Meath GAA discussion thread

iDave

Nerves setting in now.
After losing to westmeath can't handle losing to this shower.

Hibbeler

Right, job done some improvement necessary but that's a potential banana skin out of the way

Hibbeler

Right, job done some improvement necessary but that's a potential banana skin out of the way

iDave

Job done definitely. Good to beat them. COS man of the match for me.
Don't think we'll trouble the dubs but we'll give it a rattle.
Shame we didn't close it out better

Hammer Archer

"Meh" performance. O'Sullivan and Wallace did well. Worryingly open at the back in the last 10 minutes or so. Louth players waltzed through a few times.
Keep within 10 of the Dubs and itll probably be a good performance. And that sentence is incredibly depressing.

dixiefly

Delighted with the win. however we did are not accurate enough and should have closed out the game much earlier. Obviously a significant improvement needed for the next day to even compete but I think that was much better than the equivalent fixture last year against Wicklow.

Cillian the star man - many of the first half attacks were orchestrated through him and Wallace and, when we started the second half badly, I thought he would go missing but he upped his game again and really pulled the strings in the victory. Wallace was excellent and I thought Rooney and Cian O'Brien did well in the first half. Defence generally did well and good kick passing from the likes of Douglas was good to see. Harnan, Keoghan and Tobin were tight and hopefully Tobin has not a long term injury again. Louth cused some problems coming through the middle in the last 15 minutes but overall Meath fully deserved the win.

Rock Lesnar

I taught we played very well today, especially going forward in the 1st half, felt the scoreline flattered louth as we could have scored a good bit more then we did, as Dixie said above, Cillian o'sullivan was man of the match, his work rate was brilliant, especially when he had to track back to defend, our number 11 could learn a bit from him in that regard.

Big improvement required obviously next day, especially defence, louth got through fairly easily at times in the 2nd half, I hope we set up like today, play the forwards as forwards and have a go, we've nothing to lose

CrabRevolution

Good to win. I hope more than anything that we never lose to Louth while I'm alive. The number of "revenge for 2010" comments will be unbearable, even if we beat them 99 more times in between.

Also good to win in that the loser gets a trip to Derry on saturday, a pretty daunting prospect.

rpurfield

Decent enough performance today, to be honest I was behind the goal we were defending the first half and when Mickey Burke came in full back I feared the worst, but our full back line held up very well, I thought Burke was excellent now. Agree that Cillian O'Sullivan and Eamonn Wallace were everywhere, we'd five of our six starting forwards on the scoreboard.

In terms of the next day, it's a massive step up again, should be no pressure on the lads anyway once we get a good bounce off them I'd be happy enough.

enricoh

Thought biggy, o Sullivan n Wallace were excellent going forward - great work rate with all 3, keoghan as per usual top class n Mickey Burke done great too. A welcome step in the right direction!

Pat_custard

I think if we're to have any prospect of beating Dublin we need somebody to completely occupy Cian o'sullivan for the entire game. That's where I think Cillian could be vital. Even if he doesn't touch the ball once against dublin if he drags Cian all over the pitch it will create space and leave gaps for our inside forwards. If Cillian isn't causing enough of a threat out the pitch to worry Cian then he'll do his usual sweeping and sniffing of opposition threats, which he does so well.

Of course this game plan entirely depends on our backs being tight and our inside forwards (the likes of Newman, wallace, McMahon, maybe tormey etc) all being on song once that space is created.

Regarding the Louth game, I was very happy with Paddys KO's something I've been a major critic of in the past. Backs seemed solid, there seemed to be a decent defensive strategy in play. COB and Rooney done well in parts but position wise I think they were caught out a few times. Biggy's man scored two points both times he was defending but his man was inside him (I don't know if the defensive strategy is based on zones so biggy was no longer meant to mark him after a certain point or he just plain lost him?) COS was immense. The other forwards were mostly good but probably a little annoyed with themselves over missed opportunities, especially goal chances.

DoctaDee

You wouldn't get this sorta commentary on LMFM

corny

Pat_custard wrote: »

I think if we're to have any prospect of beating Dublin we need somebody to completely occupy Cian o'sullivan for the entire game. That's where I think Cillian could be vital. Even if he doesn't touch the ball once against dublin if he drags Cian all over the pitch it will create space and leave gaps for our inside forwards. If Cillian isn't causing enough of a threat out the pitch to worry Cian then he'll do his usual sweeping and sniffing of opposition threats, which he does so well.

O' Sullivan is a sweeper for Dublin. The chances of him being pulled out of position to man mark are nil.

Anyway his role is overstated (I blame Brolly). In truth such a brilliant footballer is wasted being little more than a detterent.

A lot of pace in the Meath team. They should be looking at being competitive against Dublin, as opposed to keeping the score down.

snowgal

It was a good win yesterday, its a pity they didnt win by abit more as they really missed some opportunities but however they are through now and thank god we dont have to go to Derry! As with everyone else I thought Cillian was excellent. His pace and runs were immense and Id hope if he has the same form in two weeks time he might cause a few problems for the Dubs. Graham Reilly hot and cold again as usual. Some great points but then completely out of the game in patches, literally standing there watching his man score. If he could give a full 70 mins he would excellent. Thought Keoghan and Burke were quite tight and worked well but jesus the scores and goal for Louth in the last ten shouldn't have happened and the Dubs will score goals all day if we dont tighten up. Thought POR did a decent job but no better than McHugh in my book. Meath will HAVE to watch the Dub kick outs though. I odnt know how many times yesterday Louth had free men all over the place. We cant do that with Dublin

Dyr

corny wrote: »

O' Sullivan is a sweeper for Dublin. The chances of him being pulled out of position to man mark are nil.

Anyway his role is overstated (I blame Brolly). In truth such a brilliant footballer is wasted being little more than a detterent.

Someone pointed out that O'Sullivan is actually just a defacto sweeper because no team will play a conventional forward line against dublin for fear of being over run

Pat_custard

I agree Bambi. It's a bold strategy but I think if Meath are to have any chance they have to play with 6 actual forwards, having a forward that drops back and plays as an extra defender will just give invite Dublin attacks and allow Cian the free role of being a sweeper to sniff out any Meath attacks.

mickrourke

rpurfield wrote: »

Decent enough performance today, to be honest I was behind the goal we were defending the first half and when Mickey Burke came in full back I feared the worst, but our full back line held up very well, I thought Burke was excellent now. Agree that Cillian O'Sullivan and Eamonn Wallace were everywhere, we'd five of our six starting forwards on the scoreboard.

In terms of the next day, it's a massive step up again, should be no pressure on the lads anyway once we get a good bounce off them I'd be happy enough.

Agree about Mickey Burke, he kept his man very quiet in the first half even though he was a head taller. I was in the same place as yourself so had a great view. He also made some excellent interceptions and clever runs.
Did you see Keoghans block on the goal line where he took the ball off the foot of Louths 14? It was amazing, haven't seen anything like that in quite a while.

Dyr

mickrourke wrote: »

Agree about Mickey Burke, he kept his man very quiet in the first half even though he was a head taller. I was in the same place as yourself so had a great view. He also made some excellent interceptions and clever runs.
Did you see Keoghans block on the goal line where he took the ball off the foot of Louths 14? It was amazing, haven't seen anything like that in quite a while.

Has Mickey abandoned his career in amateur dentistry or should we put a hurling helmet on O'Gara just in case?

ProudDUB

corny wrote: »

O' Sullivan is a sweeper for Dublin. The chances of him being pulled out of position to man mark are nil.

Anyway his role is overstated (I blame Brolly). In truth such a brilliant footballer is wasted being little more than a detterent.

A lot of pace in the Meath team. They should be looking at being competitive against Dublin, as opposed to keeping the score down.

Agreed. Cian ain't going no where, no how, no way. He'll stay exactly where he is. If the likes of All Star, A listers like Cillian OConnor, Colm Cooper, James O'Donoghue etc etc aren't dangerous enough to drag him out of position, then what ever Meath throw at us, certainly won't be. I disagree that he is wasted where he is. Watch him closely during a game these days. He's like a cop directing traffic. It all goes thru him.

rpurfield

mickrourke wrote: »

Agree about Mickey Burke, he kept his man very quiet in the first half even though he was a head taller. I was in the same place as yourself so had a great view. He also made some excellent interceptions and clever runs.
Did you see Keoghans block on the goal line where he took the ball off the foot of Louths 14? It was amazing, haven't seen anything like that in quite a while.

Yep it was unreal best block I've seen in years, haven't watched the Sunday Game yet but I hope they showed it or it will never be appreciated like Joe Sheridan's volleyed point in Mullingar in 09!

mickrourke

rpurfield wrote: »

Yep it was unreal best block I've seen in years, haven't watched the Sunday Game yet but I hope they showed it or it will never be appreciated like Joe Sheridan's volleyed point in Mullingar in 09!

Unfortunately no, they didnt show it.
Well at least you know you didnt dream it.

rpurfield

mickrourke wrote: »

Unfortunately no, they didnt show it.
Well at least you know you didnt dream it.

It goes in the You had to be there folder so!

I see the GAA have announced the tickets for the Ring replay are €5 and the two teams are to nominate a charity of their choice for proceeds to go to. I hope we bring a good crowd, I'm off on my holidays the day of the Dublin game so I'll definitely get to the hurling anyway

iDave

So we breathed a sigh of relief after beating Louth so we wouldn't have a 6 day turnaround away to Derry.......only to get the exact same draw in round 2.

Obrieski

iDave wrote: »

So we breathed a sigh of relief after beating Louth so we wouldn't have a 6 day turnaround away to Derry.......only to get the exact same draw in round 2.

It won't matter, we'll be beating the Dubs

Hammer Archer

Fourth year in a row we've drawn an Ulster team. We also haven't had a home draw in the qualifiers since 2011.
We ain't beating Dublin so Derry it is.

iDave

Looks like that potential qualifier been moved back a week.

paul0103

TG4 don't seem to be showing the Christy Ring replay this Saturday, which is a pity. Will be going anyway, but always nice to be able to look back on it. I wonder will the Sunday Game even bother with cameras for the sake of 90 seconds of highlights?

paul71

Just found out the tickets are €5, no reason not to go, hopefully a decent crowd will show up to support them.

Hammer Archer

Honestly there's no real excuse for Meath fans not to head to Croker on Saturday as well as Sunday. The hurlers were hung out to dry the first day out so hopefully the sense of injustice will bring more Meath fans out.

Bonniedog

Quick question on the CR replay chaps.

There was major cut in price on Antrim yesterday. Was wondering if this meant more players missing from Meath?

(Pity by the way it is not the curtain raiser on Sunday. would be a hundred times more entertaining than watching the flourbags.)