When Meath and Mayo lost their respective provincial finals to Dublin and Roscommon, very few would have expected them to feature at the business end of the championship, but here they are just one game away from an All-Ireland final appearance.

Hammered by Dublin in the Leinster final on a 1-11 to 3-17 scoreline, Meath bounced back with a dramatic All-Ireland quarter-final victory over Ulster champions Tyrone in Newry. Full forward Stephen Coogan scored a late goal to give the Royals a surprise 2-12 to 1-14 win which went a long way towards exorcising the ghosts of their capitulation at the hands of Dessie Farrell's men.

The performance against Tyrone would suggest that the Andy McEntee-managed Royals are a lot better than they showed in the Leinster final when perhaps the big occasion got to some of their players. A physically strong team, Meath had shown good form in beating Longford, Offaly and Westmeath, and had also run Dublin close in the Leinster league final, before being ripped to shreds by the Metropolitans on July 22.

After scraping over Sligo in the semi-final, Mayo lost the Connacht final to Roscommon by 0-8 to 0-10 at Hyde Park. They were widely written off before their All-Ireland quarter-final against Tipperary at Croke Park, but defied the odds to send the All-Ireland and back-to-back Munster champions packing on a 0-19 to 1-8 scoreline. It was a terrific performance from Tony Duffy's charges who dominated the half back line and midfield, and clearly had their homework done on the opposition.

This is an extremely difficult game to call. Mayo deserve to be favourites after their display against Tipp when Eoghan Lavin and Ruadhri O'Connor were outstanding at midfield and Adam Gallagher played a captain's part in attack. But what if they play like they did against Sligo and Roscommon - when none of their six forwards managed a score from play - again?

The Leinster final apart, Meath have been quite impressive this year. Fiachra Ward - younger brother of senior Cian - is an excellent free-taker while Adam Flanagan is a huge presence at midfield. They'll be desperate to make up for their last visit to GAA headquarters and certainly won't hold any fears of Mayo. But if the Westerners can reach the same heights as they did against Tipperary, they are unlikely to be stopped.

Verdict: Mayo

Mayo - Conor O'Malley, Joe Geraghty, Sean Moran, Michael Plunkett, Patrick Durcan, Cian Burke, Kevin Lynch, Brian Mullen, Adam Gallagher, Eoghan Lavin, Stephen Coen, Diarmuid O'Connor, James Quinn, Sean Regan, Shane Hennelly.

Meath - Robert Burlingham; Declan Smyth, Brian Power, Shane Gallagher; Conor Carton, Shane McEntee, Seamus Lavin; Pauric Harnan, Adam Flanagan; Cillian O'Sullivan, Jason Daly, James McEntee; Barry Dardis, Stephan Coogan, Fiachra Ward.

Odds: Mayo 8/11 , Draw 15/2, Meath 11/8

Match Details: Croke Park, Sunday 26 August, 1.30pm

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