Meath GAA discussion thread

Tom Joad

Good luck tomorrow lads - have a feeling it will be a lot closer than people think..

Lemlin

Had a Cavan win today so hopefully Meath will follow it up tomorrow.

mattser

Lemlin wrote: »

Had a Cavan win today so hopefully Meath will follow it up tomorrow.

I hate to say it, Lemlin, but I think you'll be far north of 10,000 posts before we beat the Dubs. Thanks anyway.

Royal Legend

I was expecting Waterford to give the Cats problems last night and I still expect (hope) that we give the Dubs a game today.

Come on the Royal :cool:

rpurfield

well lads this is it the head says not a hope but the butterflies are still there.as long as we dont lie down anything can happen,hon the royal

Hammer Archer

Ran out of steam in the end. Fabulous performance from the lads in the first half especially. Worst thing that could have happened was the half time whistle to go as we had Dublin rattled.
The backs were in the faces of the Dublin players throughout and the forwards tracked back well. Thought the performances of both Meade and Gillespie were the best I've seen form them. Think Paddy O'Rourke was our man of the match. Two fantastic saves (plus the one that led to the second goal), great under the high ball and his kickouts were magnificent. He seems a different player to the one who made his debut in 2009. Unfortunately, in that heat some of the lads were running on empty towards the end and maybe the bench should have been utilized earlier.
Think Dublin were slightly flattered by a 7 point win. We went for goals far too early when we could have chipped away at their leads with some points. But the better team did win it out in the end. Looking good for the future though. Wouldn't really fear anyone in the qualifiers and I'm sure most of them would be hoping they don't draw us.

Overall a very encouraging performance against a supposedly unbeatable Dublin team.

Radharc na Sleibhte

Id like to avoid Armagh, Tyrone and Kildare, having said that I think we could beat any of them.

Whens the draw to include the provincial losers?

Do they do it all as a one tomorrow or is that all in my head?

Hammer Archer

Radharc na Sleibhte wrote: »

Id like to avoid Armagh, Tyrone and Kildare, having said that I think we could beat any of them.

Whens the draw to include the provincial losers?

Do they do it all as a one tomorrow or is that all in my head?

Tomorrow morning at 8.30 they do round 3 and 4 as far as I know.
Wouldn't mind Kildare to be honest if they make it to round 4. Not sure exactly how good Armagh are given they've had two walkovers after being beaten by Cavan. Tyrone certainly are beatable and always seem to choke against us. The two I'd like to avoid if they get there would be Laois and Cavan as we constantly seem to underperform against them.

Always_Running

The six day turnaround didn't help Meath last year at least they have a break now however a lot of effort was put into that Leinster final today and should have got closer than 7pts.

Dr.MickKiller

Really happy with our performance and had we some luck we might have converted one or two of those goal chances, which would have put us in a really good position.

I agree with Hammer, we started focusing on goals too early. We could have had 3-4 points, which could have given us a shot within the closing minutes.

Overall, can't complain. Hopefully the lads will see the positives from today.

LeoB

Meant to post here earlier in the week. Talk of a hammering was just paper talk. Apart from a few who know fcuk all this was never going to be easy. Any big winning margin in these games is generally a bit of a fluke and thats why these games are great spectacles.

Meath were better side for 40 - 45 minutes today. Their forwards were excellent. Think had Bray or Wallace been isolated closer to goal Dublin would have been in trouble. The midfield was excellent and not until Bastic came on did the tide go Dublins way. He is old stly like the Meath players so a game like this suits him.

Newman for me was excellent good to watch and Bray is class act. Bourke was good also, he had his hands full but I think had a good game.

The most important thing now for Meath is to give it another lash in qualifers. This game will have brought them on a lot. I think they could well have a big say where silverware ends up.

Lemlin

Hammer Archer wrote: »

Ran out of steam in the end. Fabulous performance from the lads in the first half especially. Worst thing that could have happened was the half time whistle to go as we had Dublin rattled.
The backs were in the faces of the Dublin players throughout and the forwards tracked back well. Thought the performances of both Meade and Gillespie were the best I've seen form them. Think Paddy O'Rourke was our man of the match. Two fantastic saves (plus the one that led to the second goal), great under the high ball and his kickouts were magnificent. He seems a different player to the one who made his debut in 2009. Unfortunately, in that heat some of the lads were running on empty towards the end and maybe the bench should have been utilized earlier.
Think Dublin were slightly flattered by a 7 point win. We went for goals far too early when we could have chipped away at their leads with some points. But the better team did win it out in the end. Looking good for the future though. Wouldn't really fear anyone in the qualifiers and I'm sure most of them would be hoping they don't draw us.

Overall a very encouraging performance against a supposedly unbeatable Dublin team.

Would agree with the point re going for goals too early. Surprising lack of composure considering players like Reilly and Bray are experienced.

I think your bench is one of your biggest problems too.

Dublin were pulling household names like Cullen and Bastick off their bench while Meath brought on Gilsenan, whom I thought was poor with possession, Joe Sheridan, who looks a shadow of the player he was a couple of years ago and lads like Dalton that I'd never heard of.

Ye certainly made a great game of it for 50 minutes and the atmosphere in the stadium was electric. The test now though is to rise to that level for your next opposition. I think that can be a problem at times for your county side.

I'd love if Cavan got Meath but we're in round 3 of the qualifiers for only the second time ever so we can't look past it. There are no easy games left now that its down to the last 16 (well except London!).

Rock Lesnar

Terrific effort today from the lads, the 6 wides we had in the 1st half where we could've had 1-5 really stuffed us, but we'll get over today and will be ready for 2 weeks time

royaler83

LeoB wrote: »

Meant to post here earlier in the week. Talk of a hammering was just paper talk. Apart from a few who know fcuk all this was never going to be easy. Any big winning margin in these games is generally a bit of a fluke and thats why these games are great spectacles.

Meath were better side for 40 - 45 minutes today. Their forwards were excellent. Think had Bray or Wallace been isolated closer to goal Dublin would have been in trouble. The midfield was excellent and not until Bastic came on did the tide go Dublins way. He is old stly like the Meath players so a game like this suits him.

Newman for me was excellent good to watch and Bray is class act. Bourke was good also, he had his hands full but I think had a good game.

The most important thing now for Meath is to give it another lash in qualifers. This game will have brought them on a lot. I think they could well have a big say where silverware ends up.

Burke got absolutely roasted, can't believe he was left on mannion for the whole game, he had his hands full surely but was a few yards off him every time, seemed that way from the stands anyway.

Overall was a good performance that can be built upon

Rock Lesnar

royaler83 wrote: »

Burke got absolutely roasted, can't believe he was left on mannion for the whole game, he had his hands full surely but was a few yards off him every time, seemed that way from the stands anyway.

Yeah i dont like to criticise players after such a performance but Burke was very poor, never got to grips with his man at all and got skinned every time one on one, while Keoghan the other side was immense, never gave Brogan an inch.

paul71

Hammer Archer wrote: »

Ran out of steam in the end. Fabulous performance from the lads in the first half especially. Worst thing that could have happened was the half time whistle to go as we had Dublin rattled.
The backs were in the faces of the Dublin players throughout and the forwards tracked back well. Thought the performances of both Meade and Gillespie were the best I've seen form them. Think Paddy O'Rourke was our man of the match. Two fantastic saves (plus the one that led to the second goal), great under the high ball and his kickouts were magnificent. He seems a different player to the one who made his debut in 2009. Unfortunately, in that heat some of the lads were running on empty towards the end and maybe the bench should have been utilized earlier.
Think Dublin were slightly flattered by a 7 point win. We went for goals far too early when we could have chipped away at their leads with some points. But the better team did win it out in the end. Looking good for the future though. Wouldn't really fear anyone in the qualifiers and I'm sure most of them would be hoping they don't draw us.

Overall a very encouraging performance against a supposedly unbeatable Dublin team.

Agree with you on everything except this. Meade is having his best year in a Meath Jersey, I stated in the past that I never wanted to see him play for Meath again but his performances this year made me completely reverse that opinion. Gillespie is delivering on the promise he showed against Kildare last year and has now had 3 good performances, so the midfield performance was not a surprise to me. I think we now have a competitive but not dominate mid-field for the first time since Jonh McDermot retired.

I was reserving Judgement on Newman after to 2 opening championship games, but he showed some class touches today. Bray is on good form, Reilly is not at has best when running at backs as physical as Dublins, half backs an issue but I take the point that we are missing Dalton. Keoghan, K. Reilly, Menton Dalton have a long future as the core of the meath backline given the age profile.

This year, who knows, I would like to see us take out a big name and get to All-Ireland Semi.

mickrourke

Peadar had a great game and so did Kevin Reilly. Gillespie and Meade were brilliant in the first half but got a bit lost in the second. Big Joe, all credit to him, but he was not the right sub to make He dropped 2 shots straight into Cluxtons hands. Bray had great game but made very bad decisions in the last 10 minutes. Burke was roasted from the get go and was partly responsible for the 2 goals. Poor Biggie hardly got a look in he was so marked out of it. Overall though very pleased that we stayed with them for 60 minutes, the future looks bright, the future is green.

Royal Legend

delighted with the performance today, on another day we could have bet them with the amount of ball we won. Lets hope Mick can get the lads fired for the qualifiers, I would not fear anyone if we can play like that. I seriously think if we had put at least one of our goal chances away we would have won as the Dubs were in trouble. Best of luck to the Dubs going forward, I still think they will be caught by either Mayo, Donegal or Kerry later in the season.
p.s. it was nice to see the amount of kick passing today and I thought the speed of the passing for the first Dublin goal was phenomenal.

Dr.MickKiller

mickrourke wrote: »

Peadar had a great game and so did Kevin Reilly. Gillespie and Meade were brilliant in the first half but got a bit lost in the second. Big Joe, all credit to him, but he was not the right sub to make He dropped 2 shots straight into Cluxtons hands. Bray had great game but made very bad decisions in the last 10 minutes. Burke was roasted from the get go and was partly responsible for the 2 goals. Poor Biggie hardly got a look in he was so marked out of it. Overall though very pleased that we stayed with them for 60 minutes, the future looks bright, the future is green.

I see there is a lot of criticism against Burke but I don't see it. Can you give me some examples? I was watching online, so maybe I'm missing something.

Junior D

There were numerous times Burke was a couple of yards behind Mannion when the ball was being played in. Mannion was allowed far to much space at times to go for a score or play it to a man in a better, scoring position.

It was definitely a poor match-up though, one that I can't understand how the management continued to go with, despite it being obvious early on. Burke looked far to lumbersome to try mark Mannion, who has incredible balance and agility, and when you combine those attributes with being able to kick off either foot, I thought it might've been better to have Keoghan on him rather than Burke.

What made it worse for Burke though was the amount of time that Kilkenny was allowed to have on the ball. This meant Kilkenny was able to play near perfect ball into Mannion at times, or at least the type which would suit Mannion over Burke, and any corner back in that situation will tell you it can be near impossible to mark that at times

Stoner

Junior D wrote: »

There were numerous times Burke was a couple of yards behind Mannion when the ball was being played in. Mannion was allowed far to much space at times to go for a score or play it to a man in a better, scoring position.

It was definitely a poor match-up though, one that I can't understand how the management continued to go with, despite it being obvious early on. Burke looked far to lumbersome to try mark Mannion, who has incredible balance and agility, and when you combine those attributes with being able to kick off either foot, I thought it might've been better to have Keoghan on him rather than Burke.

What made it worse for Burke though was the amount of time that Kilkenny was allowed to have on the ball. This meant Kilkenny was able to play near perfect ball into Mannion at times, or at least the type which would suit Mannion over Burke, and any corner back in that situation will tell you it can be near impossible to mark that at times

I guess Meath were missing a couple of pacy defenders today, Keoghan did a fine job today and would have left a huge hole if he moved over to Mannion. There just wasn't enough on the bench for Meath. It's a pity Sheridan is off his game. I wish Meath the best in the qualifiers. If they can take the positives from today's game and build on it nobody will want to face them.
The management team need to keep things positive.

Radharc na Sleibhte

Tyrone or Kildare?

What do ye's make of that.
As i said above I would have rather avoided both of these but a tough game might suit us better than a perceived walkover.

Dubliner28

Based on yesterdays performance I wouldn't fear either team lads. Your forward line gave us the run around in the first half + shot an awful lot of poor wides.
Only thing that worries me is that whoever comes through Kil/Tyr will no doubt be "battle hardened" but still I wouldn't fear them

Hammer Archer

With regards to Burke, I thought he was poor in the first half but I actually thought he improved in the second. He made a few dispossessions as well as the high ball he broke down later in the game which was ridiculously called as a free (Kinsella had a nightmare of a game in my view). Unfortunately, with both Dalton and Young either injured or returning from injury, there were very few options for corner back. I think picking Burke over Lenehan was the better choice.

I don't think we should fear either Kildare or Tyrone in two weeks. I feel Kildare have regressed, even since last season and by all accounts Tyrone were quite lucky to get over Roscommon. With two weeks rest (and by God some of them will need it), I'd be confident of making the quarter finals.

Atomic Pineapple

.....

Lemlin

draffodx wrote: »

I'd be confident of overturning Kildare or Tyrone after such a positive display against Dublin, fair play to Mick O Dowd, the team really seems to have a much better spirit with grit and determination instilled in them this year.

I would fear for yas to be honest lads. That's the problem with Meath. They lift it for a large opponent but then lose to lesser opposition e.g. Good performances against Dublin and Kildare last year but lose to Laois.

I think Tyrone would be your best bet as ye have a good record against them.

rpurfield

seriously disappointed for the lads it was a massive effort but the fitness really told in the end.hopefully they can kick on from it now and get some good experience.its great that the next game will be in croker another big day up there for some of the younger lads to experience.on the mickey burke debate in hindsight maybe sticking keoghan across on mannion may have worked as brogan has been poor all year for the dubs, but thats a hindsight statement

iDave

Gonna miss the qualifier will be odd seeing it on TV.
Just hope the massive effort we put in for 55 mins can be stretched to 70. It will be needed against a Tyrone team many have tipped for the All Ireland. They'll be very hungry to do us over, 96 and 07 still wrankles with them

Atomic Pineapple

Lemlin wrote: »

I would fear for yas to be honest lads. That's the problem with Meath. They lift it for a large opponent but then lose to lesser opposition e.g. Good performances against Dublin and Kildare last year but lose to Laois.

I think Tyrone would be your best bet as ye have a good record against them.

I somewhat agree and disagree with this, yes that has been a problem with recent Meath teams and this team has yet to be tested in that manner to see if it suffers the same faith but I would be hopeful of more belief and determination in this team than in ones in recent years and would also be hoping that means they can lift their game again.

PaddyCar

According to tickets.ie only lower hogan and lower cusack open for Meaths next game. €25 a head also