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Joe McDonagh Cup 2018

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How is the team shaping up for Saturday v Antrim? Any team idea of team? Redsalltheway (Meath) - Posts: 112 - 01/05/2018 13:36:10 2095971 Link
Replying To Redsalltheway: "How is the team shaping up for Saturday v Antrim? Any team idea of team?" I heard James Toher is injured for the whole of the championship and Anthony Forde is gone travelling. They were our engine room in midfield. huge losses overthehill72 (Meath) - Posts: 334 - 01/05/2018 14:36:06 2096002 Link
Toher and Forde would be big losses if they're out for whole Championship campaign. I think this team will really peak on a dry summers day in a large pitch like Pairc Tailteann. Plenty of pace and quality forwards to get scores. Redsalltheway (Meath) - Posts: 112 - 01/05/2018 15:12:30 2096014 Link
Replying To Redsalltheway: "How is the team shaping up for Saturday v Antrim? Any team idea of team?" Darragh kelly out of Saturdays match because he was sent off in last round of the NHL. big loss. Anthony Forde gone to USA , big loss. Toher out big loss Heffernan Out Big Loss On the plus side Gavin McGowan was back and flying in last Saturdays in house match in Navan. Big Boost My Team For Saturday, What you think ? 1.Shane McGann (Great shot stopper, needs help from half forward line and mid field for puck outs) 2. Pauric Kelly (Has not got a chance , is a tougher and better hurler than the two lads used in the league) 3. Damien Healy (Needs to be at 3 because Kelly is out, very strong on the ground and in the air) 4. Sean Geraghty (Tight , mobile and strong, best corner back in this competition) 5. Shane Brennan (Will Give 100% wont let the side down, ball winner on ground great in the air) 6.Keith Keogan, (Can play anywhere on the half back line, ball winner on the ground brilliant in the air) 7. Eoin Marsh (Strong , ball winner in the air, needs not to foul) 8. Steven Morris, (Bombing up and down the pitch free roll suites him, loves to get forward and take a point) 9. Colm O'Mealoid (Holding mid fielder protecting the half back line, ball winner and good in the air) 10. James Kelly, ( Great player , can score and win puck outs in the air, match winner) 11. Joey Keena, (Busy player wins lots of dirty ball, can win puck outs, and breaking ball, will get a couple points) 12. Alan Douglas, (Very strong pacey player, great in the air can win puck outs in the air, will score,match winner) 13 Gavin McGowan, ( Fast, strong and can win his own ball, great player to score points from any angle,match winner) 14. Adam Gannon, (Very fast will take on the full back ,great in the air , goal maker , will score, match winner.) 15 Jack Regan, ( Brilliant free taker can also take scores from play, corner forward will suit him) 17 Kevin Keena 18 Mark Sullivan 19 Cathal McCabe 20 Niall Wier 21 Chris Lynch 22 Paddy Coneelley 23 Michael Cullen gardentree (Meath) - Posts: 194 - 01/05/2018 15:17:52 2096017 Link
Worried about this game Antrim in a better place than last few years, It may be the only chance of a win Brownepat (Meath) - Posts: 463 - 01/05/2018 19:53:24 2096083 Link
I would agree that full back line needs improving. I'd go with Sean Geraghty, Damien Healy and David Conneely there. Two of the best corner backs in county along with Damien who is imposing and dominant around square. Redsalltheway (Meath) - Posts: 112 - 01/05/2018 21:13:55 2096105 Link
forde is a huge loss. toher as well. id be worried about having enough power in middle of field for battle dickie10 (UK) - Posts: 532 - 02/05/2018 21:06:16 2096312 Link
Replying To Redsalltheway: "I would agree that full back line needs improving. I'd go with Sean Geraghty, Damien Healy and David Conneely there. Two of the best corner backs in county along with Damien who is imposing and dominant around square." How would you suggest that David Conneely is good enough to start in a championship match ?? He has not got one minute game time this level in the league so how you can say Conneely is the best corner back in the county is beyond my comprehension. You must be from that neck of the woods gardentree (Meath) - Posts: 194 - 03/05/2018 16:11:14 2096457 Link
Replying To gardentree: "How would you suggest that David Conneely is good enough to start in a championship match ?? He has not got one minute game time this level in the league so how you can say Conneely is the best corner back in the county is beyond my comprehension. You must be from that neck of the woods" As I'm a huge follower of all Club Campionship Hurling games I think I've seen a lot of club players throughout this county. I admit picking a player who has had a long term injury is a gamble, but I do believe David Conneely is an outstanding corner back and this seems a problem position after watching many National league games and maybe he is the solution. I'd hope Pauric Kelly breaks into team too, I think he has a lot to offer. Alan Douglas could be the key player this Saturday, more hurling in him now since his return and is a big game player. Redsalltheway (Meath) - Posts: 112 - 03/05/2018 17:42:41 2096474 Link
Has anyone got a number for Martin Ennis. This would not have happened under his stewardship. We have lost our swagger. Have we to beg Martin or do you think he will come gladly? In_da_ditch (UK) - Posts: 165 - 05/05/2018 21:11:55 2096853 Link
Some dung today bet a point a man plus one Brownepat (Meath) - Posts: 463 - 05/05/2018 23:44:28 2096865 Link
Replying To In_da_ditch: "Has anyone got a number for Martin Ennis. This would not have happened under his stewardship. We have lost our swagger. Have we to beg Martin or do you think he will come gladly?" 8up at one stage not sure you can blame management. Players need to look at their own performance. StickFan (Meath) - Posts: 192 - 06/05/2018 00:03:41 2096868 Link
Bit of a cherry picked view of Ennis' tenure there. We were tanked by Laois last year too and lost well to Kildare in 2015. In the league over the 3 years we also lost multiple times to Kildare and even worse Armagh, plus losing to Mayo. CastleBravo (Meath) - Posts: 1391 - 06/05/2018 13:57:51 2096901 Link
Replying To In_da_ditch: "Has anyone got a number for Martin Ennis. This would not have happened under his stewardship. We have lost our swagger. Have we to beg Martin or do you think he will come gladly?" Ridiculous comment. Current management and players are putting huge effort to improve Meath hurling. Meath hurlers currently have all club hurlers wanting to play for Meath unlike the the past management, they're a better conditioned team too, while previous management did a good job it was Tier 3 which is vastly weaker,also hurling fans need to remember last year Meath hurlers got Relegated from this Tier 2 Competition last year only for our Countyboard to fight and get us reinstated this year. This is a really good competition and standard of hurling is very high. Against Antrim was disappointing, we start great and then stopped playing, Antrim were bigger than us and maybe had just more skilful hurlers than us. Players will just have to regroup for Westmeath while I'm sure management will make changes as panel of players look strong. We need to continue supporting this team and not have negative vibes/comments being thrown at them. Redsalltheway (Meath) - Posts: 112 - 06/05/2018 14:19:59 2096908 Link
Replying To Redsalltheway: "Ridiculous comment. Current management and players are putting huge effort to improve Meath hurling. Meath hurlers currently have all club hurlers wanting to play for Meath unlike the the past management, they're a better conditioned team too, while previous management did a good job it was Tier 3 which is vastly weaker,also hurling fans need to remember last year Meath hurlers got Relegated from this Tier 2 Competition last year only for our Countyboard to fight and get us reinstated this year. This is a really good competition and standard of hurling is very high. Against Antrim was disappointing, we start great and then stopped playing, Antrim were bigger than us and maybe had just more skilful hurlers than us. Players will just have to regroup for Westmeath while I'm sure management will make changes as panel of players look strong. We need to continue supporting this team and not have negative vibes/comments being thrown at them." I see many failings with this statement but the main one I'll open for discussion is better conditioned. I left Navan yesterday and wondered how we performed v Antrim twice in Croke Park with such energy and effort compared to yesterday. So I feel there is a huge failing in the S&C side of things. The S&C coach that was part of Ennis set up was some boxing fella and had them absolutely bouncing. It would be worth pointing out that while lads maybe want to play again... are they actually up to the level of playing?? In_da_ditch (UK) - Posts: 165 - 06/05/2018 16:04:59 2096913 Link
Lads, the panel is lob sided, on Sat we had a natural forward, Joey Keena playing wing back an a natural midfielder, Steven Morris playing corner back, then look a the subs and only two defenders are listed there, D Connelly and Chris Lynch. I know Darragh Kelly is available next week but to me it seems we are exposed by not having enough cover for the backs. Great start all untraveled, why? Cannot be fitness as only a quarter of the game was gone when what eventually turned out to be a collapse began. All of a sudden direct ball to the full forward line,who were roasting the Antrim full back line dried up, how come? My guess is that once Antrim decided to go man-on-man we could not cope and our midfielders and half backs struggled with their striking so the full forward line were starved of direct ball, only a theory but we are not as bad as we appeared on Sat but will now struggle to survive in this tier especially as Antrim lost the League play off with Laois but being the optimist Antrim may be better than we thought and we might still pull off the two wins to preserve our status and we will be meeting three of those teams next spring in the League no matter what happens over the next few weeks.....let's get stuck into Westmeath on Sunday, no better place to start, after all sport is unpredictable. MillerX (Meath) - Posts: 742 - 06/05/2018 23:50:54 2096984 Link
Saturday was embarrassing to say the least, The wrong team was picked in the first place , No plan B when Antrim copped on to going man to man, We never won a puck out after that. Douglas was roasting the Antrim full back line , in fact they had to move their number 6 on to him after 15 minutes, what did Meath do then ? Put him midfield ? FFS what was the thought process behind that decision ? Morris was left at corner back when it was clear from the mid way point in the first half that Gannon and Keogan were struggling badly in center field. Keena was left at five when was as clear as the nose on your face that we were struggling up front. Paudge Kelly did well when introduced but why did this take 55 minutes to do ? young Weir was struggling from early on. Losing the way we did on Saturday to Antrim was a disaster. gardentree (Meath) - Posts: 194 - 08/05/2018 15:23:51 2097312 Link
lads there is spme on here with rose tinted glasses. lets be honest the christy ring triumph was a bit lucky. what got us over the line on both days was desire and hunger. on saturday antrim were hungrier and had more desire to win. agree the panel is lobsided. management can only do so much with the players available. srgt_slaughter (Meath) - Posts: 462 - 08/05/2018 15:32:46 2097315 Link
Replying To srgt_slaughter: "lads there is spme on here with rose tinted glasses. lets be honest the christy ring triumph was a bit lucky. what got us over the line on both days was desire and hunger. on saturday antrim were hungrier and had more desire to win. agree the panel is lobsided. management can only do so much with the players available." Sorry but don't agree with that comment. bit of a swipe of the skillset of those who won it to be honest and I don't agree .there are a number of key players who are injured. Take Heffernan, toher, reilly, etc...and those alone would change the game on their own when they are on form. When the team was announced I knew we would struggle in the middle as we are short personnel. Irish_downunder (Meath) - Posts: 476 - 08/05/2018 15:53:19 2097321 Link
Need to calm down a bit lads. Meath are not as bad as that result yesterday, but not good enough to beat Antrim. Somewhere in between is my guess I won't name names but some of the lads were as poor as I've ever seen them play. When your big players don't show up a result like that is always on the cards. Looking forward to the weekend I hope we see a reaction, I'd agree with previous posts about getting lads into their proper positions. Keoghan (best defender all year) needs to be back in half back line. Keena needs to be moved up the field and Kevin brought in. Kelly done well when he came on but not a corner back, solid midfielder.. Dara Kelly will add a bit of strength to the defence too. Also O'Sullivan played a full game of club football after the game Saturday. Are management not aware of this mans ability? How was he left on the bench for the full game v Antrim? I thought he was injured but clearly not. begining (UK) - Posts: 277 - 08/05/2018 16:23:30 2097330 Link