scoring responsibilities while at the back, Ratoath's Brian Power can exert a lot of influence and help the Royals to what would be a morale-boosting victory against a top-rated Ulster side. Apart from winning the Ulster MFC, Tyrone also captured the Ulster MFL, a competition Meath played in regularly until two years ago when a similar competition was introduced in Leinster. Between championship and league, Tyrone will be bidding for a 10th successive victory and while it will be tough for Meath, the players certainly have the ability to advance to the All-Ireland semi-finals, but they will have to perform to their best to remain in contention.