Familiar foes amongst possible Meath opponents for All-Ireland SFC group stage
Robbie Brennan and Meath now know their potential opponents in the All-Ireland SFC group stage
As the Royals prepare for a massive clash next week in the Leinster SFC final with Louth, the last thing on their mind right now will be potential All Ireland SFC opponents, but Robbie Brennan and his squad did learn today what teams they may come up against in the group stage of the All-Ireland series.
OPTION 1
Optimistically, should Meath break Louth's hearts again next weekend and claim their third Leinster SFC title of the millennium, Meath will be top seeds in a group with the losers of the Munster SFC final between Clare and Kerry, Monaghan and Down.
Option 2
On the other hand, should our noisy neighbours get the revenge that they have been seeking for 15 years, Meath will be the second seed in a group with the winners of Kerry and Clare, Roscommon and Cork.
Robbie Brennan will be reasonably pleased with either option but the easier path to either a All-Ireland quarter-final, is probably Option 1. That is of course assuming that Jack O'Connor's side will get the better of the Banner County, Meath would be quite hopeful that they would also have Clare's number. Meath would be keen to put in a better showing against Monaghan than they did during the NFL while a good win over Down up in Newry during the league would fill you with confidence ahead of that clash.
Memories of Kerry's and David Clifford's last 20-minute demolition of the Royals 12 months ago in Pairc Tailteann will haunt the Royals should they end up in the same group as the Kingdom. The other two sides in this group, Roscommon and Cork will certainly give Robbie Brennan's side a lot to think about but with Meath's current form in mind, you would fancy the Royal's chances in both of those contests.
All-Ireland SFC Group Draw...
Group 1: Armagh/Donegal, Galway/Mayo, Tyrone, Cavan
Group 2: Clare/Kerry, Louth/Meath, Roscommon, Cork
Group 3: Louth/Meath, Clare/Kerry, Monaghan, Down
Group 4: Galway/Mayo, Armagh/Donegal, Dublin, Derry