Meath head into royal derby as favourites

By Shea Leonard

Westmeath host their near rivals at Cusack Park on Sunday with few observers offering the hosts much hope of survival following their defeat to Louth last weekend.

County sides’ resources are always stretched at this time of year, but the Lakesmen have been hit harder than most with retirements, injuries, emigration and club commitments leaving them with an inexperienced outfit at the moment.

The Garrycastle contingent will be back when their exploits in the All-Ireland Club SFC are over, but the dye could be cast long before the likes of Dessie Dolan, John Gaffey, James Dolan and Doran Harte return to the fold.

However, manager Pat Flanagan is refusing to be downbeat and has called on his charges to show the requisite “belief” that they can avoid relegation back down to Division 3.

The Clara native cited the Midlanders’ experience last year when they failed to win any of their first three games but rallied to eventually gain promotion, as evidence that they still have a chance of survival.

“We're obviously a bit disappointed to lose our first game against Louth, but there's plenty of time to recover, and I'm hoping we can give Meath a very competitive game," Flanagan told the Westmeath Independent.

Far from relegation worries, Meath will be eyeing a return to the top flight of league action following their win over Monaghan in Navan last Saturday.

The Royals notched up 1-15 – a pretty high strike-rate for a league opener – with Stephen Bray accounting for 0-06 of the total tally and Shane McAnarney registering the goal seven minutes from time.

The win would have been bittersweet for Meath manager Seamus McEnaney, as the Monaghan native was at the Farney helm for six years before he left in acrimonious circumstances in 2010.

‘Banty’ admitted after the game that his intimate knowledge of the Monaghan set-up helped him to devise a successful gameplan.

He will have no such insider information this time out, but nevertheless the odds would appear to be stacked in the visitors’ favour.

Verdict: Meath