Long hard Rhode ahead for Ratoath
Penning the annual preview to the Meath champions bid for Leinster Club SFC honours has become more of a tale of woe about the constant failings of our Keegan Cup winners in senior provincial competition.
At intermediate and junior level Meath clubs more than hold their own, in fact are generally regarded as amongst the leading contenders, but at senior level the Royal champions are often whipping boys, easy fodder for clubs with serious ambitions.
One winner in the last 38 years, or 37 attempts because the 2020 Leinster Club SFC was cancelled due to Covid, is a crying shame for such a proud footballing county.
Dunshaughlin's victory in 2022 was that sole success in those 38 years since Walterstown defeated Walsh Island in 1983.
We haven't even gone close most of the time. Seneschalstown in 1994 and Skryne in 2004 were the only other teams to even reach a final in that spell and in the 52 year history of the competition Meath have only produced four winners with Walterstown also winning in 1980 after Summerhill were victorious in 1977.
So not only are Meath teams rarely, if ever, in the hunt for honours they have struggled to even win a game. Wolfe Tones' loss to Kilmacud Crokes in the first round last year was the sixth time in 10 years that the Meath champions have fallen at the first hurdle.
Dunshaughlin's four-game run to the title in 2022 included two games against Rathnew, while Skryne played three games in 2004, losing the final to Portlaoise. No other club in the years since 2002 have played any more than two games in Leinster with 11 of the 18 champions in that spell falling at the first hurdle.
So what chance have Ratoath next Sunday against Rhode? Not much if that abysmal record is to be believed!
However, there is something different about this Ratoath side. There is a hunger there that doesn't seem sated by the winning of their third Keegan Cup in four years.
Manager David Brady indicated after this year's SFC final victory over Summerhill that he would be taking the Leinster Club campaign very seriously and he expected his players to do likewise.
Ratoath missed out on the chance to represent the county in 2020 and they left a great chance of a rare Meath win behind them they were were edged out by Dessie Dolan's Garrycastle in Mullingar in 2019, so now they feel they have a point to prove.
Rhode stand in the way of Ratoath and a first every win in Leinster senior competition and they will be no pushovers.
When they last provided the opposition for Meath champions in this competition they were too strong for Simonstown in 2016 and in 2014 they had way too much firepower for Navan O'Mahonys.
Much of that firepower is still in place for the Offaly champions, but there is a sense that their effectiveness is starting to wane and while they were good enough to claim the Offaly SFC with victory over Tullamore they might find the power of Ratoath too hot to handle.
It will be of no surprise to casual observers of Offaly football to hear that Rhode's main man in their 1-9 to 0-11 victory over Tullamore was the evergreen Niall McNamee.
Ruairi McNamee's goal was the pivotal score in that game as it put Rhode 1-7 to 0-8 ahead in the 48th minute, but the defending champions Tullamore drew level in the 57th minute before 36-year-old Niall McNamee who lofted over the lead point to secure Rhode's seventh title since 2012.
That remarkable strike rate makes them a seasoned side at provincial level and while Ratoath have more than enough power, precision and pace to claim the spoils, they will quickly find out that provincial club football is a different animal to the county club game.
Experience could well be key and in 40-year-old Alan McNamee and his young brother Niall still pulling the strings Rhode will have plenty about them.
However, Ratoath will have learned a lot from their loss to Garrycastle in 2019 and Brady is sure to keep the minds focused as they go in search of that rare win for a Meath side in senior provincial competition.