SENTIMENTAL souls will be stirred by the sight of Meath and Cork going toe-to-toe at Croke Park on Sunday.
The blood and thunder battles of the late 1980s/early ’90s are forever embedded in the fabric of both counties, Sam Maguire shared between them - two apiece – from 1987-1990 as dual domination brought the curtain down on a Kerry generation.
The Kingdom are back at the top again four decades down the line, but Meath and Cork are among a chasing pack nipping at the heels of Jack O’Connor’s kingpins as this year’s championship comes into view.
Indeed, it was a rinsing at the hands of the Royals last June that sent Kerry into fight or flight mode – leading Darragh O Se to perform last rites on All-Ireland ambitions before they bludgeoned their way through Ulster opposition, toppling Cavan, Armagh, Tyrone and Donegal en route to lifting Sam for the 39th time.
Robbie Brennan’s men ran out of steam against Donegal in the semi-final, but have kicked on again this year. Promotion to Division One is already secured, while making up for last year’s Leinster final defeat to neighbours Louth will be high on the agenda before sights are set on making up ground on the Kingdom and co.
As always at this time of year, it will be interesting to see how both counties approach Sunday’s Division Two final, because timing is everything.
The Royals face four weeks without a game after this weekend, as their Leinster quarter-final against the winner of Westmeath/Longford not until April 25/26.
With a national title on the line, and an opportunity to continue the momentum from the league in front of a big Meath crowd, Brennan looks set to go hell for leather on Sunday.
He has named the same starting 15 as their last league game against already-relegated Offaly, with Cian McBride starting after coming in as a late replacement before the Faithful clash.
Cork find themselves in a similar position. Their next outing is a fortnight away – a Munster quarter-final date with a Limerick side that finished out the league with relegation to Division Four.
Win that, as expected and the winner of Tipperary-Waterford – neither of whom secured promotion from the bottom tier – awaits in Munster’s last four. As a result, the Rebels could be without a really competitive game until a likely Munster final clash with old foes Kerry on May 10.
Having dug deep to bounce back from their Derry disaster, responding with morale-boosting victories over Kildare and Tyrone, John Cleary’s men won’t want to miss an opportunity to lay down a marker for the summer.
The signs of progress are already evident. Previous years have seen Cork flirt with relegation from Division Two; now, despite that bump in the road at Celtic Park, the Rebels are where they want to be.
Defeat at Páirc Uí Rinn five weeks ago didn’t derail Meath’s promotion push, but it is a wrong they will want to right ahead of another battle Royal on Sunday.
Meath: S Brennan; S Lavin, S Rafferty, B O’Halloran; D Keogan, S Coffey, C Caulfield; B Menton, J Flynn; J O’Connor, R Kinsella, C McBride; J Morris, E Frayne, A Lynch
Cork: TBC
