Gallagher is in Royal form upon his return

THERE was a bit of change in the Meath panel over the winter, but it was the departure of Paddy O’Rourke that raised most eyebrows.

It was his decision to exit and it left Andy McEntee with an unforeseen problem to solve. While O’Rourke’s temperament was questionable at times, he remained the best goalkeeper in the county.

McEntee sought out someone he knows very well. David Gallagher retired from inter-county football in November 2012. The landscape was different back then. Dublin had yet to become the blue juggernaut that was running over everything in Leinster, and beyond. When Gallagher kept goal in the 2012 provincial decider, Dublin only just scraped past Meath.

In the intervening period, goalkeeper has become the pivotal position on a football field. And in more than five years away from the county scene, Gallagher hasn’t even played in goals as he is an outfield player for his club St Peter’s, Dunboyne.

So, it would have been understandable if Gallagher showed some signs of rust in Navan yesterday. But he didn’t. Granted, Wicklow were so poor that he was barely tested — although he did make a fine reaction save from Padraig O’Toole in the 25th minute. One of his kickouts was wayward in the second-half, going straight to Wicklow’s Conor French, but overall, the veteran keeper did little wrong.

It was all the more impressive considering that two of the fullback line in front of him were inter-county rookies. If Gallagher, who turns 38 in March, is about the old, then Luke Moran, who made his debut at full-back having starred for the Meath junior side that reached last year’s All-Ireland final, and Shane Glynn were very much about the new.

Both looked pretty comfortable, though the sheer feebleness of Wicklow’s challenge certainly contributed to that comfort. But their performances were encouraging.

Donal Keoghan remains Meath’s best man-marker but there is a belief that the team would be better served if he was in the half-back line, where he played yesterday. Both Moran and Glynn now give McEntee the option of freeing Keoghan up and placing him further up the field, where the team will benefit more from his athleticism and dynamism.

As the Meath manager acknowledged afterwards, some of his players were showing signs of rust. Harry Rooney made his first start since 2016, after spending a year in Australia.

As the first half wore on, the big midfielder was slowing down and he was one of a number of players who was replaced at half-time. Still, Rooney will be all the better for getting 35 minutes of football into his legs and if Meath are to make progress this year, he may be key around the centre.

Overall, McEntee (below) made 12 changes from the side that beat Carlow in the O’Byrne Cup opener. And some of the unheralded players certainly grabbed their chance.

David Toner bagged 1-2 in the first-half before succumbing to a hamstring problem while Donal Lenihan looked very sharp on the edge of the square, also helping himself to 1-2 in the first-half that helped Meath go in at the break, 2-10 to 0-5 ahead.

The Wicklow defence found it hard to handle Mark McCabe, also making his first competitive start. He ended the day with 1-2, which could have been even more if he had been more clinical in front of goal. But he is an option for McEntee. He made a number of clever runs behind the Wicklow defence yesterday, suggesting he is the sort of attacker who can thrive against blanket defences.

While McEntee was satisfied by Meath’s physicality, they did give away some needless frees — by the 20th minute, Stephen Murphy had awarded Wicklow nine frees. But he was also happy with how the youngsters applied themselves. ‘The appetite from everybody was good,’ the Meath manager said. ‘I thought our physicality was good, work-rate was good. We had a lot of new faces who hadn’t put on a Meath shirt before at senior level and they did very well. New Wicklow manager John Evans has a tough job on his hands, and admitted as much afterwards. ‘When you are down at the bottom of Division 4 as they have been the last few years, it is difficult to get belief, pace and scoring all matched together. It has been difficult because I wanted to change the way they have been playing. I have brought in new players as well, I have 22 new players in a panel of 39.’ MEATH: D Gallagher; S Glynn (E Greene 54), L Moran, M Burke (L Ferguson h-t); D Keoghan, B Conlon (C Dempsey 51, C McGill 70), A Douglas; A Flanagan (B Menton h-t), H Rooney (S McEntee h-t); M McCabe, D Toner (B McMahon 32), G Reilly (D Griffin h-t); S Tobin, D Lenihan (J Wallace h-t), P Kennelly. Scorers: M McCabe, J Wallace, D Lenihan (2f) 1-2 each, D Toner 1-1, S Tobin 0-4 (2f), G Reilly 0-3, P Kennelly 0-2, A Flanagan, B Menton, S McEntee 0-1 each WICKLOW: R Lambert (M Jackson h-t); C Hyland, H Wilson (S Kearon 43), E Murtagh (B Kennedy 32); D Fitzgerald, D Healy, J Snell (C Healy 64); K Murphy (G Murray 56), R Finn; T Smith, M Kenny (PJ O’Keefe 43), P O’Toole (D Keane h-t); G Murphy (D Kelly 56), S Furlong, C Byrne (C French h-t). Scorers: G Murphy 0-6 (6f), S Furlong 0-4 (3f), D Healy 0-2, D Keane 0-1 Referee: S Murphy (Louth).