Low Royals given little chance against Faithful sharpshooters
It's surely a sad reflection on the current state of Meath hurling that the county senior team will go into a championship game given no chance - no chance whatseover - of ending the contest in the winners' enclosure.
Only the most wildly optimistic Meath hurling followers - and there aren't very many of those to be seen these days - would give the team even the remotest chance of defeating Offaly in the second round of the Joe McDonagh Cup at Tullamore on Saturday.
There was only a paltry crowd of around 200 in attendance to watch Meath kick off this year's campaign at Pairc Tailteann last Saturday - and there is a fair chance that those home supporters who watched the action unfold did so with a steadily growing sense of horror and disbelief.
Carlow's 4-30 to 0-17 victory confirmed Meath's pre-championship billing as cannon fodder for the other teams in the second tier competition. Even before a ball was thrown in the Royal County side were odds-on to be relegated; a fate they only escaped last year by defeating Kildare in a relegation play-off.
Meath put up a spirited, backs-against-the-wall, gritty display that day and won to retain their status for another year. The prevailing train of thought was that it would be better for hurling in the county if the senior side was facing relatively high-quality opposition this summer. During last Saturday's demolition that looked to be a misguided viewpoint.
Relegation was avoided in 2021 but an escape act looks extremely unlikely this time around with games against Offaly, Kerry, Down and Antrim coming fast down the tracks.
Sifting through the wreckage of Saturday's defeat Meath might derive some kind of consolation from the fact that 11 of their players got on the scoresheet, yet even that outwardly encouraging stat has to be looked at with a note of caution. Jack Regan showed the way with seven points but all the other 10 players could only muster one point apiece.
What was alarming was the manner in which Carlow easily and repeatedly slipped through the Meath defensive cover for goals and how they were given the latitude to fire over the bar from all sorts of distances and angles. If Carlow could make hay it's not a pleasant thought to imagine what Offaly players could do if they are allowed the same kind of time and space. It could get very nasty indeed.
Offaly will not be any kind of forgiving mood on Saturday if only because they can't afford to be anything else but ruthless after losing to Antrim (3-22 to 2-24) in their opening round last week.
Offaly have players well capable of taking the scoring chances including David Nally and Paddy Clancy who found the net against the Saffrons. Eoghan Cahill, Adrian Cleary and Brian Duignan are just some of the others in the Faithful ranks who can punish any slackness in the Meath rearguard.
Teams like Offaly and Antrim are at another level to Meath whose main task on Saturday will surely be damage limitation. It's difficult not to feel great sympathy for Meath manager Nick Weir who has lost a number of capable, polished performers this year.
He must get on with the task in hand but Saturday's match is unlikely to be one he will want to remember with any degree of pleasure when the time comes to reflect on his term in charge of the Meath hurlers.