Maughan targets elusive national title

"You know I've still never won a national title as manager." It's only when John Maughan volunteers this information that the full meaning of Sunday's National Football League Division Two final is appreciated.

When introduced eight years ago it was seen as a sort of bonus prize on top of promotion, and yet the title has become a respectable honour in itself. When Louth won it in 2000 it was hailed as a major breakthrough, and similarly with Westmeath in 2001 and Monaghan in 2005.

Now Roscommon are in a position to win their first such honour, and for Maughan that would be some consolation for all the other national titles he missed out on when managing Mayo. And if recent finals are anything to go by Sunday's game against Meath, set for Breffni Park, Cavan, will be as hard fought as any competition final this year.

"This is definitely a title well worth chasing," adds Maughan, now in his second year as Roscommon manager, "We'll certainly be going all out to win on Sunday. We've nothing to lose by going all out. Hopefully we can pull it off but of course Meath are going to be very difficult opposition . . . "

Roscommon looked the slightly more impressive team in their semi-final win over Cavan at Croke Park last Saturday, whereas Meath relied on two early goals to get past Monaghan. However, Roscommon's win came with a price as star midfielder Seamus O'Neill went over on his ankle in the final minutes, and is ruled out of Sunday's game.

"That is a big blow for us," admits Maughan, "and a big, strapping player like that is not easily replaced. You always regret not taking him off in that situation, when the game was effectively won, but the important thing now is getting him right for the championship. Thankfully we're not out until June 17th (against either Sligo or New York) so there should be sufficient time for him to make a full recovery.

"It the meantime it looks like we'll also be without centre-half back John Nolan, who has picked up a chest infection. He's actually the third player we'll have lost in that position, but other than that we're not badly off with injuries."

Meath have contested the Division Two final once before, losing to Monaghan in a classic finish two years ago. Trailing by two points going into injury time, Paul Finlay's 35-metre free was somehow directed into the Meath net by their own defender Mark Ward, thus securing a Monaghan victory.

All previous editions of the Division Two final have been extremely close contests: Louth's inaugural win in 2000 was only decided by Simon Gerard's goal, giving them a first national title since the B final three years previous.

Westmeath had only a point to spare over Cork when winning in 2001, and it was only Kerry's four-point win over Laois in 2002 that bucked the trend. When Westmeath won it again in 2003 they also had just the single point to spare over Limerick, and in 2004 Offaly secured a two-point win over Down, allowing Ciarán McManus to collect some winning silverware on the Hogan Stand podium as captain.

After Monaghan's win two years ago, Louth repeated their success with yet another hard-fought win over Donegal, which went to a replay before Louth prevailed by three points.

Division Two success, however, hasn't been easily transferred to the championship. Louth were promptly brought back down to earth last year when losing to Meath in the opening round of the Leinster championship, and similarly with Monaghan, well beaten by Derry in their first Ulster championship march, and also Offaly the year before, losing to Westmeath just a few weeks after collecting their Division Two title.

Meath, meanwhile, are set to include Graham Geraghty in their starting line-up for Sunday's game. Geraghty has been carrying a leg injury in recent weeks but appeared as a second-half substitute in the win over Monaghan, hitting a typically classy point.

Armagh manager Joe Kernan could be dealt another blow in advance of his team's Ulster championship tie against newly-crowned National League champions Donegal on May 27th.

Full back Francie Bellew sustained a knee injury while assisting Crossmaglen Rangers in their opening Armagh League against Clan na Gael. Bellew has undergone a scan and is considered doubtful. Armagh are already without long-term injury victims Ronan Clarke and Brian Mallon.