Meath GAA discussion thread

Hammer Archer

iDave wrote: »

I hear we have Westmeath in the U21?

Yup. And Laois in the minor.
Next year's U21s will be the crop that got to the minor final in 2012. Hopefully Eamonn Wallace will be fit enough as he wasn't on that minor team.

Hammer Archer

All over bar the shouting in the first SFC semi final. Don/Ash 2-9 to 8 points up and Na Fianna down to 13 men. 20 minutes left.

Hammer Archer

Don/Ash win 2-14 to 12 points. Na Fianna ended with 12 men.

Hibbeler

Is the other semi on tonight?

Hammer Archer

No that's on tomorrow with the IFC final.
Dunboyne's second team beating Cortown 1-9 to 1-7 in the JFC final with 10 minutes left. Cortown down to 14.

Edit: 1-10 to 1-7 now. Dunboyne also down to 14

Hammer Archer

1-10 apiece. Replay needed.

Hammer Archer

O'Mahony's win 1-13 to 10 points. Tones were 9 points to 6 up with 20 minutes left but only scored one point after that.

Ballinlough promoted. Think Ballinabrackey may have thought they had it won after beating Ratoath in the semi final. Fair play to Ballinlough though. Not beaten in any competition since April.

Royal Legend

Up the Lough

Great win today, better team won (Based on the number of poor wides that the Brack hit throughout the game)

Best player on pitch was Peadar Byrne, Damien Carroll kept Ballinabrackey in it

Its a bit special for Ballinlough to bring the Mattie McDonnell cup home to rest in the parish. And they are not finished yet, two more finals to come (and the Intermediate hurling final for Kilskyre)

Royal Legend

Thought the second Senior semi between O'Mahoneys and the Tones was poor. Fitness seemed to bring Navan home. Wolfe Tones were 4 up at one stage and let it slip.
Could not understand the placing of Cian Ward on the 40, or at least why they did not try to feed him. The Tones seemed to play with two in the forwards, Cian on the 40 and Fiachra in Full. As soon as Cian moved to midfield near the end, he broke a good ball then seemed to pull up with cramp and had to come off. Tones were asleep for the Bray goal.
Looking at todays standard, Don/Ash should be the favourites to win.

Hammer Archer

Fair play RL. Some turnaround from last season. Honestly, I thought Ballinabrackey would win out today but I have to wonder whether their mass celebrations at the final whistle in the semi final showed that they thought they had the final won before a ball was kicked.

As for the SFC, I didn't get to see the semis this weekend, but by all accounts both games were very poor. Can't see the winner of the final getting too far in Leinster.

Hibbeler

Hammer Archer wrote: »

Fair play RL. Some turnaround from last season. Honestly, I thought Ballinabrackey would win out today but I have to wonder whether their mass celebrations at the final whistle in the semi final showed that they thought they had the final won before a ball was kicked.

As for the SFC, I didn't get to see the semis this weekend, but by all accounts both games were very poor. Can't see the winner of the final getting too far in Leinster.

I'm sorry Hammer but I don't think what you're saying about Ballinabrackey is overly fair tbh. It was their first ever intermediate final so I think that perhaps the players and fans can be forgiven for celebrating what no doubt is a big achievement for them. It is certainly most unfair to let on that they thought they were going to walk the final or anything like that

It's things like this that makes the GAA the special institution it is. Sometimes for small clubs it's the once in a blue moon run to a championship final or a league win that makes it all worthwhile

Hammer Archer

Definitely didn't mean it as a slight on Ballinabrackey but I apologise if it came across that way. I would say the parish was covered in green and gold for the last two weeks with yesterday's game all anyone was talking about so I was just wondering if maybe the hype got to the players (and every Meath fan can relate to that after 2001).

In the game against Ratoath, the Ballinabrackey players were trojans especially after going down to 14. Every one of them put their bodies on the line and hunted in packs to make up for the loss of Judge. I thought that they wouldn't be beaten if they played like that in the final. But by accounts (again, I wasn't there myself) they didn't come close to those levels yesterday. I was simply suggesting a reason for this but I possibly am wide of the mark with it.

Think the Bracks should be favourites next season. Can see Oldcastle struggling to stay up and can't see the Junior champions making much of an impression. The experience of yesterday will definitely stand to them as well.

Hibbeler

Fair enough hammer, I can see where you were coming from I'm sure it was just bad wording

Ballinlough are on some run of form though. Perhaps they could make an impact when it comes to the provincials

iDave

2013 all over again

iDave

Quite a boring draw. Wicklow doesn't float the boat. Was hoping for Louth or Westmeath. Bit more craic with a derby element. Probably Wexford again in semi. Again a bit meh. Expect another Leinster final. Lose to Dublin. Lose to a B side Ulster team in Round 4. Sadly predictable.
And the Wexford semi will probably be a Croke Park double header with Dublin so sh1t atmosphere for it.

RoyalCelt

iDave wrote: »

2013 all over again

played wicklow away in 2013. Does that mean we get them in Navan this year? First home Leinster match in forever.

It's sad Dublin are in the championship because Leinster would be really exciting and competitive otherwise. As brolly says we're all a bunch of beaten dogs.

iDave

RoyalCelt wrote: »

played wicklow away in 2013. Does that mean we get them in Navan this year? First home Leinster match in forever.

It's sad Dublin are in the championship because Leinster would be really exciting and competitive otherwise. As brolly says we're all a bunch of beaten dogs.

Really should be in Navan. We were away to them last time. Even reduced capacity Pairc Tailteann should handle demand for Wicklow.
Considering begging the Leinster council not to have a semi double header in Croke Park.

RoyalCelt

iDave wrote: »

Really should be in Navan. We were away to them last time. Even reduced capacity Pairc Tailteann should handle demand for Wicklow.
Considering begging the Leinster council not to have a semi double header in Croke Park.

depending on how we do in the league we could have more meath fans at that match if it's in navan than any meath match in years. prob since the qualifiers v louth/galway/kildare in 2011.

Hibbeler

I suppose we can be happy being on the 'easy' side of the Leinster draw and will probably expect to be in another Leinster final. AI QF and League promotion have to be the two goals for next season.

Personally I would have liked to have been on the same side as either Dublin or Kildare for the simple reason that we've lost the last 3 leinster finals in a row (whens the last time we've lost 3 finals to Dublin in a row?) and that would be fairly demoralising and perhaps a qualifier run would do us good. I think a big reason we lost to Armagh this year is that we were coming out losing heavily to playing against a team that had a system working and a good run under their belt. Had Meath the same sort of momentum I think we would have had a much better chance

Hibbeler

Actually is the A and B sides thing being kept for the qualifiers this year?

If so which side are we on and what other teams are in it? Could be important to note as I believe we were definitely on the stronger side of it last year

Hammer Archer

RoyalCelt wrote: »

played wicklow away in 2013. Does that mean we get them in Navan this year? First home Leinster match in forever.

That's the only exciting thing about the draw. Would have liked to have had Dublin on our side as well.

Hammer Archer

Dunderry beat Kilskyre in the IHC Final 2-9 to 1-9. Even more gutted that we lost to them thanks to a last minute goal in the semi final.

DarByrne1980

Hammer Archer wrote: »

Dunderry beat Kilskyre in the IHC Final 2-9 to 1-9. Even more gutted that we lost to them thanks to a last minute goal in the semi final.

How many yrs is it since Dunderry were in SHC?

iDave

That was difficult to watch

westernfrenzy

My dad was at the SHC final.

Said the second half was boring to watch.

dixiefly

Definitely disappointing from a Trim pov. Well done to Kiltale.

The players were nervous and the first touch deserted them. Along with that Kiltale played their best hurling of the year and it was one of the best performances I have ever seen in a county final. I know when you are ahead the pressure if off a bit but Kiltale's score taking was fantastic.

Where to from here for Trim? They are not nearly as bad as Sunday and I would hope that the full panel stick with it for next year and the younger players will have a year on their belts. Hopefully they will learn from the experience. Kiltale have set a very high bar but Trim are one of very few clubs in the county that could reasonably expect to challenge Kiltale in the coming years.

CrabRevolution

Absolute disaster for Trim alright. Their worst performance of the year coincided with Kiltale's best. Kiltale are great but normally leave it late, from the 1st minute Sunday they went at it hammer and tongs. Descended into a bit of a turkey shoot by the end with Kiltale popping shot after shot over from midfield.

Possibly a management error for Trim in starting the 2 lads who got injured vs. Dunboyne, while Douglas is irreplacable to Trim it was clear he wasnt at full fitness. Think Trim's forwards scored 0-1 between the 6 of them, which tells a story in itself. Felt their full back line did a decent job, considering what was asked of them and how busy they were.

4th year in a row that an unfancied team has made the final. Unfortunately on each occasion the underdog has lost, and aside from Killyon 2 years ago, they have all been hammered.

Trim are generally young, so there's no reason for them not to be back. According to the programme only one of Trim's starting team was even over 30, so there probably wont be any retirements soon. Bit of a mountain to climb to try get back to the final again though, and Kilmessan/Kildalkey/Dunboyne havent gone away.

Hammer Archer

Am I right in saying that Trim are the last "dual club" to win the SHC?

dixiefly

I think so. Navan O' Mahonys & Gaeil Colmcille would have come closest over the years. In the future, Ratoath should compete.

In a way, Kiltale are also a dual club (with Moynalvey) but they have the added bonus of a few Summrhill players. Their captain actually said this in his interview after the match that after Moynalvey and Summerhill went out of the SFC it helped them get the players back.

Hammer Archer

Senior final tomorrow. What does everyone think? Could be a very good final but the weather could ruin it.

Think Donaghmore/Ashbourne could sneak it.