Barry eyes O’Byrne Cup win
New Meath manager Eamonn Barry has admitted that winning tomorrow’s O’Byrne Cup final against Offaly would be “a huge boost” for his side.
Barry’s Royals have been one of the form teams so far this year, chalking up a trio of impressive wins against DCU, Westmeath and Dublin on their way to the O’Byrne decider.
“To win the O’Byrne Cup would be a huge boost for Meath football at this stage,” said Barry.
“The fact that the final is a home draw for us in Navan was a huge incentive for the players against Dublin last week.
“Hopefully there will be a great crowd in Pairc Tailteann. We will be going all out to win it.”
Meath may have scored 34 points in their last two outings against Westmeath and Dublin, but Barry is not getting carried away.
“It's a good omen to be playing well at this time of the season but there's plenty of football to be played between now and May 14 when we take on Louth in the championship.
‘That’s the most important game of the year for us and it’s important that we get to Croke Park in the right frame of mind and with the right attitude and get off to a good start in the Leinster Championship,” he added.
As an interesting aside to tomorrow's O’Byrne Cup final, Barry will be opposing his former team mate Gerry Cooney, who played alongside the Meath boss in the Walterstown team that won five Meath SFC titles between the mid-1970s and early 1980s. Cooney is a current Offaly selector.
