SEAN WALL

Heading to Roscommon on Sunday, it is difficult to gauge what Meath might produce. One thing is certain - this is a particularly difficult opener for McEntee’s men.

Roscommon found themselves out of their depth in Division 1 last season, having to wait until the final round to pick up their first points of the campaign with a 1-13 to 1-10 win over Cavan. Both counties’ fate had already been decided at that stage as neither had any chance of avoiding relegation.

However, come championship time Roscommon were a completely different animal and it culminated in a memorable Connacht final victory over Galway in Salthill. They then forced a draw with Mayo in an All-Ireland quarter-final tie before losing out heavily to the eventual All-Ireland finalists in the replay.

The Meath starting fifteen for Sunday will be a vastly different one to that which finished last year’s campaign against Clare, with the likes of Paddy O’Rourke, Donnacha Tobin, Padraic Harnan and James Toher all absentees for a variety of reasons. Add in Ruairi O Coileain, Ronan Jones and Mickey Newman, who all saw action in the All-Ireland qualifier defeat to Donegal, and that leaves Meath as something of an unknown quantity going into this year’s campaign.

The team will likely show a number of changes from the one