Meath GAA discussion thread

LeoB

Meath got the tactics wrong and their selection from my limitied knowledge of Meath set-up. Shane O'Rourke had potential but I think Brian Meade should have been his partner. The physique of Reilly should have seen him move out of full back much earlier as he was well able to compete in middle 3rd of field. Also had Meath got more ball to Carroll and Tormey. The other change was Graham Reilly move him to defence in place of Harnan and get the 2 Bray lads up front in 2 man line. I would have also found space for McDonagh.

Keoghan was superb. In the list of top players in Ireland, and Mickey Newman was very good even after he missed a few chances he kept going.

Really disappointed to hear of allegations of biting against a Dublin player. If true the culprit should be fckd off the panel. I hope it is more a case of hand in mouth during the melee rather than a deliberate biting action.

Meath still have a lot to play for and they will learn from it.. Forget about today and another win then who knows what will happen.

The Showstopper

The plan is coming together nicely I think. Management knew if we won today we'd have to beat Dublin again to reach the All-Ireland final so now two handy games against Ulster opposition and we'll take the Dubs in the semi :P

As usual very nice to be around Dublin supporters to remind me how everyone in Meath is a thug and that's all we can do while I get the pleasure of watching such great gentlemen play for Dublin.

Heard Eamon O'Hara saying he thought the referee had a good game, typical Rte.

Though in all seriousness it was quite embarrassing today, I got really worried when I saw we were 20 points down but at least it didn't get any worse. More positively we are still in the Championship but if we lose to Armagh we will still have made no progress in Championship football since Banty and that would be depressing. No need to hear any crap about how players will find today difficult to recover from, they just need to get on with it and be at their best for the Armagh game.

Hammer Archer

After the debacle against Armagh earlier in the year, it shouldn't be too difficult to get the players ready for the next game.

The less I say about today's game the better.

iDave

Was very annoyed at half time. Felt 9 points down was harsh on Meath. Ref was worth about 6 points to Dublin, didnt allow a good goal for Meath and a Dublin player struck a Meath one in view of the limesman.
What we saw in the second was truly diabolical and typical of Meath when the heads drop. Go into freefall and get walked over. Clones x2 and Cavan all over again. Only this time against the best team of our generation.
Hope they can turn it around in time for Armagh. Or failing that I wake up from this nightmare.

rpurfield

There was a complete lack of spirit in Meath today and that was the killer. It was embarrassing to be honest. I dont think we are that bad though, our actual level is somewhere between the Kildare game and today

LeoB

iDave wrote: »

Was very annoyed at half time. Felt 9 points down was harsh on Meath. Ref was worth about 6 points to Dublin, didnt allow a good goal for Meath and a Dublin player struck a Meath one in view of the limesman.

Hope they can turn it around in time for Armagh. Or failing that I wake up from this nightmare.

Not sure what game you were watching.

In general the ref was decent enough. He did blow too early for Meath "goal" but Dublin players had stopped. When you say "struck a Meath player" name and shame. There were a good few decent hits in the game but not one dirty one, like we would have had 10 or 15 years ago. There was as there is all games now a certain amount of body checking but the black card has somewhat stopped that.

I would say the belt Stephen Bray gave McMahon didnt deserve a red card and the ref called it right, yellow. If you look closely you will see no Dublin player done any worse.

And again before anyone goes down my throat if the alleged biting incident is substantiated the culprit should never play for Dublin again. Thats worse than a sly headbutt.

As a Dublin supporter I was very disappointed with Meath. Even though it brings me close to heart attack land the tension, action and honesty of these Dublin/Meath games are just great. Most Dubs would feel the same way and I think most Meath people would be the same. Nothing like a late point to win or equalise a game and the build up to a replay.

Meath will recover from this but I hope a more traditional Meath team is picked for the next day and the tactics are a little better.

dixiefly

First of all, well done to Dublin. They fully deserved this win and this Dublin team would come very close to beating the 3 in a row Meath team of 86-88.

I have to say it was a depressing game to be at.Dublin are simply better footballers all over the pitch and are in much better shape physically. There were players on that Meath team that wouldn't come close to the Dublin panel.

I honestly cannot see where Mick ODowd got some of his selections from. Graham Reilly was brought out to midfield / half forward while Meade wasn't started. Reilly and McDonagh were way off the pace. And how could anyone justify bringing in your Joey Wallace into that game?he is not physically developed for this type of game.

Let's hope that we can bring our A game back for the Armagh game. After that, serious working must be done in identifying talent and properly developing the talent we have. It's been said before but we have no chance going forward if serious development is not carried out.

Pegasusbridge

LeoB wrote: »

Not sure what game you were watching.

In general the ref was decent enough. He did blow too early for Meath "goal" but Dublin players had stopped. When you say "struck a Meath player" name and shame. There were a good few decent hits in the game but not one dirty one, like we would have had 10 or 15 years ago. There was as there is all games now a certain amount of body checking but the black card has somewhat stopped that.

I would say the belt Stephen Bray gave McMahon didnt deserve a red card and the ref called it right, yellow. If you look closely you will see no Dublin player done any worse.

And again before anyone goes down my throat if the alleged biting incident is substantiated the culprit should never play for Dublin again. Thats worse than a sly headbutt.

As a Dublin supporter I was very disappointed with Meath. Even though it brings me close to heart attack land the tension, action and honesty of these Dublin/Meath games are just great. Most Dubs would feel the same way and I think most Meath people would be the same. Nothing like a late point to win or equalise a game and the build up to a replay.

Meath will recover from this but I hope a more traditional Meath team is picked for the next day and the tactics are a little better.

The inconsistency of the ref was very frustrating especially when the game was still close in the first half. I agree that Dublin stopped playing when the ref gave Meath a free in but both before and after that he played advantage for Dublin. Once they scored and once they lost possession but it was called back for a free (although it was put wide). He gave a free against Bray for over carrying a few mins after Mcmeniman took 8 steps to score a point and later allowed a goal after 9 steps.
Dublin outclassed Meath so it really makes no difference but I really don't understand how refs can be so inconsistent.

corny

rpurfield wrote: »

There was a complete lack of spirit in Meath today and that was the killer. It was embarrassing to be honest. I dont think we are that bad though, our actual level is somewhere between the Kildare game and today

Tbh i think thats overstated. I mean yeah heads dropped a little when you're 15 points behind thats human. But I saw Mickey Burke sprint 60 yards late in the second half to catch Costello in on goal for example.

I think physically they just weren't able to compete with the pace and energy of Dublin. Heart on the sleeve stuff is fine in words but it counts for little if you're man is faster, stronger and more agile than you. Meath had few players who could compete with the game Dublin play.

Reality_Check1

Time to draw a line under yesterdays performance and look to Armagh. Im expecting a bit of a backlash similar to what happened when Monaghan gave us a pasting in the league - we went out the next day and played Donegal off the park.

Did anyone hear how our injury situation is? How is McMahon?

Personally I think if we beat Armagh its been a good season. We have improved performances for the most part and blooded some new players. Rome wasnt built in a day

Reality_Check1

dr25 wrote: »

Thought Meath were a disgrace the way they conducted themselves in the melee and the subsequent complaints. The evidence is there that Bourke fishhooked O Gara. Bourke should get two separate bans. One for the fishhook and the second for the false claims. Disgraceful carry on

so anyone with any thoughts on Armagh game?

Hammer Archer

Reality_Check1 wrote: »

Time to draw a line under yesterdays performance and look to Armagh. Im expecting a bit of a backlash similar to what happened when Monaghan gave us a pasting in the league - we went out the next day and played Donegal off the park.

Did anyone hear how our injury situation is? How is McMahon?

Personally I think if we beat Armagh its been a good season. We have improved performances for the most part and blooded some new players. Rome wasnt built in a day

Actually, after we were hockeyed by Monaghan, we were beaten in the next game. By Armagh
Though memories of that game should be enough to get the players up for Saturday week. How we lost that game, I'll never know.

dr25 wrote: »

Thought Meath were a disgrace the way they conducted themselves in the melee and the subsequent complaints. The evidence is there that Bourke fishhooked O Gara. Bourke should get two separate bans. One for the fishhook and the second for the false claims. Disgraceful carry on

Sure he should :rolleyes:

STB

Hammer Archer wrote: »

Sure he should :rolleyes:

I dont know what the sarcasm is for. That behaviour cannot be condoned.

rpurfield

If were going round dishing out bans how about Mcauley gets a month for punching Damien Carroll then? The moral outrage and blind defending of people over this incident is crazy,let the relevant people deal with it and remain calm. Though from what Ive read from some Dublin fans the outrage that will happen if O'Gara is banned will be hilarious.

dixiefly

Hammer Archer wrote: »

Actually, after we were hockeyed by Monaghan, we were beaten in the next game. By Armagh
Though memories of that game should be enough to get the players up for Saturday week. How we lost that game, I'll never know.


Sure he should :rolleyes:

I think that Mick O'Dowd should have kept quiet about the biting incident after the game but I think the the utter dismay and disappointment got the better of him. He probably regrets saying anything.

I wrote here Saturday night that the performance of Kildare against Clare showed where we really are and it left me worried about yesterday's game. Oursleves, Kildare and other Leinster counties are about 2 levels below the Dubs at the moment and we are a level below Monaghan, Donegal, Kerry etc.

For me the Armagh game is one that I hope we win of course but our season is essentially over in that we have no chance of Sam and the oly question is as to at what stage of the All-Ireland that we are knocked out. I do realise that there will be many hiccups on the way in the efforts to overturn Dublin in Leinster again. However, a serious look at the panel must be warranted. The management team seem to have lost faith in David Bray and Paddy Gilsenan, why else would they turn to Joey Wallace in a game like yesterdays? Sean Curran dropped himself off the panel as he felt that he was unfairly treated. And surely Jamie Queeny is wondering why he was dropped off the panel.

Overall, the problems are probably deeper and we have to do a much better job at developing the good young players in the county and start to be competitive at all underage levels.

rebel girl 15

I've handed out some cards and bans already on the match thread and on here already, play nice or don't play at all

Oasis_Dublin

rpurfield wrote: »

If were going round dishing out bans how about Mcauley gets a month for punching Damien Carroll then?

When was this? Was it off the ball?

The referee should realistically have allowed the Meath goal to stand, but it was a two point difference when the gap at half-time was nine.

I remember the disappointment in O'Dowd after the final defeat last year, and I really thought that Meath were building towards something. What do Meath supporters think of him now; should he be managing come league time?

rpurfield

dixiefly wrote: »

Hammer, I would ignore dr, proabably a troll or another poster afraid to post an opinion under their own name.


I think that Mick O'Dowd should have kept quiet about the biting incident after the game but I think the the utter dismay and disappointment got the better of him. He probably regrets saying anything.

I wrote here Saturday night that the performance of Kildare against Clare showed where we really are and it left me worried about yesterday's game. Oursleves, Kildare and other Leinster counties are about 2 levels below the Dubs at the moment and we are a level below Monaghan, Donegal, Kerry etc.

For me the Armagh game is one that I hope we win of course but our season is essentially over in that we have no chance of Sam and the oly question is as to at what stage of the All-Ireland that we are knocked out. I do realise that there will be many hiccups on the way in the efforts to overturn Dublin in Leinster again. However, a serious look at the panel must be warranted. The management team seem to have lost faith in David Bray and Paddy Gilsenan, why else would they turn to Joey Wallace in a game like yesterdays? Sean Curran dropped himself off the panel as he felt that he was unfairly treated. And surely Jamie Queeny is wondering why he was dropped off the panel.

Overall, the problems are probably deeper and we have to do a much better job at developing the good young players in the county and start to be competitive at all underage levels.

Can we really take a form line through Clare though? They ran Kerry closer than most thought and Racked up a pretty big score against Carlow like ourselves. Theres no doubting Dublin are improving all the time just take the three Leinster final results as a guide 3 points 7 points and 16 points.

Physically we are miles off them but I still think we have the basis of a half decent team there when we get Eamonn Wallace, Gillispie and the other O'Sullivan chap back they are three decent additions and we have some good young lads knocking around like Keoghan, Menton, Carroll and Mc Donagh to name three. The management team need to look at beefing the lads up a bit but I think the Wexford manager was right in his assessment of Dublin that they aren't just fit but naturally very athletic and thats the difference in them.

I reckon the Armagh game would tell us more about where we are than anything else at the moment. I'd have us around 10th in the country at the moment

Reality_Check1

Oasis_Dublin wrote: »

should he be managing come league time?

yes most deinitely

Hammer Archer

dixiefly wrote: »

For me the Armagh game is one that I hope we win of course but our season is essentially over in that we have no chance of Sam and the oly question is as to at what stage of the All-Ireland that we are knocked out. I do realise that there will be many hiccups on the way in the efforts to overturn Dublin in Leinster again. However, a serious look at the panel must be warranted. The management team seem to have lost faith in David Bray and Paddy Gilsenan, why else would they turn to Joey Wallace in a game like yesterdays? Sean Curran dropped himself off the panel as he felt that he was unfairly treated. And surely Jamie Queeny is wondering why he was dropped off the panel.

Overall, the problems are probably deeper and we have to do a much better job at developing the good young players in the county and start to be competitive at all underage levels.

Was surprised to see Wallace as well. I think he's a great player and definitely a future starter, but he just doesn't have the physicality to compete in this type of game yet.
Very disappointed to see Curran gone. All season I've felt he should be at number 4. Is way ahead of both Young and Harrington in my view.

As for young players, as far as I know we've a pretty decent batch of youngsters at U14-15 level this year. But I know there's a good few of them who are also quite talented at other sports (soccer and athletics being two that I know of). Keeping them interested in representing Meath when they reach adult level isn't going to be easy.

Oasis_Dublin wrote: »

I remember the disappointment in O'Dowd after the final defeat last year, and I really thought that Meath were building towards something. What do Meath supporters think of him now; should he be managing come league time?

I think it would be a huge mistake to get rid of O'Dowd. Since Boylan, we've only stuck with a manager for 2 seasons before getting rid. Even after yesterday's slump (which I do believe a lot of people on both sides are overreacting to), we're in a much better place than we were when he took over and we've reached the Leinster final two years running. If we manage to beat Armagh on Saturday week, I'd consider it progress having made the quarter final.

dixiefly

You have to keep O'Dowd for another 2 seasons, we have demonstrated in recent years that chopping and changing the manager gets us nowhere.

However, I think he should be open to changing and fine tuning his backroom team. I am not sure who is assisting him on tactics but they got it woefully wrong yesterday. For instance, why were we not tighter in marking free men on the Dubs kickouts? It was obvious going in that one of the big Dublin strengths is the ability of Cluxton to find men with short kickouts.

snowgal

Meath v Armagh 5pm Saturday 2nd August Croke Par- double header with Kildare v Monaghan at 7pm

Hammer Archer

snowgal wrote: »

Meath v Armagh 5pm Saturday 2nd August Croke Par- double header with Kildare v Monaghan at 7pm

Anyone know if it'll be on TV? Made the old mistake of booking a long weekend away.

Nib

Hammer Archer wrote: »

Anyone know if it'll be on TV? Made the old mistake of booking a long weekend away.

Both games are live on Sky Sports.

Felexicon

Croke Park with 20 or 30 thousand between the two games. Should make fir absolutely no atmosphere whatsoever. Nice one GAA

Hibbeler

Felexicon wrote: »

Croke Park with 20 or 30 thousand between the two games. Should make fir absolutely no atmosphere whatsoever. Nice one GAA

I agree somewhere like Breffni or Clones would have been more appropriate imo. Could have had a sell out with a great atmosphere for the two games.

I'm happy to say that I will be back home for that weekend so I'll actually get to see Meath play in the flesh before we're inevitably knocked out this year . When is the quarter final fixed for actually should we get that far?

whatnext

Felexicon wrote: »

Croke Park with 20 or 30 thousand between the two games. Should make fir absolutely no atmosphere whatsoever. Nice one GAA

And we have the joy of paying for a double header again. What's it this time €30?

Hammer Archer

The Hill is probably closed as well cos, you know, only Dublin deserve the Hill (to any Dubs, I'm having a go at the GAA here, not Dublin).

snowgal

The hill is closed, I'm raging. Why we can't have the choice to go There if we want too really annoys me. The same last year..think tickets are €25

shaneon77

Tensions running high still after yesterday. It was demoralizing against the old enemy but the blind faith shown by both sets of supporters regarding the main incidents is classless.
I don't believe O'Gara tried to bite but I also don't believe Bourke was trying to fish-hook either. Handbags at best and the slow-mo on the livegaelic website kinda offers up the same ideas.
I am inclined to shout wolf about O'Gara myself due to the humiliation of the result but realistically we were awful and even the slightest flashpoint was going to kick it all off.
The Dubs are out of reach for the rest of the country this year and it will take a capitulation like ours yesterday for anyone to beat them. This sickens me purely as it is Dublin. We need to move on and quickly. The bite or lack of handshake before the match didn't beat us, a determined gang of quality ball players did.
This drawing board in meath is getting too much use. The defeat to Armagh cost us promotion to div1 this year and based on our poor display y'day it might prove a blessing in disguise. Lets hope we can beat Armagh and hope that Dublin hammer everyone else this year too. Apart from us , again, obviously.