DAVY DALTON GREW up in Kilcock, a stone’s throw from the Meath border.
His father, another Davy, won an All-Star and a Leinster title with Mick O’Dwyer’s Kildare in the late 1990s.
But when he pulls on the jersey for the O’Byrne Cup final in Newbridge later today, there will be no divided loyalties.
This Dalton’s a Meath man through and through — and today is just “another game of football” despite his roots.
“I lived there until I was 10 [and then] moved from Kilcock to Summerhill,” he said.
“I would have carried on playing with Kilcock for a while until the lads got their hands on me and then there was no turning back.”
Meath have had the perfect start to their pre-season with four wins from four to set up a decider against the O’Byrne Cup holders.
Now they’re 70 minutes away from their first piece of silverware under manager Mick O’Dowd and averaging more than 20 points a game, they’re entitled to fancy their chances.
“Things are going well,” Dalton said. “We have a good mood in the camp and there’s a lot of new players and the young lads are really pushing things on to be honest.
The depth of the squad is considerably improved this year and there’s so much competition that you can’t let up and that’s why things are going so well at the moment.
“Throughout the O’Byrne Cup I think you can see that nearly everyone has got game time and there’s been no let up in performance.
“That’s something we’ve been really concentrating on and everyone has picked up from where someone else has left off.”
