Limerick V Meath - Round 4 Football Qualifier

grenache

Venue: Portlaoise, Sat Aug 1st. Throw-in 7pm. Live coverage on RTE 2.


No talk of this intriguing tie on here yet, so i'll start off. I think Meath will have the edge here. They've gone quietly about their business in the qualifiers to date, racking up some big scores against Waterford and Westmeath. They also comfortably saw off an improving Roscommon side. Although disappointing against Dublin in Leinster, they still only lost by 2 points. They have built up plenty of momentum in the meantime.

While Meath have played 3 competitive games in the last month, Limerick's last competitive match was the Munster final 4 weeks ago. This lack of competitive action will probably act against them for today's game. They laboured for long periods against Tipp and Clare and probably should have beaten Cork in the Munster final - by general consensus Limerick were the better team on the day. Yet their lack of sufficient punch in their forward line let them down. This allied to bad tactical decisions by Mickey Ned O'Sullivan and their tendency to leak goals was their undoing against Cork. For all the possession and territory Limerick had, they really should have been out of sight at full time.

I expect it to be a relatively close affair, but Meath have the forwards to win it. Cian Ward and Stephen Bray will be more than a handful for Johnny McCarthy and co. Joe Sheridan seems to be back to his best. Nigel Crawford seems rejuvinated at midfield. Anthony Moyles is steady as ever at centre back. And while Limerick have some very good operators in Johnny McCarthy, John Galvin, Stephen Lavin, Seanie Buckley and Stephen Kelly, they dont have carry the same goal-scoring threat as the Royals. Ian Ryan and Ger Collins are great new finds and both are beginning to find consistency, but they're still young and neither score many goals. The team still needs another forward or two who can put the ball over the bar and when needed, in the net.

Meath to prevail by 4 points.

soccymonster

I think meath arent as confident going into the match as some would expect. Obviously due to last years match between the two sides, meath will be coming to Portlaoise looking for revenge but the immature move by meath not allowing limerick to video their roscommon game is mind boggling.
Hopefully we can scrape up a crowd of 4000 at least from limerick tonight. The footballers deserve way more support then they're getting at the moment.
Im expecting a close game and not such a one-sided affair like last year. Limerick to win by 2 points.

Bobalicious93

Meath aren't real on any sort of form whatsoever, and I would fancy Limerick to pull through this, with the extra motivation that will come from the Munster Final defeat.

Limerick by 5.

grenache

Bobalicious93 wrote: »

Meath aren't real on any sort of form whatsoever, and I would fancy Limerick to pull through this, with the extra motivation that will come from the Munster Final defeat.

Limerick by 5.

Well Meath did beat Westmeath by 10 points, i know Westmeath have atrocious this year but 1-15 is still good going. They accounted for Roscommon too without much trouble. They're waiting in the long grass for Limerick. I feel the Munster final defeat wont have done much for Limerick's confidence, they're fed up of moral victories at this stage and need to start collecting some silverware soon. Typically, once their Munster campaign ends unsuccessfully, Limerick dont seem to pay as much attention to the qualifiers as they did to the Holy Grail which is the Munster Championship. Also everyone is writing Meath off, a lot of people are judging them on one bad performance against the Dubs. I think this is foolish. There's plenty of footballing ability in that team, and unfortunately as a Limerick supporter, i think i'll bear witness to it tonight.

dixiefly

soccymonster wrote: »

I think meath arent as confident going into the match as some would expect. Obviously due to last years match between the two sides, meath will be coming to Portlaoise looking for revenge but the immature move by meath not allowing limerick to video their roscommon game is mind boggling.Hopefully we can scrape up a crowd of 4000 at least from limerick tonight. The footballers deserve way more support then they're getting at the moment.
Im expecting a close game and not such a one-sided affair like last year. Limerick to win by 2 points.

Dont be surprised. Meath Co. Board have a caveman mentality. Barney Allen the Co. Chairman was secretary under Fintan Ginnity for about 20 years and then when it came to the end of Ginity's tenure Allen got himself elected after 1 year with someone else (who was making a reasonable stab at bringing things unto a more professional level)

They even refused under 12's permission to video a county final that was played on a horrendous midweek night that several parents missed. They refused permission due to the senior team of one of the clubs being involved in a fraccas earlier in the year.

You couldnt make it up. So dont be surprised. OF COURSE they should have let Limerick video the game.

BTW, heading to Portlaoise, may the best team win and all of that. Hope Meath do it but I dont really see us going too much further if we do win. Safe journey to all supporters.

homerjay2005

hard to call this one. heart says limerick, but head says meath. depends what limerick team turn up. id love to see them in croker, their players deserve it. outside of the top 7 teams who have dominated the provincial deciders (kerry, cork, mayo, galway, dublin, tyrone, armagh), i think Limerick along with Sligo, Derry, Laois and 1/2 more can claim to be the best of the rest after those 7 teams over the past 5 years. they never got the credit they deserved, but only for the fact that an exceptional Kerry team was brewing in 2003/2004, they could and perhaps should have won 2 Munsters and also this year.

i honestly think a kick of a ball either way will decide it.

COB_here

Heading to the game myself and am fairly confident that meath can get a result but saying that i was confident aswell down in limerick last year and we all know what happened.

Seeing as big Joe and Wardy are in decent form i can see us winning this by 3-4 points

dixiefly

COB_here wrote: »

Heading to the game myself and am fairly confident that meath can get a result but saying that i was confident aswell down in limerick last year and we all know what happened.

Seeing as big Joe and Wardy are in decent form i can see us winning this by 3-4 points

I hope you are right but I honestly cannot say that Cian Ward is in good form. He was poor in normal play against Roscommon. Joe has been great but struggled to keep possession when he went up to full forward position the last day.

Our best players for the last few games have been Byrne, Crawford and also Kenny & O'Connor have done well.

I usually have a good feel for how a game will go but, with Limerick having the potential to play the way they did vs Cork and last year, I have no idea how it will go.

Atomic Pineapple

As a Meath man I am not confident at all, no disrespect to the teams Meath have beaten but Limerick will give Meath a proper contest which we haven't had so far and I am unsure whether Meath can deal with it

soccymonster

Its really almost impossible to call. Depends on what teams show up on the day i guess. And we wont know that till the game actually starts.
Getting nervous now. Would love to see the limerick footballers make it to croke park.

starn

Just about to head off to the game now. I think it will be close. But I cant see Meath letting Limrick beat them a second time.

Atomic Pineapple

starn wrote: »

Just about to head off to the game now. I think it will be close. But I cant see Meath letting Limrick beat them a second time.

I hope so but ya never know with the Meath teams of late, they seem to have a very strange tendency of collapsing without reason

applehunter

Interesting match.

The bookies make Meath clear favs for some reason. Think it will be close run thing myself.

Atomic Pineapple

great goal by Ward!

1-2 to 0-2 to Meath,

We look good going forward but slightly worried about Limerick running by our defenders

Atomic Pineapple

Half time

Meath 1-6 Limerick 0-5

Meath making a bit of a mess of things in my opinion, they should have this game by the scruff of the neck by now.

Limerick still in it

soccymonster

Hope limerick can pull it back for the second half. Buckley playing brilliant and galvin is an animal in midfield! Really hoping for something special to help limerick get back on track and win so those meath feckers will shut there gobs up near the score board..

Atomic Pineapple

Great goal by limerick there,

I still feel Meath are not pushing on and ending the game as early as possible!

Slightly worrying, we should be putting Limerick to the sword

Atomic Pineapple

Shocking! :eek:

mink_man

score?

browne_rob5

Would be serious robbery if we end up winning this? Meath are much better. Think the goal was fair enough though.

Atomic Pineapple

Meath 1-12 Limerick 2-08

Meath throwing it away

browne_rob5

mink_man wrote: »

score?

Meath 1-12 Limerick 2-08

Atomic Pineapple

shocking call by the referee for that free! :eek:

Straight Red for Bray but only a yellow for Riordain, joke of a referee

culabula88

a soft one alright. limerick forward played for free.

stephen bray sent off. was it for second yellow?

could be extra time here??

browne_rob5

draffodx wrote: »

shocking call by the referee for that free! :eek:

Straight Red for Bray but only a yellow for Riordain, joke of a referee

What actually happened?

Atomic Pineapple

browne_rob5 wrote: »

What actually happened?

off screen, no one seen

Meath need this 45

culabula88

will he be out for next week. i think meath will hold on. depends on how much injury time. 3 mins maybe?

Atomic Pineapple

feck that was close, we nearly imploded again!

Yeh Bray will miss next week, big loss :mad:

browne_rob5

2 mins was very short for injury time with the sending off and all that. Cant see much hope for Meath against Mayo. Limerick have a long way to go yet.

culabula88

bit harsh call for stephen lucey overcarrying for limerick near the end. he could have equalised. Mayo wont fear Meath anyway..

browne_rob5

It was harsh alright but he had plenty of time to hop it before he was tackled.

Atomic Pineapple

culabula88 wrote: »

bit harsh call for stephen lucey overcarrying for limerick near the end. he could have equalised. Mayo wont fear Meath anyway..

dont think so, he clearly over carried it.

I agree Mayo wont fear us, but still getting to the quarter finals will be seen as a successful run for this Meath team.

Lucy211

Not enough extra time played in my opinion.

Trampas

culabula88 wrote: »

bit harsh call for stephen lucey overcarrying for limerick near the end. he could have equalised. Mayo wont fear Meath anyway..

Thought that also. Like the ref didn't want it to go to a replay because the Mayo game is a week behind.

soccymonster

Lads, disgusted by the refs performance and the meath supporters themselves. Didnt show any respect towards the limerick team or supporters. But well done to meath on a win. Stephen bray gone will be a big miss but i think the red card was deserved. The ref robbed limerick at the end giving meath that free though... But sure, what can we do. Very dodgy ref today. Very dodgy..

Atomic Pineapple

Trampas wrote: »

Thought that also. Like the ref didn't want it to go to a replay because the Mayo game is a week behind.

If that was true he would have given a free out for a square ball for Limericks second goal

He wouldn't have sent stephen bray off

I agree two minutes was a bit short but in all fairness Meath should have destroyed Limerick tonight and Limerick never deserved to win it

soccymonster wrote: »

Lads, disgusted by the refs performance and the meath supporters themselves. Didnt show any respect towards the limerick team or supporters. But well done to meath on a win. Stephen bray gone will be a big miss but i think the red card was deserved. The ref robbed limerick at the end giving meath that free though... But sure, what can we do. Very dodgy ref today. Very dodgy..

Very dodgy referee is right but for both sides not just Limerick.

What was wrong with the Meath supporters?

What happened with Stephen Bray?

Kolo

What were Meath doing towards the end? 1 minute left and they were kicking it forward towards the Limerick goal and losing it. Why didn't they just pass it around and waste time??

copacetic

soccymonster wrote: »

Lads, disgusted by the refs performance and the meath supporters themselves. Didnt show any respect towards the limerick team or supporters. But well done to meath on a win. Stephen bray gone will be a big miss but i think the red card was deserved. The ref robbed limerick at the end giving meath that free though... But sure, what can we do. Very dodgy ref today. Very dodgy..

don't agree with that at all. Limerick got a goal that shouldn't have been given and there last point was for a non free when a player dived to the ground when he wasn't touched. At the end taking 9 steps right in front of the ref didn't give him much option but a free out.

If anything I thought Limerick got a lot of dodgy decisions that kept them in it.

soccymonster

draffodx wrote: »

If that was true he would have given a free out for a square ball for Limericks second goal

He wouldn't have sent stephen bray off

I agree two minutes was a bit short but in all fairness Meath should have destroyed Limerick tonight and Limerick never deserved to win it



Very dodgy referee is right but for both sides not just Limerick.

What was wrong with the Meath supporters?

What happened with Stephen Bray?

didnt he not get sent off?
Well those fools beside the scoreboard had no respect for anyone.. Laughing at a guy beside me that was waving a giant flag. Heard the word knacker thrown at him once..
Limerick took their time coming out after halftime, i think if you were there, you would have heard.
Yes, a very dodgy referee for both sides.. Altho i still cant get over a free where there was a goal kick out and a meath player fell on the ground and started pulling down john galvin. Then the ref gave a free to meath???

Atomic Pineapple

You can hardly tar all Meath supporters by a small group that annoyed you

I've been in crowds of Dublin supporters that have thrown coins at us, but thats just a bad element, you'll have it in all counties

Yes he got sent off but you said he deserved it, it didnt show on tv what happened so why did he deserve a straight red card?

soccymonster

copacetic wrote: »

don't agree with that at all. Limerick got a goal that shouldn't have been given and there last point was for a non free when a player dived to the ground when he wasn't touched. At the end taking 9 steps right in front of the ref didn't give him much option but a free out.

If anything I thought Limerick got a lot of dodgy decisions that kept them in it.

what was wrong with a goal? Was at the other end of the pitch so i didnt see really clearly.. On the radio, there seems to be hype over the last free..

Atomic Pineapple

soccymonster wrote: »

what was wrong with a goal? Was at the other end of the pitch so i didnt see really clearly.. On the radio, there seems to be hype over the last free..

The limerick forward was clearly in the square

stackerman

draffodx wrote: »

I've been in crowds of Dublin supporters that have thrown coins at us

Try bottles of piss from same classy supporters,
I kid you not :mad:

Anyway, thought it was a poor enough game and Mayo will sleep just fine this week.

soccymonster

draffodx wrote: »

You can hardly tar all Meath supporters by a small group that annoyed you

I've been in crowds of Dublin supporters that have thrown coins at us, but thats just a bad element, you'll have it in all counties

Yes he got sent off but you said he deserved it, it didnt show on tv what happened so why did he deserve a straight red card?

im not tarnishing all of them with the same brush but many were ignorant during the game. Gave alot of mouth over fair decisions. Alot of boos when the limerick team came onto the pitch.
From what i could see, razor was on the ground. Then stephen bray came over while he was being helped by a physio, i think. Started hassling him. Tugging at him. Then, goalkeeper kiely came over pulling him away. Whole contreversy struck, kiely got a yellow card (?).. Dunno if bray got a yellow card before that. If there was an off the ball incident before that, i didnt see it. If so, the ref talked to the umpires about what happened. The umpires obviously thought it was a red card offence. I didnt see any objection from stephen bray, did you?
But meath were the better team. Good luck to them in the quarter finals.

force eleven

Unlucky Limerick, just not enough at the end. Where did I say that before? There was at least 5 - 6 minutes of stoppages in the second half - how on earth do the timekeepers continually get this wrong?

Mayo will beat Meath in the QF although you never know. It was crazy that Meat had been playing tough games for the past 3 / 4 weeks or so and Limerick hadn't played for a month. I know the replay messed things up,but that system has to looked at.

Back to Division 4 Football so, I hope the lads lift themselves in time and work at getting another crack next May time at the Munster Final, and hopefully end 115 years of agony

meathman 007

browne_rob5 wrote: »

I was watching the RTE analysis and when they were showing this goal they paused it when the ball was half way there showing JOD in the square. IMO he was actually outside the square when the free was taken.

'If an attacking player is within his opponents small parallelogram before the ball enters, it is deemed a 'square ball', and a free out to the defending team'

As for the game. Thought Meath played ok but there is still too many weaknesses for us to go any further. Cian Ward has an awful habit to kick 5+ wides a game and we are going to miss Bray in a big way.

On a postive note, the whole half back line was excellent and so was O'Connor. Paddy O'Rouke is dodgy under the high ball, but his kickouts are massive and wont do us any harm in Croke Part last week. I was also pleasantly surprised by our midfields performance.

In saying all that, I dont think Mayo are all they are cracked up to be either, so there wont be much in it.

copacetic

soccymonster wrote: »

what was wrong with a goal? Was at the other end of the pitch so i didnt see really clearly.. On the radio, there seems to be hype over the last free..

definite square ball, on the free out on TV they also said it was a bit harsh, but everyone agreed that there were way too many steps taken. It was more of a 'well often people get away with it' so why not let it go..

soccymonster

copacetic wrote: »

definite square ball, on the free out on TV they also said it was a bit harsh, but everyone agreed that there were way too many steps taken. It was more of a 'well often people get away with it' so why not let it go..

yea sure, people do get away with it! :P
Long drive home for me.. but fair play to all the limerick supporters that travelled up on the matchdays and well done to the lads themselves. Noone that went to the matches can say that they didnt enjoy their days out with the footballers. All the best to meath. We will be back next year. cmon limerick!

Pride Fighter

Good win for Meath. I expect them to win in the quarter as Mayo always choke against them ala 1996.

soccymonster

Pride Fighter wrote: »

Good win for Meath. I expect them to win in the quarter as Mayo always choke against them ala 1996.

1996 was a while ago. Stephen bray will be a loss. Id say mayo will bate them handy. Not being harsh to meath but without bray and looking at todays match.. *meh*.
I would like to apologize to all the meath ones that i tarnished with same brush but all the booing got to me and the chant 'go home you limerick ****' from behind me wasnt helping my frustration. I know that some meath supporters arent like this.. But sure, thats life. The mcflurry i just ate calmed me down abit now.
Galvin is amazing though. When he got the ball he just pushed through anything in front of him.. A great player never to win a munster or all ireland medal..

ADTR

I expect Mayo to beat Meath without too much difficulty.