Banner set for Royal rumble

National Football League Division 2 Round 6
Clare v Meath at Cusack Park Ennis, Sunday 2pm (Derek O’Mahoney, Tipperary

With Clare’s best start to Division 2 rapidly fading into the distance following back-to-back defeats to promotion favourites Derry and Galway over the past fortnight, the last team Colm Collins would have wanted to see coming next would be Meath.
After all, Clare’s poorest record in Division 2 is against Andy McEntee’s side who have inflicted four successive defeats on the Banner since 2017. More than that though, while Clare unquestionably produced their best display against Meath in the All-Ireland Qualifiers in 2019 to only miss out on the Super 8’s by a solitary point, the Banner’s league record against them is best read between your fingers as Meath have averaged double figure wins in three successive seasons.
That said, that agonising minimum championship defeat to the Royal’s by 2-16 to 1-18 in Portlaoise in July 2019 was the county’s last meeting and for the majority of this year’s campaign, it seemed as if this clash wouldn’t hold any great significance for Clare.
However, with both teams now craving a result to consolidate their Division 2 status, a dogfight is expected on Sunday. Contrasting form makes for an interesting showdown as Meath, following poor displays against Galway and Roscommon and equally frustrating draws with Down and Offaly, finally caught fire on home soil on Sunday with a 1-18 to 1-10 victory over Cork.
Clare’s form has unfortunately gone in the opposite direction as a rousing opening win over Offaly and battling away draws with Cork and Roscommon were diminished by flagging defeats to Derry and Galway.
With the way the fixtures have fallen, Clare may not even need any further points to cement their Division 2 standing for another season as the loser of Cork v Down this weekend will be relegated while if Roscommon expectedly beat Offaly on Sunday, it tees up another straight relegation decider between Offaly and Cork in the final round.
However, Clare can leave nothing to chance as if they’ve learned anything from their six seasons in the second tier, it’s to expect the unexpected. Regardless of other results or consequences anyway, a result is a prerequisite just to stop the rot and get their mojo back ahead of their championship opener against Limerick which is now only six weeks away.