Meath: gentlemen and scholars all

Dionysus

So what is it with those dirty Dubliners (and all the rest of you heathens)?

I was discussing the great footballers throughout the years with a rather grumpy (if that's not a tautology) Dublin man and pointed out to him that the Dublin players never had the gentleness and sense of fair play that honourable and clean Meath players like Gerry MacEntee, Mick Lyons and Colm Coyle possessed. I simply mentioned this in passing as an expression of sympathy but mo dhuine went apoplectic. He practically invented his own dialect in front of me with most of the words beginning with the letters f, b, and c.

What has gone wrong with the world that people cannot give credit where credit is due?


Yours,

a humble Meathman

LeoB

Of the 3 players you mention Coyle was the best, a super all round player, as Sean Boylan said "to versatile for his own good".

As for your "dirty Dubliners". Wow What muck. The problem with some of you Meathmen is its dirt when anyone else gets on top of you, you have a habit of resorting to sly digs and kicks. Remember Tyrone in 86 and the filth of some of your "big Men"? Tyrone were kicked out of Croke Park. That was a trademark of the Meath teams for a few years some great players, strong and tough but a nice sprinkling of hatchet men who got away with an awful lot. Dublin had a few tough hard men also as most counties do but to class McEntee and Lyons as great footballers is a joke. Coyle, O'Malley and O'Rourke. Maybe even Bernard Flynn after that???

Dublin dont have any real hard men "soft underbelly" I have heard it described as. Meath will have problems as we move forward and the games are tidyed up. There will be and should be no room for hatchet men.
Oh was there a game abandoned in Meath last week end? Or was it just a big melee? You know the type where "legends of the club settle up some old score going back 30 years"

cruiserweight

Okay ladies and gentlemen this thread could go downhill fast, but I am leaving it open for now. So please keep it civil or the thread will be locked and bans handed out.

OP I am sure the dirty dubs comment was tongue in cheek but I am sure you can see how it would annoy some people. As for the Meath they have had soe wonderful players down the years, but also have a reputation for playing on the line and sometimes going over it.

yayamark

LOL Hes looking to wind people up here

If anything Tyrone are the new Meath

upmeath

LeoB wrote: »

was there a game abandoned in Meath last week end? Or was it just a big melee?

It was after the final whistle of a game between Navan O'Mahonys and Senechalstown. The game wasn't abandoned, it was after the match had ended. It made the front page of a local weekly rag. A man from Roscommon living here for years said he'd often seen rougher coming out of second mass in Strokestown.

LeoB wrote:

You know the type where "legends of the club settle up some old score going back 30 years"

Meath football is not quite as feudal as in some other Leinster counties. I know of one southern county in particular where players from neighbouring parishes refuse to play on the same county squad.

blackbelt

I got the feeling a thread like this would pop up while I was away.Now that the league is finished there is the championship coming up and one big juicy fixture in 5 or 6 weeks.

In fairness,I have heard more people (outside of Dublin) complain about Meath down through the years than any other county.I am sure the AI Final in 1996 between Meath and Mayo was just a social gathering right..... :rolleyes:

upmeath

blackbelt wrote: »

...the league is finished there is the championship coming up and one big juicy fixture in 5 or 6 weeks.

Gonna be gorgeous, nothing like a Dublin-Meath game. Nothing. :)

blackbelt wrote:

In fairness,I have heard more people (outside of Dublin) complain about Meath down through the years than any other county.I am sure the AI Final in 1996 between Meath and Mayo was just a social gathering right..... :rolleyes:

You're right, we're not a popular bunch, but I think (and I could be very wrong here) that the rest of the country dislike us because we had a lot of success over the course of 15 or 20 years there, and while we're not quite up there with Dublin and Kerry in the All-Ireland honours list a lot of people attending GAA matches today grew up when Meath went from rags to riches under Sean Boylan.
I don't think Dublin are without their detractors either. There's great banter between fans of all ages and backgrounds when Meath and Dublin meet in Leinster, we're equally despised by the rest of the country but we love a good showdown and feck the begrudgers, I think its the best rivalry in inter-county football. I know there's no love lost between Mayo and Galway or Cork and Kerry either.

blackbelt

Right on,I love Dublin-Meath matches.I think the style of play and the rivalry and intensity brings out the best in both teams.Look at 2007 and see how both teams progressed after 2 cracking games.I am actually hoping Meath go further (after losing to Dublin of course ) and cause a few upsets against teams like Tyrone and Armagh.

I was actually disappointed that Meath had no run last year.There was not the same amount of banter.I think Meath will do a bit better this year.Their collapse against Wexford in Carlow last year destroyed them and against Limerick there was no hunger as they had not recovered.

As for ourselves,I think we are in reasonably good shape.The league was a success in terms of blooding new players and we survived the drop whilst unlucky not to beat Tyrone,Mayo and Kerry.If we had that little extra,possibly we could have been playing in the league final yesterday.

Any word on Geraghty coming back for the Dublin game?

RocketRonnie

blackbelt wrote: »

Any word on Geraghty coming back for the Dublin game?

We can always hope!!!! I doubt the Dubs would be lookin forward to seein him to much thou......
I reckon he could still do a big job for Meath this year, a lot of young lads on the panel could still learn a lot from him!!!

Bring on the 7th June........

Lemlin

yayamark wrote: »

LOL Hes looking to wind people up here

If anything Tyrone are the new Meath

Comments like that I don't like. Tyrone are a great football team who play other teams off the park. They may be physical but they've also plenty of skill and are THE team of the decade.

One of the reasons I think Meath didn't do well last year was because they hadn't a game against Dublin to unify them. The year before, the two games against the Dubs seemed to lift them.

I expect Dublin to win but I definitely think Meath will make a game of it as they always do. Meath could play terribly all year but they'll never let themselves down against Dublin, it's just not in them.

upmeath

RocketRonnie wrote: »

I reckon he could still do a big job for Meath this year, a lot of young lads on the panel could still learn a lot from him!!!

Don't get me wrong RocketRonnie, I agree with you full-heartedly. He does a lot for the team and there are a dozen or so lads on the panel who could learn a wealth from him, but an increasing number around the county think it's a bit of a cop-out for the young lads coming up that they can almost expect Uncle Graham to come along and give them a hand each summer. It's great to see Geraghty out there each summer, it rises the team, the fans and it raises the bar for the opposition, but it's not healthy for the young lads coming through to always have a get-out-of-jail-free card.

RocketRonnie

upmeath wrote: »

Don't get me wrong RocketRonnie, I agree with you full-heartedly. He does a lot for the team and there are a dozen or so lads on the panel who could learn a wealth from him, but an increasing number around the county think it's a bit of a cop-out for the young lads coming up that they can almost expect Uncle Graham to come along and give them a hand each summer. It's great to see Geraghty out there each summer, it rises the team, the fans and it raises the bar for the opposition, but it's not healthy for the young lads coming through to always have a get-out-of-jail-free card.

I can see what your thinkin upmeath, but i would like to see him involved for just one more year, which is about all thats left in Mr.G anyway.... even just to have him on the inside, especially for the Dub game. For the morale boost alone!!!!

LeoB

I think Meath are better off without him. They have plenty of lads who are going to do well and I think they could actually do without him anyway near the panel. They need to rebuild without his baggage.

Meath in Croke Park never disappoint. They could put out a team of Juniors who would put it up to Dublin. I dont think most counties begrudge you your success but Tyrone of that year were the like the peoples team and people (and press)didnt like the way Meath played. Give a dog a bad name. That Meath team with O'Rourke was superb. Coyle is a case in point as I felt he was always hard done by while others got away with a lot worse.

Upmeath, Did your man from Roscommon tell you when he was at it what some of the club stuff is like in Roscommon? My nepew played down there for 3 years and thought some of the stuff going on was stopping the county progressing. It might explain why they are in the doldrums. When I put in my comment in earlier post I had just taken a big bite of the bait:o

Flukey

Dionysus wrote: »

the gentleness and sense of fair play that honourable and clean Meath players like Gerry MacEntee, Mick Lyons and Colm Coyle possessed.

That's a bit like trying to claim that Mike Tyson never threw a punch while in the ring. Anyway, we are used to this kind of trolling, so you won't get much of a rise out of the veteran Dubs and loyal GAA fans on this board - ones who post here from January to December, not just for a few months in the summer. We've seen it all before.

As for Meath, after their display in 2007, it looked like they were going to come strong but then disappointed big time in 2008. They'll certainly be up for a crack at Dublin on June 7th and Dublin still have to work out who their best team is after a lot of experimentation during the league, so it will be interesting.

Cruiserweight wrote:

Okay ladies and gentlemen this thread could go downhill fast, but I am leaving it open for now. So please keep it civil or the thread will be locked and bans handed out.

If one of the nicest threads we ever had here - The GAA Lovefest thread - can get locked a few months ago, when it was paying tribute to all the great posters here, there is no hope for a thread like this. Anyway, we are wise enough to know that from now on we are going to get the annual influx of new posters who'll quickly disappear and threads like stereotypical county attacks, real fans v sunshine fans, can't get tickets, match should be at a different venue and of course the inevitable Cork travel moan threads. Yes sir, the championship is coming!