Meath increasingly desperate to shake off the yoke of Dublin dominance

In his first interview as Meath manager in the summer of 2022, Colm O’Rourke plainly set out some bold terms of reference.

“Ultimately, we have to beat Dublin. That was the measurement of Meath when I was playing and that hasn’t changed,” O’Rourke told The Meath Chronicle.

He stepped down two years later – walking away as the fourth successive Meath manager who had failed to register a victory, moral or otherwise, over Dublin.

One of the direct casualties arising from Dublin’s ownership of Leinster football has been a thorough deconstruction of the Dublin-Meath rivalry. It is now 15 years since Meath last defeated Dublin. The rivalry has become a relic of the past, a story kids in Meath have heard but never seen.

If it’s not yet a dead rivalry, then it’s certainly a dormant one.

The Royals have not beaten Dublin in a competitive game of senior football since June 2010.

There have been longer periods of hegemony in the rivalry but never has one side suffered as many successive defeats.

Meath are on a nine-game championship losing run to their neighbours – the sorriest streak in the history of the derb...
[Short citation of 8% of the original article]