No room for Geraghty in Meath XV

After all the hullabaloo that his return to the Meath set-up has caused, Graham Geraghty has been left out of Sunday’s Leinster quarter-final clash with Kildare.

There is no room for Geraghty in a formidable looking forward unit featuring Shane O’Rourke on the ’40, with Stephen Bray, Joe Sheridan and Cian Ward making up the inside forward line. Bray will make his first competitive appearance for the Royals this season after an extended honeymoon saw him miss what was a pretty poor league campaign.

Bryan Menton and Ciaran Lenehan make their debuts in a half back line which also contains the versatile Seamus Kenny, while Brian Meade and Nigel Crawford renew their midfield partnership of last season.

Sunday’s clash at headquarters should be an interesting one for a variety of reasons. It is a repeat of last year’s All-Ireland quarter-final when the Lilywhites emerged as eight-point winners, while rival managers Seamus McEnaney and Kieran McGeeney clashed on the sideline during a league meeting between the pair earlier in the season.

Throw in for the Meath v Kildare clash is at 2pm at Croke Park, to be followed by the Leinster quarter-final meeting between Dublin and Laois at 4pm.

Meath: Brendan Murphy; Gary O'Brien, Kevin Reilly, Shane McAnarney; Seamus Kenny, Bryan Menton, Ciaran Lenehan; Nigel Crawford, Brian Meade; Jamie Queeney, Shane O'Rourke, Graham Reilly; Stephen Bray, Joe Sheridan, Cian Ward.