Cork footballers to renew rivalry with Meath in All-Ireland group stage

Cork’s All-Ireland SFC group stage is now set as a result of last weekend.

The Rebels will face old rivals Meath in the first game of the group stage on Saturday week, more than likely, given the Cork hurlers are in action on the Sunday.

The Royal County were defeated by Louth in the Leinster final last Sunday in front of a crowd of 65,786 in Croke Park.

It all now means that the Rebels know exactly the path that they will have to take if they want a successful summer. After the Meath battle, which will be away from home in Páirc Tailteann in Navan, Kerry will once again come to SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh this year on the June Bank Holiday weekend.

The final game in the group will be an interesting encounter against Roscommon on the weekend of June 14 at a neutral venue.

The talk on Leeside since the draw was made a couple of weeks ago has been regards the rematch with Kerry after the Munster semi-final classic, but Cork now know the first game will be away to Meath as it was also a possibility of playing Louth away.

The Leinster decider was always going to be a 50/50 game with so much on the line. It will be very interesting now what the response will be like from a Meath point of view.

Over the last few years, they have made great strides most notably this year under the guidance of Robbie Brennan. They have a young team and there would have been strong belief of taking down Louth after beating Dublin in the Leinster semi-final.

In the end, they lost by two points, and I know it's an easy thing to say, but it was a game of fine margins. They could have easily won it.

Meath now haven’t won that particular competition since 2010 while Louth ended a wait of 68 years for Leinster glory. The year they went on to win the All-Ireland, beating Cork in the final.

Even though there is a lack of jeopardy in the All-Ireland group stage with three teams qualifying out of four from each group, the first game is still important as it could well potentially set the tone.

If John Cleary’s charges were to get over the line first day out, which they have done so under this format in the last two years, it does take the pressure off, especially with Kerry coming to town the following weekend and Roscommon are always dangerous opponents.

Meath will rally the troops once the disappointment of losing the Leinster final sinks in. They could well be a wounded animal and Cork will have to be ready, which they no doubt will be.