Offaly and Meath name teams for Navan battle
Offaly joint managers Mickey Harte and Declan Kelly have named an unchanged team for this Sunday's Leinster SFC quarter-final against Meath at Páirc Tailteann.
It's hardly surprising that Harte and Kelly have opted to keep faith with the team which impressively defeated Kildare in last Sunday week's Division 3 final.
Meanwhile, Aaron Lynch comes in for the injured Jack Kinlough in the only change to the Meath team from the side that saw off Carlow last weekend. Kinlough suffered the dreaded ACL injury against Carlow and will miss the rest of the season along with Jordan Morris.
However there was some positive news on the injury front for Meath manager Robbie Brennan with Sean Coffey and Adam O'Neill returning to the panel. Interestingly, former Meath goalkeeper Brendan Murphy is part of Offaly's backroom team.
Speaking on the RTE GAA podcast this week, former Tyrone star Enda McGinley said Offaly "will be fancying their chances of a famous win" against Meath. Indeed, Offaly came out on top when the sides last met in the Leinster championship two years ago, winning by 1-11 to 0-10 in Tullamore.
"Obviously, I know Mickey Harte, I know that mindset. He would be rubbing his hands with this fixture," said McGinley.
"They're on a wave of momentum and those waves can do serious damage whenever they get built. Their wave of momentum is greater than what Meath have at the minute.
"The absence of those (Meath) coaches will still have an impact. The reasons behind the departure will still be a discussion point. So that is still there in that camp, whether or not they got the good win the last time," McGinley continued.
The winner of Sunday's game in Navan (throw-in 2.30pm) will advance to the Leinster semi-finals where Dublin will almost certainly lie in wait. Leinster champions Dublin meet Wicklow in their quarter-final in Aughrim on Sunday (2pm).
Offaly team (vs Meath): Paddy Dunican; Lee Pearson (captain), Aidan Bracken, Daire McDaid; Rory Egan, John Furlong, Cormac Egan; Jack McEvoy, Jordan Hayes; Kyle Higgins, Cathal Flynn, Keith O'Neill; Dylan Hyland, Jack Bryant, Shane Tierney.
Subs: Sean O'Toole, Cillian Bourke, Marcas Dalton, David Dempsey, Cathal Donoghue, Nigel Dunne, Shane O'Toole Greene, Aaron Leavy, Ruairi McNamee, Eoin Sawyer, Morgan Tynan.
Meath team (vs Offaly): Billy Hogan; Seamus Lavin, Sean Rafferty, Brian O'Halloran; Eoin Harkin, Donal Keogan, Ciaran Caulfield; Jack Flynn, Bryan Menton; Conor Duke, Ruairí Kinsella, Keith Curtis; Aaron Lynch, Mathew Costello, Eoghan Frayne (captain).
Subs: Sean Brennan, Seán Ryan, Ronan Ryan, Adam O'Neill, Sean Coffey, Shane Walsh, Cathal Hickey, Diarmuid Moriarty, Thomas O'Reilly, Jason Scully, Cillian O'Sullivan.
*See more on Sunday's game here