GAELIC GAMES/LEINSTER SFC QUALIFIERS/LIMERICK v MEATH: Gavin Cummiskeytalks to Cian Ward, who remains optimistic about his county's All-Ireland prospects
MEATH HAVE been forced to linger in the football shadows so far this summer. It is nobody's fault but their own, given they somehow managed to squander a 10-point lead in the final 20 minutes of the Leinster quarter-final against Wexford back on June 1st.
Wexford visibly grew as a result of that dramatic comeback, obliterating Laois to finally earn a tilt at the acid test that is Dublin in a packed Croke Park.
Meath must take the road less travelled. They saddle up early tomorrow for the trek to Limerick's Gaelic Grounds with the five suspended warriors from the Dublin league encounter and the injured duo Brian Farrell and Shane O'Rourke all back in harness (former captain Anthony Moyles is the only absentee; he has a problematic AC joint - the word is he should be fit in around three weeks' time).
It seems a long time since Meath breathed life into the 2007 championship thanks to a thrilling arm-wrestle with their old rivals. Cian Ward bounded off the bench that afternoon to help earn a tie by posting five dead- ball points from all sorts of pretty angles. But Dublin won the replay.
There is no doubting the natural ability of the Wolfe Tones clubman. He talks with plenty of confidence too. Against Wexford he got among the early avalanche of scores before taking his leave just as the tide began to turn.
He remembers watching the ensuing horror show from the line: "I had just gone off the field when they got the second goal. Looking on, you could just see them coming on wave after wave. You're just sitting on the line going, 'what the hell is going on?' It was so obvious Wexford were going to win, from the line.
"We're all playing football long enough. We've all been involved in games where you are coming from behind and you are clawing point after point and you get back.
"You've been involved in games where you see a lead rapidly evaporate. I suppose it comes down to composure and possession. If we had used our heads a bit better and carried the ball instead of delivering long balls aimlessly it might have been different."
Ward put the last-quarter malaise down to poor work-rate and fading concentration but added a caveat: "In fairness, you have to give Wexford a lot of credit. They played some smashing football and got some great scores. Every team is going to have a dominant spell. If you are winning by 10 points and playing a team of the calibre of Wexford you're not going to beat them by 15, 16 points. They are going to come back but you should still be holding on to win by three, four, five points.
"Having the experience of going so far last year, we really should have put that game to bed and we didn't. It is just something we have to look at in ourselves."
After testing Dublin last season, Meath's return as a genuine force was confirmed by victories over Galway and Tyrone. This impressive rise was put into context, however, by the manner of defeat to Cork in the All-Ireland semi-final - 1-16 to 0-9.
"I suppose it was a bit of a collapse against Cork. Absolutely nothing went right for us that day. When you look back on the game, arguably Cork should have had a man sent off in the first half (Noel O'Leary hit Graham Geraghty off the ball). That would have changed the game entirely.
"Cork were the better team. Everyone will say Cork are a stronger team than Meath. They were knocking on the door a long time. They were very much up for that game. Not that we weren't up for it but they had the experience of losing there. If we got to a semi-final this year I think there would be an iron-willed determination within the camp to try and put things right."
That brings us neatly back to the present. Limerick away is hardly ideal; no team wants to travel in a qualifier minefield. But by tomorrow night, Meath will be hoping to have their All-Ireland campaign back on track."Having the experience of going so far last year, we really should have put that game to bed
