Comfortable Kerry believe Meath are on the way back

The second day of September 2001. It’s rarely spoken about in Kerry nowadays but if it is mentioned it’s in hushed tones and one hand up to the face, writes Dan Kearney.

It was the day that Meath utterly destroyed Kerry by 2-14 to 0-5 at Croke Park to make the All-Ireland final. At the time there were rumours and counter rumours down south with all sorts of wild theories as to why Kerry were so bad.

But the reality was that Meath were simply unstoppable.

The Irish Times summed it up well when they said :”Meath humiliated the reigning All-Ireland champions. It was as simple as that. Meath played effective, no-nonsense football, while Kerry found elementary ball skills and fluency difficult to master under the incessant Royal pressure”.

That game rears its head every time Kerry and Meath face off nowadays. Perhaps Kerry feel they have a point to prove every time they meet the Royals, but that particular result can never be changed. So, let’s concentrate on this season for now!

By the time Meath and Kerry face off in June both sides will know what they have to do to get to the quarter-final stage.

As we know, Kerry have already seen off Roscommon by 10 points in a very comfortable opening round win in Killarney last Saturday. Meath begin their campaign when they welcome Cork to Páirc Tailteann next Saturday, and it would be fair to say that garnering a home victory is vital for the Royals in this competition.

Kerry will then be away to their Munster final opponents Cork in Round Two, whilst Meath will have a tricky assignment against to a wounded Roscommon in Dr Hyde Park.

So, all things going well, both Kerry and Meath could already be qualified for the knockout stages by the time they meet.

What may be at stake is the coveted top spot in the group so that could be the one thing to maintain some interest in this particular Round Three fixture.

It goes without saying that Kerry will be the hottest of hot favourites to do a job on the Royals by the time their turn to do battle comes around.

Recent history suggests that Kerry are in a good place at the moment whilst Meath are an improving side that still have a long way to go before challenging at the top table.

When the All Ireland series draw was made there was an audible groan in the Kingdom. Call it arrogance if you will, but the general consensus was that this was a handy group and that the team needed tougher tests to be battle ready for the later stages.

With three to qualify out of the four teams in the group it’s felt that Kerry should ease their way to the quarter-final.

Roscommon at home wasn't an issue. Even without Paudie Clifford Kerry cruised through the low gears without being terribly impressive and still came away with a 10-point win.

Cork in Pairc Uí Chaoimh will be tricky. With another bit of belief the Rebels would have beaten Kerry in the Munster final. It was definitely one that they left behind.

A passive first 20 minutes was detrimental to them. That, and some terrible decision making on their part.

When Cork fronted up on Kerry it made a lot more sense. If you sit back and admire Kerry’s foot passing then they will kill you. They will open you up like a hot knife through butter if you allow them.

But then, on the other hand, there’s the necessity to protect the arc and prevent the two pointer efforts which are such a huge addition to the new rules. Against Cork, Kerry failed to do this and the Rebels put over six of them.

Then there’s Kerry’s inability to create openings for two pointers themselves. In that Munster semi final against Cork, Kerry only shot one two pointer from the boot of David Clifford.

Against Clare in the Munster final Kerry shot three twos - Seán O’Shea with two (one free) and David Clifford with one.

In the easy win over the Rossies, Kerry raised three orange flags from frees, two for Sean O’Shea and one from David Clifford.

Maybe Kerry are holding off to release this magic formula where two pointers become a genuine option. They are scoring goals though (10 in the last three games) so that’s a positive.

Meath’s victory over Dublin was one for the ages. But then it was worthless when Louth came through an epic Leinster final. Everyone (Meath natives the obvious exception) was delighted that Louth lifted their first title since 1957.

There’s sympathy as well though for Meath as a win would have seen them lift their first title since 2010. An absolute famine for a county with such a rich and gloried history as the Royals.

Kerry people know what that’s like as we had plenty of the same in the later 80s and early 90s.

It would be foolish to read too much into Kerry’s 2-18 to 0-9 win over Meath last year. Meath were in a different headspace then and are a transformed team now.

Just eight of the 15 that togged out against Kerry that day started in the Leinster final. Robbie Brennan and his management team, whilst not over enamoured with them, have still embraced the new rules and this Meath team mixes skill and finesse to a high degree.

There is no reason why Meath can’t progress from this group. After that the possibilities are endless. It might be a bit early to say that the Royals are back, but there can be no doubt that they are on the right road.