First away game in NHL Div 2B for Meath on Sunday

Another victory will be the only acceptable result for Meath when they travel to the village of Athleague on Sunday to tackle Roscommon in the third round of the NHL Div 2B.

The Connacht men are joint-bottom of the table with Mayo after defeats by Wicklow and Down, but Meath manager Martin Ennis will be adopting a cautious approach to this encounter for a number of reasons.

The first will be the fact that Roscommon made the long trip to Ballycran two weeks ago and while they lost, they were only edged out by five points in what was a high-scoring encounter.

It's a well known fact that Ballycran is not an easy venue for an away team to gain a victory, something Ennis and the Meath players can attest to in recent years.

Secondly, there has never been much between Meath and Roscommon at the tight Athleague venue and thirdly, last year in the Christy Ring Cup Antrim found the going fairly difficult against Roscommon.

However, it would be a major surprise if a third successive Meath victory is not achieved.

On the minus side, from the manager's perspective, he is likely to be without dual player James Toher who was available for the second round victory against Derry, but was at midfield for the footballers against Down last Saturday night.

With Meath set to host Galway in a crucial NFL Div 2 tie at Páirc Tailteann on Sunday, it's likely that Toher will be required for that game.

That will force the manager to select a new midfield partner for Kiltale's Anthony Forde for the third successive game as Toher deputised for the injured Joey Keena in the win against Derry.

Keena is facing at least another month on the sideline while Ratoath's Darragh Kelly is also a few weeks away from a return to action.

There is better news about Kiltale's Mark O'Sullivan as he is now back in contention for a starting place and may be on the bench for the trip to Athleague.

Damien Healy should also be available after his exertions with IT Carlow last weekend in the Fitzgibbon Cup final, but he was nursing a couple of knocks after the victory against Derry.

On the positive side, there are plenty of options for the manager and his selectors and there could be a starting berth for Kiltale's Padraig Kelly.

Roscommon were promoted from Div 3A last term and lost heavily to Wicklow in their first round encounter at Athleague where they trailed by 0-3 to 2-11 at the interval.

Anything other than a Meath win will constitute a setback to the prospects of promotion.

DIVISION 2B FOCUS
RESULTS

First round - Derry 1-14 Mayo 1-13; Meath 4-21 Down 1-10; Wicklow 2-17 Roscommon 0-7.

Second round - Down 1-21, Roscommon 1-16; Meath 2-19, Derry 0-16; Wicklow 2-17, Mayo 1-17.

FIXTURES

Sunday 5th March - Roscommon v Meath; Derry v Wicklow; Mayo v Down.

Sunday 12th March - Derry v Roscommon; Wicklow v Down; Mayo v Meath.

Sunday 26th March - Down v Derry; Roscommon v Mayo; Meath v Wicklow.