Diego (Meath) - Posts: 1189 - 03/02/2019 19:46:56    2162180

bobkarlgees (Meath) - Posts: 1192 - 03/02/2019 20:20:20    2162209

Still alot of positives to take from the game. Up to 60th min Meath were in control of the game 4 points up , should have really being 5 or 6 at least. Playing direct intelligent good standard of gaelic football. Donegal got a a bit of freaky goal with one long kick from outfield that somehow got in the net.


Donegal showed their class and skill and won out. But Meath still had chances in injury time to get a result. But Donegal r not Ulster champions and unbeaten in Ballybofey in the league since 2010 for nothing. They had the know how and experience to win tight matchs and talent. Some real good young talent in Donegal. Definatly in my book a very young skilful team that cud be All Ireland champions in 3 to 4 years time. They won while the other team should have is a good sign for Donegal.


For Meath this was a better performance then Tyrone loss last year. Meath had 6 players starting last night that didnt play v Tyrone and 5 who started last night who were not even on the panel last year. Allot of these young new Meath players are off Meath Under 20 team which was the only team to beat All Ireland champions kildare last year in the championship. These young Meath players are different to young players we have had come through in last few years. Our young players who came thru in last few years had no underage sucess and were beaten consistently by kildare and Dublin at underage.


These new players year that played last night have been part of underage teams that r winning underage leinster titles and beating kildare and particularly Dublin consistently. They seem more confident then players that came thru the Meath ranks in allot of this decade. The hope is and there is evidence that this cud be start of underage sucessful teams coming thru in Meath more frequently in the future . Serious work has been done on the ground in the last few year and even this year underage work went up a level in terms of organisation, preparation and coaching in Meath and also in kildare.


Meath r in the same boat as kildare kind of. Both are starting to make inroads at underage . Both have problems beating Ulster opposition. Meath were knocked out 7 times in last 15 years by Ulster opposition in the championship . kildare were knocked out 7 or 8 times in last 15 years by Ulster teams in the championship. But can go toe to toe for 70s mins with div 1 teams, but both fail to get over the line.


In last 2 years Kildare have played really well for 70 mins but failed to beat Galway Monaghan Donegal Tyrone and did beat Mayo. In last two years Meath have played really well for 70 mins but failed to beat Donegal twice Tyrone Roscommon ( draw) and did beat Galway.


This is a classic development stage for teams trying to make the break thru. A team has one or two tough year's eg Offaly 76 77 , Meath 82 83 84 , Kildare 91 . Then the team enters a second stage and has moral victories, losses in injury, hard luck loses , loss with last minute points or goals eg Offaly 1979 Meath 84 94 Kildare 93 97. Then after 4 or 5 years the breakthru comes eg Offaly 80 , Meath 86 96 and kildare 98. Those 4 teams are the most sucessful teams in leinster football outside Dublin in last 45 years.


]Meath and kildare are in moral victories stage, cannot get over the line stage. The question is can eitheir of them get the breakthrough which is to stay in div 1 and get to super 8 and compete sucessfully. kildare are ahead of Meath, but both r in the same boat pretty much.

For Meath there is an improvement is in defence. Meath havent made serious impact in the championship since 2010 and failed to get to div 1 since 2006. Changing managers and lack of underage sucess has not helped. But 4 problem areas have been massive issue since Boylan left.


1 Shakey defence , problems in the half back line
2 Problems at midfield with kickout strategy and breaking ball
3 Attack falling down between two stools eg hand passing and kicking game
4 Inconsistency.


1 The improvement is in the defence so far this year. Lavin McGill and Ryan have played as well as I have seen a Meath football back line in years. Meath in the past have produced more great defenders then probaly any other county other then kerry and especially great full back lines. We have been shakey at the back for a while now. Lavin McGill Ryan have been our best performancers this year , strongest line of the field. Thats the first time I have said that about Meath full back line in this decade.


Half back line has been an issue for Meath football for years. Our last effective centre back was Enda McManus in late 90s and we havent produced a top class wing back since O Connell in late 80s. Centre back has been problem area for two decades. Our half back line changes every year .


This year is the best Meath half back line I have seen in years. J McEntee Donal keoghan Niall Kane have been excellent. Good defenders , but particularly good attacking. McEntee has excelled at wing back after moving from the half forwards . And keoghan, who is the best Meath defender of his generation was wasted at corner back. Keoghan cud become a great Meath centre back up there with two greatest centres back in Meath football history eg Liam Harnan and Bertie Cunningham. And Niall kane has been the best wing back in Meath club football for years. Together it means Meaths weakest line for years is now probaly our strongest line now. And the half back line is the most important line in modern football eg McCarthy Sullivan McCaffrey , Harte Gormley Jordan, O Se Brosnan O Mahoney , Keegan Vaughan Boyle. You cannot be top team without a top class half backs.

At midfield we basically had a kickout that started in 30s and continued til the last few years. Drive the ball out to centre of midfield and a big man wins the ball. Under Rodgers we now seem to have a proper sucessful functioning kickout. While breaking ball with kane who is very good at breaking ball has improved. We always had breaking ball specialist in the past eg Kevin Foley Pat Reynolds jnr and Seamus Kenny. However we do lack top class midfielders with the best Meath midfielders of their generation missing for different reasons eg Conor Gillespie Conor Nash Shane O Rourke Harry Rooney and Ronan Jones.

We seem to be more direct this year. Nally the new coach is definitely having a positive impact. Since Boylan we have failed with our attack by falling between a hand passing game and a kicking game.And failing to deliver either sucessfully. A more direct style wud suit Meath football and this year we r seeing a more direct game then we have seen in a while.

But a worry cud be the forwards. We have good forwards like Newman Sullivan Reilly Campion but we do lack a real marquee forward. And we need more scores from play from Brennan and Thomas O Reilly. Its a pity our best forward in the last two years and best forward in Meath club football, Donal lenihan has gone travelling for the year.


The last issue which is still a big issue is inconsistency. What r the chances Meath lose to Armagh . If Meath play like we did last night we will beat Armagh and be hard to beat in the following games. But since Boylan has left inconsistency has bedevilled Meath football. A great performance is usually followed by poor performance. This is an area that needs to improve.

Last night again like Tyrone last year and Donegal in 2017 we went toe to toe with top div 1 team, but lost for the third time in injury time after been level after 70s mins in those 3 above games v top division 1 opposition. All these teams our provicial champions and have the know how and quality to win big matchs/ tight matchs. Meath dont have the know how. But the quality of football is improving based on good defence.

Performance v Donegal in 2017 and Tyrone last year was bit helter-skelter plenty of passion and determination , but a bit all over the place at times and Donegal and Tyrone had good patchs of play. Last night was a more improved performance were Meath controlled the game for 60 mins with smart direct good quality football. That is an improvement on Tyrone performance. 6 changes to the team that played Tyrone is a reason. It means we can leave Sullivan and Reilly our best two attackers on the bench. It would have been unthinkable in last 4 years to play Donegal in a game and leave both those guys on the bench.


Meath still have a long road to travel with this young team. And if we lose to Armagh the inconsistency problems still lingers. But if we do beat Armagh and Cork, which we cud win and we cud lose. Two victories there though cud lead to almost a promotion decider with kildare in game 5. Then we will see were we are since kildare gave us two heavy beatings in 2017. Have Meath closed the gap and have Meath made real progress?. Meath are improving. But its slow process and will have many ups and downs. But there are good signs evident . Hopefully if we can get promotion. That cud be a game game changer for Meath football. It is also important McEntee stays manager for a couple more years. He is the best manager we have available to us. And we need him to be there when these young talented players come thru in next few seasons. One other issue is the lack of quality sucessful Meath coachs and managers. We haven't had a Meath man managing an another county since Coyle managed Monaghan and Hayes managed Carlow in the mid 00s. This is an area we need to improve in.

Furlong1949 (Meath) - Posts: 1046 - 03/02/2019 20:57:36    2162245

Reco (Meath) - Posts: 419 - 03/02/2019 21:30:08    2162268

royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 17035 - 03/02/2019 21:43:46    2162278

Just saw the goal on TV, absolute howler, these things happen, learn and move on

seadog54 (Meath) - Posts: 1432 - 03/02/2019 22:12:22    2162303

Just a couple of stats from the weekend. Donegal had young inexperienced team but so did Meath have young inexperienced team.

Donegal had 9 players under the age of 22 who played at the weekend.
Meath had 7 players under age of 23 who played at the weekend.
Meath had 5 Under 21 players playing at the weekend

Only 1 Donegal players who started the match was not on the Donegal senior panel team last year.
5 Meath players who started the match were not on the Meath senior panel last year.

4 of the Donegal players who played last night were not on the Donegal senior panel last year.
7 of the Meath players who played last night were not on the Meath senior panel last year.

17 of the players who played for Donegal last night have won Ulster senior medal.
1 player who played for Meath last night had won leinster senior medal.

So in summary we can say it is factually correct to say Donegal had young inexperienced team and Meath had young inexperienced team also.

Furlong1949 (Meath) - Posts: 1046 - 04/02/2019 00:34:31    2162347

Looking at the other reviews and results from the weekend is very interesting. This is one hell of a tight division. Two draws again. Clare getting a point in Newry? Fermanagh drawing with Tipp in Semple? Those are the two supposed weakest links. If we had beaten Donegal we'd be in a very cosy position today. Kildare look to be coming in under the radar as well. Its way too close to call. At this rate, somebody will go down who simply is unlucky or doesent take their chances (like Meath v. Donegal on Saturday!) we have to be ruthless now, particularly in the home games. There can't be any more errors against any of these teams or we'll be punished.

Young_gael (Meath) - Posts: 391 - 04/02/2019 07:09:37    2162363

nobull456 (Meath) - Posts: 841 - 04/02/2019 07:58:18    2162367

One thing that we need to work on if possible is creating goal chances. No goal against Longford or Tyrone in championship last year and we paid the price. No goal on Saturday night. Goals in those type of games are crucial - it gives your team a lift and demoralises the opposition. We can't expect to go out every week and score 20 points. On any given day, the conditions mightn't suit point taking or the free taker might be off his game. It might just be a case of horses for courses in terms of us not having big ball winners up front but it is a bit of a shortcoming if we want to step up to Div 1 football.

gwanyagudthing (Meath) - Posts: 88 - 04/02/2019 09:40:43    2162388

Disappointing result for sure, we had the lead with 10-15mins to go but couldn't hold onto it, an all too familiar scenario these days for Meath. Nothing we can do about it now though, just have to regroup on focus on next weekend, a win against Armagh will keep us in the hunt.

Htaem (Meath) - Posts: 8583 - 04/02/2019 11:30:15    2162424

Armagh game is huge now. Win and we could be fighting it out with Kildare for promotion, lose and we'll be dragged into a relegation battle. Armagh in a similar position so I'd expect it to be a dogfight. They should be without Clarke and we're at home which should give us the edge.

gwanyagudthing (Meath) - Posts: 88 - 04/02/2019 12:03:24    2162444

MillerX (Meath) - Posts: 742 - 04/02/2019 12:49:43    2162473

bobkarlgees (Meath) - Posts: 1192 - 04/02/2019 13:41:53    2162496

Can't beat a Donegal team short at least 7 of their best players, Meath at full strength, what hope have we ???
Were destined for another year in Div 2.

gardentree (Meath) - Posts: 194 - 04/02/2019 14:01:25    2162506

The goal was a howler, of that there is no doubt. But I wouldn't dwell on it, the biggest problem Andy has this week is making them forget about that goal, and knowing deep down that we threw away a hard fought win by our own doing. If he can do both of those things , I see no reason why we won't beat Armagh. We cannot let what happened define our season. Move on forget about it and learn from it.

royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 17035 - 04/02/2019 14:03:42    2162507

Disappointing result, given we where in command late on, I didn't make the game but good to see younger guys been given a chance, And did well by all accounts, So that's a positive. I think we just need to win one of theses big games to give this team the kick start we might need to achieve better things. The game is gone now opportunity lost. but we have to move on get back on track with a win against Armagh. which by default is now a massive game for us. I am glad its a home, But I think we can do it.

bobkarlgees (Meath) - Posts: 1192 - 04/02/2019 14:22:59    2162514

MillerX (Meath) - Posts: 742 - 04/02/2019 15:19:10    2162533

Furlong1949 (Meath) - Posts: 1046 - 04/02/2019 15:32:44    2162538

Any news on Alan Forde. He did his cruciate a while back. He is best wing forward in the county in the style of Paul Galvin or Brian Dooher. Im not saying he is as good as them. But he has their style of play. He can defend he can attack he links defence to attack very well and always plays well in Meath jersey Any news on him. It would be a boost if he has recovered from injury.

Furlong1949 (Meath) - Posts: 1046 - 04/02/2019 15:39:42    2162540