Meath GAA discussion thread

iDave

Well done to the hurlers

dixiefly

risteard7 wrote: »

I feel sorry for anybody who spent hard earned cash travelling to clones to watch that crap today. No fight or bottle shown whatsoever, embarrassing stuff. The warning signs were there against Galway, they carved us open at Will.

Yes, beginning to wonder about buying my season ticket now. It was a worry how we conceded the goals against Galway but Monaghan were on a different level. Our players couldn't cope with the full on northern style defensive approach that Monaghan have. They had one of their half forwards mopping up everything in defence and we couldn't use the extra man up in our defence to any effect. Monaghan players were stronger and tougher in the tackle. On top of that they took points that the Meath 87-88 team would have been proud of.

All in all it was men against boys.

Not an excuse but the ref was a bit of a joke. He gave them a very soft penalty and on another occasion Paddy delayed his kick out as a Monaghan player was being treated and the ref gave a throw in.

I am a bit concerned that management didn't see the writing on the wall after 10 minutes - first changes were at half time.

I can't think of any players that did well besides maybe Paddy ORourke and David Bray when he came on. Keoghan was ok but was on a very good forward. Kevin Reilly did quite well when he came out to midfield in the second half.

Hibbeler

Ok, by the sounds of it today's performance was pretty dismal and it's disappointing to essentially have a repeat of last year's debacle. But having said that I don't think we should necessarily panic just yet. Certainly a setback if promotion is the goal but I think there is plenty there that can be worked on for the next game

Hammer Archer

dixiefly wrote: »

Not an excuse but the ref was a bit of a joke. He gave them a very soft penalty and on another occasion Paddy delayed his kick out as a Monaghan player was being treated and the ref gave a throw in.

Thankfully I wasn't the only one who noticed this. He really was atrocious. Paddy had to constantly retrieve the ball from behind the goals and was hilariously told to hurry up. The penalty should never have been given and we should have had a penalty towards the end. At one stage, a Monaghan player went to kick the ball on the ground, slipped while kicking (nearest Meath player was about 6 feet away), and was given a free.

But with a better referee, we may have lost by 6-8 points. We were shocking. While Monaghan seemed to be able to score at will from anywhere within the 45, we always had to work in into the 20m line where we were usually swallowed up by Monaghan defenders. Our handling was atrocious as well. Simple balls were dropped, even under no pressure at all.
Monaghan are a great team and McManus is the only player I've seen Keoghan seriously struggle on. But we shouldn't be losing to anyone by 12 points! Looking like securing Division 2 status is the main aim now.

dixiefly

Hibbeler wrote: »

Ok, by the sounds of it today's performance was pretty dismal and it's disappointing to essentially have a repeat of last year's debacle. But having said that I don't think we should necessarily panic just yet. Certainly a setback if promotion is the goal but I think there is plenty there that can be worked on for the next game

No, not panicking but very disappointed. We seemed to have made a lot of progress this past year but this was a serious wake up call and might in fact force management to have a complete rethink. Our players were smaller and weaker than their direct opponents and we have conceded 4 goals and 31 points in 2 games so I think it is a bit more than can be worked on over a few weeks in training!

We will probably retain div 2 status ok but there was a belief (including myself) that we were very close to a settled lineup that could reasonably compete for for promotion and in the Leinster.

Worried also about the complete lack of a plan B and horrifyingly no change before half time.

keane2097

Is it just Monaghan's style of play that's cryptonite for Meath or was it just a total system failure again?

iDave

keane2097 wrote: »

Is it just Monaghan's style of play that's cryptonite for Meath or was it just a total system failure again?

Any team that wants to play in August is Krytonite. Beaten by Dublin, Tyrone, Monaghan and Cavan. Basically we lose to teams that are better than us.

Hammer Archer

We just can't seem to play against mass defences that employ sweepers. Our game seems to be dependent on quick movement but Monaghan were always able to slow us down in attack and then break with remarkable ease. The game really shows up our need for a plan B when the quick running game isn't working. Either that, or we seriously need to work on our long distance shooting. Monaghan scored some absolutely massive points from way out the field whereas we most long distance attempts from us were nearer the corner flag than the goal.

In other news, championship draws were made this evening.
http://meath.gaa.ie/news-general/championship-draws-2014/

Another nightmare draw for St. Pats, rpurfield. Happy enough with Ratoath's draw in the Intermediate.
New county board website looks well I have to say.

RoyalCelt

OK a few things to say.

First of all I will never travel to watch Meath play in Clones ever again. It's just not worth it. Thinking about not going to Donegal but if they show well and beat Armagh I will.

Few things to say on the match. Monaghan had 2 men back in defence and then had the fitness to counter in big numbers. Meath should have done the same. End result would have been a dire match with only a few points in it.

The ref was crap to us even when Monaghan were way ahead. I mean he gives the peno for a "push" but then mickey picks up the rebound and is pushed over the line but he doesn't give a free and they score the 45. We get a free and he doesn't give us advantage delays it long enough for them to get back. Joke.

Either way I'm forgetting about that and hoping we can still go on and beat Louth, Laois, Armagh and Down with the 2 northern teams at home. Hopefully they play it smart against Donegal and with a lot of pride. Anyway win those 4 and we could get promoted on 10 points.

Lemlin

dixiefly wrote: »

No, not panicking but very disappointed. We seemed to have made a lot of progress this past year but this was a serious wake up call and might in fact force management to have a complete rethink. Our players were smaller and weaker than their direct opponents and we have conceded 4 goals and 31 points in 2 games so I think it is a bit more than can be worked on over a few weeks in training!

We will probably retain div 2 status ok but there was a belief (including myself) that we were very close to a settled lineup that could reasonably compete for for promotion and in the Leinster.

Worried also about the complete lack of a plan B and horrifyingly no change before half time.

I honestly think Meath's progress last year in the Championship was a tad over rated. Ye beat Wicklow and Wexford. Two teams.

The performance against Dublin was good for 50 minutes but then the bench was required and the game was gone.

I'll be interested in watching Meath again this year because IMO unless a good few new players have been discovered, the talent just isn't there and O'Dowd can't be blamed for that.

I see Carroll is still starting. He's not good enough for me. Paddy Gilsenan coming on. He was dire last year, particularly against Dublin when he came on. Mickey Burke starting corner back is too inconsistent. Tormey didn't get on for long in any game but didn't impress or stand out at all when he did. That's just a few examples.

The black card is also going to kill teams like Meath who have poor strength in depth.

I think Meath need to start alot of work at underage to bring players through. There have been great finds in the last few years like Newman and Wallace but they aren't enough at the minute.

iDave

RoyalCelt wrote: »

OK a few things to say.

First of all I will never travel to watch Meath play in Clones ever again. It's just not worth it. .

I've heard quite a few Meath fans say that. 2 league hammerings in a row, a league final reply loss, championship defeats to Fermanagh and Cavan. Boylan era ended there. Jesus I hate it. Bring on the new Casement!

rpurfield

Hammer Archer wrote: »

In other news, championship draws were made this evening.
http://meath.gaa.ie/news-general/championship-draws-2014/

Another nightmare draw for St. Pats, rpurfield. Happy enough with Ratoath's draw in the Intermediate.
New county board website looks well I have to say.

yep its a tough one alright but hopefully a few of our successful u21 team make the breakthrough this year, the lads have won something at every grade from u10 up so theyre well used to winning. weve a new joint management team of cormac "spud" murphy and ronan kierans so id be fairly hopeful of a decent run.

on another note can someone tell me the last time meath won a match up in clones. In my 20 odd years following meath around i dont think weve ever won in it

Hammer Archer

rpurfield wrote: »

yep its a tough one alright but hopefully a few of our successful u21 team make the breakthrough this year, the lads have won something at every grade from u10 up so theyre well used to winning. weve a new joint management team of cormac "spud" murphy and ronan kierans so id be fairly hopeful of a decent run.

on another note can someone tell me the last time meath won a match up in clones. In my 20 odd years following meath around i dont think weve ever won in it

We beat Monaghan in the qualifiers (when Colm Coyle was their manager) back in 2003 I think. No other games come to mind.

The Showstopper

We beat Fermanagh in a division 2 semi-final in Clones in 2005 I think? I just remember Trevor Giles scoring a serious goal catching their goalie off his line.

iDave

Paddy O'Rourke, Donal Keoghan, Kevin Reilly, Graham Reilly, Michael Newman and Bryan Menton all on the Leinster panel for the InterPros

Hammer Archer

Hurlers were disappointingly beaten 1-15 to 8 points by Wicklow in Arklow. Terrible start given how well they did in the Kehoe Cup. Winning every game from here on in is essential to have any chance of promotion.

Early days in the football leagues, but great result for Kells against O'Mahony's.

rpurfield

fair dues to the county board just been working all day and went digging for a league results and theyre all updated on the new look website

Hammer Archer

rpurfield wrote: »

fair dues to the county board just been working all day and went digging for a league results and theyre all updated on the new look website

I've been very impressed with how quick they've gotten results up over the last few years. Before that, you'd be lucky if it was updated once every fortnight.

On the flip side, we were without an official referee for the first half of the Ratoath - St. Michael's game today :pac: By the sounds of it, the county board never told him the game had been changed to 12:00. Eamonn Barry (i.e. the Ratoath manager) refereed the first half.

RoyalCelt

rpurfield wrote: »

fair dues to the county board just been working all day and went digging for a league results and they're all updated on the new look website

They have been great updating the results on the site and now the icing on the cake, which is the new look site. Credit where credit is due, this newish county board are showing the old heads what should have and could have easily been done.

It's great to see things picking up off the football pitch but we'd all love it if MOD could get the maximum potential out of our talented group of players.

Lemlin

RoyalCelt wrote: »

It's great to see things picking up off the football pitch but we'd all love it if MOD could get the maximum potential out of our talented group of players.

Could you expand on this point? Sounds there like you're not happy with O'Dowd's management?

rpurfield

RoyalCelt wrote: »

They have been great updating the results on the site and now the icing on the cake, which is the new look site. Credit where credit is due, this newish county board are showing the old heads what should have and could have easily been done.

It's great to see things picking up off the football pitch but we'd all love it if MOD could get the maximum potential out of our talented group of players.

Ideal world there'd be some sort of a meath version of the dublin match tracker on twitter too, but a fair few clubs are good at updating their own games on social media as they happen.

Hammer Archer

Just for a laugh:
https://twitter.com/HarnanFacts

Hammer Archer

Rumours that Dalton is out for the rest of the league and Gillespie has a fracture in his leg.

RoyalCelt

Lemlin wrote: »

Could you expand on this point? Sounds there like you're not happy with O'Dowd's management?

I'm very happy. I'd imagine you want your manager to get the most out of Cavan's young lads over the next few years. Stating that wouldn't mean you're not happy!

Hibbeler

Read there on hoganstand that Meath have lost to all nine of the Ulster counties in the last 5 years and have only won 4 out of 20 encounters. It makes for pretty grim reading and one would wonder what is the reason behind it? Is it because our style of play lets us down or do we just not have the players? For me it has to be a mixture of both.

You would have to think that if this trend continues the rest of our league campaign could look fairly grim as we still have to play Armagh, Donegal and Down. The match against Armagh this weekend is a must win to get this league campaign back on track and get some confidence back in the team again.

http://www.hoganstand.com/Meath/ArticleForm.aspx?ID=210495

Mauser 308

Hammer Archer wrote: »

Rumours that Dalton is out for the rest of the league and Gillespie has a fracture in his leg.

?

Anyone hear any confirmation re the injury's?

iDave

Any chance of a team announcement?

paul0103

I see the chairman of Kildare Hurling Board has spoken out against the decision to grant certain counties funding for hurling. Glad somebody has finally spoken up about this, and I hope it will spur our own Hurling Board to speak out on the matter. Of course the counties mentioned deserve the help and funding, but counties like Meath and Kildare do too. The same thing happened about this time last year with the announcement of the National Hurling Development Plan . I would like to see their criteria for selecting certain counties for these plans.

Over the past few years I would say that Meath underage hurling is on a par or ahead of Westmeath. Meath lost to Carlow in the final of the Leinster Minor Hurling League last year, and went on to beat Westmeath in Minor Championship. They also had only a two point defeat to Offaly in 2012 championship. Plenty of the minors from the past 2-4 years involved with the senior team now.Of course money alone wont magically make better teams, but with proper planning some extra funding could really help to bring underage teams up a few levels.

klairondavis

paul0103 wrote: »

I see the chairman of Kildare Hurling Board has spoken out against the decision to grant certain counties funding for hurling. Glad somebody has finally spoken up about this, and I hope it will spur our own Hurling Board to speak out on the matter. Of course the counties mentioned deserve the help and funding, but counties like Meath and Kildare do too. The same thing happened about this time last year with the announcement of the National Hurling Development Plan . I would like to see their criteria for selecting certain counties for these plans.

Over the past few years I would say that Meath underage hurling is on a par or ahead of Westmeath. Meath lost to Carlow in the final of the Leinster Minor Hurling League last year, and went on to beat Westmeath in Minor Championship. They also had only a two point defeat to Offaly in 2012 championship. Plenty of the minors from the past 2-4 years involved with the senior team now.Of course money alone wont magically make better teams, but with proper planning some extra funding could really help to bring underage teams up a few levels.

Lawlor is dead right on this and I hope the counties concerned present a unified front to Croke Park on this very issue. There is no reason why Kildare, Meath and Wicklow (all counties in and around the same level hurling wise) couldn't reach the level that Westmeath, Carlow and Laois are at. Meath have made good progress at underage - as you point out beating Westmeath in the minor championship last year. Our minors in Kildare beat Carlow last year when they were huge priced outsiders. There is potential there.

It's left up to a small handful of clubs in both Kildare and Meath to keep hurling alive because our county boards are very much football orientated. They are pissing against the wind without assistance from Croke Park. There is great scope to grow the game of hurling in commuter counties given the demographics of the region but the stronger counties don't seem to care as long as their own patch is looked after. The strong will get stronger and the weak will get weaker.

Hammer Archer

paul0103 wrote: »

I see the chairman of Kildare Hurling Board has spoken out against the decision to grant certain counties funding for hurling. Glad somebody has finally spoken up about this, and I hope it will spur our own Hurling Board to speak out on the matter. Of course the counties mentioned deserve the help and funding, but counties like Meath and Kildare do too. The same thing happened about this time last year with the announcement of the National Hurling Development Plan . I would like to see their criteria for selecting certain counties for these plans.

Over the past few years I would say that Meath underage hurling is on a par or ahead of Westmeath. Meath lost to Carlow in the final of the Leinster Minor Hurling League last year, and went on to beat Westmeath in Minor Championship. They also had only a two point defeat to Offaly in 2012 championship. Plenty of the minors from the past 2-4 years involved with the senior team now.Of course money alone wont magically make better teams, but with proper planning some extra funding could really help to bring underage teams up a few levels.

In my my view, the GAA are willing to see these teams improve, but that's it. The likes of ourselves and Kildare and similar teams (Wicklow, Derry, Down etc.) have some fantastic hurlers and with a bit of a push from the county boards and help from the GAA, we could become far more competitive. I remember back in the early 2000s when the likes of Nicky Horan was nearing his peak, Meath were in division 1 of the hurling league for two consecutive seasons and even managed to beat Dublin and put it up to the likes of Offaly and Limerick if I remember correctly.
I'm also not sure what the above counties have done to deserve this funding above others. Antrim used to be more than competitive on the national stage while Carlow seem to be greatly improving of their own accord looking at the performances of their underage teams and MLR. Westmeath made some strides recently yet seem to have regressed this season, only drawing against London and being hammered at home to Derry (neither of whom Meath would necessarily fear). Laois got a good win against Offaly in the league but up until recently were getting annual hammerings in the championship.

On tonight's match, the lack of a team announcement is worrying. By all accounts online, Gillespie and Dalton are definitely out. There's rumours that Newman is also injured after playing with Leinster. Armagh have their injury problems as well but still have more than enough to cause us trouble. Also, if Newman is out, I can't really see a reliable free taker in the squad.