Eye of the tiger required if Meath are to survive

NHL PREVIEW Royals stand on the precipice of relegation

When Meath beat Kildare in the opening round of the NHL Div 2A in February they must have thought they were more than halfway safe from relegation.

Meath and Kildare were the two sides primed for the drop, so when the Royals claimed that scalp on day one it was just the boost they needed, but since then it has all gone downhill for Nick Weir's side.

The loss of key personnel to a combination of injury, retirement and switching codes as well as Kildare's upturn in fortunes since the return of their Naas contingent has left Meath's survival in Div 2A hanging in the balance, tethering on the precipice of the drop.

Fantastic servants like Alan Douglas and Keith Keoghan have stepped away from the senior panel this year, while injuries to Paddy Conneely, Daragh Kelly and Podge O'Hanrahan along with James Toher's call up to the senior football squad and the absence of the McGowan brothers from Ratoath have left Meath with an inexperienced collective.

Undoubtedly talented, this young Meath side have struggled since that first round win over Kildare and following back-to-back hammerings by Westmeath and Kerry they now find themselves bottom of the group and needing to beat Carlow in Pairc Tailteann on Sunday to avoid the drop.

Carlow have also suffered a remarkable dip in form this year and they could find themselves facing the drop to Div 2B if results go against them.

Last year when Meath faced Carlow in Pairc Tailteann Weir's side slumped to a 0-17 to 5-28 defeat, and that team included Toher, Keoghan, Kelly, Daithi McGowan, Conneely and Douglas - so it is hard to see where the Royals can turn around that 26-point defeat.

That doesn't mean that it can't be done! There have been a few very strange results in this year's league and Meath will be hoping for another one.

It is hard to make sense of some of the results. If you look at Meath's performance against Down in round two when they ran the Ulster men to two points and then consider that Westmeath also ran them to within two points, but when Meath faced Westmeath the Royals were hammered by 17 points!

Kildare have been the surprise packets, but their upturn in fortunes can be attributed to the return of the Naas players who won the All-Ireland Club IHC title.

Meath can take solace in the fact that Carlow haven't exactly been pulling up trees in this year's campaign either.

Their sole win came against Westmeath. They lost to Kerry in round three, who ironically were beaten by Westmeath in round one, so trying to predict a winner by using the formbook will prove difficult.

Since Seoirse Bulfin came in as coach, Meath have tried to adopt a new style of play, a risky approach that puts the focus on possession and patience. A ploy, that if it works well can reap rich dividends, but when it goes wrong it can lead to a disaster.

Meath are still finding their feet with the new style and the results have been the consequence of that, but the management believe that if their players persevere with the tactics then their day will come - but at what expense?

Carlow will be favourites to get the better of Meath next Sunday and preserve their Div 2A status, but Meath are not without a hope.

If they can avoid the concession of another sloppy early goal and keep themselves in the game into the second-half, which they didn't manage to do in the last couple of games, then they have a chance.

With players of the quality of Jack Regan, Damien Healy, Adam Gannon, Mark O'Sullivan and Nickey Potterton in attack they have an excellent scoring threat, while defensively they have magnificent leaders in Mickey Burke, Sean Geraghty, Shane Brennan and James Kelly who are more than capable of containing Carlow.

A cautious, patient approach might be the way to go next Sunday. Staying in the game and being in with a chance in the final quarter would be a tremendous boost to the players and if they can manage that then Meath might just survival.