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Meath GAA discussion thread

Hammer Archer

Well Galway has a thread, Mayo has one, even Cavan has one so why not us?

Two one point defeats in a row means we're back into relegation trouble especially if we lose to Derry next week. Having said that, beat Derry next week and promotion is still a (remote) possibility. Joe Sheridan leaving for the States certainly isn't going to help.
Thought the performance yesterday was easily the worst of the league. Our away form is killing us still.

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LeoB

Some good replies now things have died down a bit.
Few things and firstly agreeee with shaneon77. Dublin are not just big but superb athletes. McAuley, Flynn, O'Sullivan, McCarthy to name just 4.

I think O'Dowd acted too hastily when he went back to press room. Meath could have reported it to referee.and it would still be dealt with by G.A.A. Personally I hope it was incidental not deliberate. I don't think any further action will be taken or should be taken against O'Gara or Burke (unless it was deliberate). Any Dublin or Meath supporter I've spoken to feel there was nothing to it.

Meath still have a lot to play for. The players just had a very bad day. Its only a few years since Dublin were second or third favourites behind Meath, Kildare & Laois. For Meath to get to where Dublin are will take a generation and some disappointments along the way. It is not worth a toss winning at underage level if you cant bring players through. Dublin have a strength in depth and competitive edge to club games that goes down 6 or 7 divisions where 5-6 yrs ago it was top 3 divisions.

Tactically Meath got it badly wrong on Sunday and perhaps an outside advisor to help O'Dowd. As a Dub who values the rivalry I hope Meath recover and put in a good performance against Armagh.

My team would be
1.. P. O Rourke
2 Harnan
3 Harrington game will have brough him on
4
5 G Reilly better attacking ball
6 Keoghan. Superb player
7 D Carroll
8. B Meade
9 K Reilly with Meade primay possession
10 Tormey
11 S O'Rourke gives strength and ball winner
12 M Newman
13 B McMahon
14 S Bray
15 D Bray
Don't know the answer to the full back line. But harnan to loose for half back.

Frankie Lee

If Keoghan isn't man marking Jamie Clarke I'll eat my hat.

LeoB

Frankie Lee wrote: »

If Keoghan isn't man marking Jamie Clarke I'll eat my hat.

I would think Keoghan has to much to offer elsewhere. He holds the defence together. But cutting off the supply to Clarke will be vital and this is where Meath need to at least break even at M/F which is why I would move Reilly out from fullback. Between Reilly, Meade, Keoghan and O'Rourke they have serious ball winners. The Meath forwards if they can get the ball quick enough are good enough to hurt anyone.

Graham Reilly if gives anything could be extra half back as I don't think he gives Meath enough up front on a consistent basis against good teams. Good ball carrier.

If Mickey Bourkes finger is ok;) I would not be afraid of giving him the job.

chrysagon

I think MOD should have waited before crying foul, Meath were never known to be shrinking violets, but in last few yrs, not offering Louth a replay alienated Meath from the rest of the country GAA wise in 2010, now we have the "fish hook2 incident, been dropped, a sad shambles to be honest.

Hammer Archer

chrysagon wrote: »

I think MOD should have waited before crying foul, Meath were never known to be shrinking violets, but in last few yrs, not offering Louth a replay alienated Meath from the rest of the country GAA wise in 2010, now we have the "fish hook2 incident, been dropped, a sad shambles to be honest.

Yeah cos we were darlings of the GAA world before the 2010 Leinster final right?

We have plenty of warning of the threat of Jamie Clarke this time. Wouldn't be surprised if we put two players on him after he roasted Keogan in the league. Have to hope we've a better referee than the league game. Seemed like every challenge we made on an Armagh player wad deeemed a free by Mr. Deegan.

Certainly won't be easy as Armagh have quite a head of steam built up, but I'd be confident that the lads can bounce back from last Sunday's performance.

chrysagon

we played it hard... and never whinged, as MOD only stated a week ago in the media, then after the game what did he do???

Redsoxfan

Hammer Archer wrote: »

Seemed like every challenge we made on an Armagh player wad deeemed a free by Mr. Deegan.

Maurice wasn't great on Sunday either.

Hibbeler

chrysagon wrote: »

we played it hard... and never whinged, as MOD only stated a week ago in the media, then after the game what did he do???

To be perfectly honest I think the whole "talking about the bite" thing was just a rush of blood to the head and if MOD had the chance he would take it back. I'm sure he does regret it

In fairness to the man, this is the first instance really that I can think of where MOD has been anything but gracious in defeat. He usually comes across well to the media imo.

In terms of whinging I would have to say that the Kildare manager looks worse for complaining about Kevin Reilly a full week after the event. He doesn't even have the excuse of being emotional and frustrated directly after a defeat.

chrysagon

I agree Hibb.. but i work with a few ex intercounty players, including Dublin, and they feel its totally out of Meath DNA to resort to complaining about anything on the field, we were no angels in the past, but it stayed on the field, and yes im sure MOD had an adrenaline rush, that maybe he now regrets, such is life.

iDave

Ok so back in February most of us would of thought maintaining Div 2 status, beating Kildare and getting to Leinster final and then getting as far as the AI QF should be our goals.
2/3 have been completed and just one win away from it being 3/3 and heading into bonus territory. All in all not too bad although the manner of the Dublin defeat is a major blot on the copy book.
If we beat Armagh and keep Donegal to 3 or 4 points it will still be a year of progression with plenty of positives and a springboard for 2015.
Lose to Armagh though will be a set back and some will understandably feel it is a wasted year.

rpurfield

Redsoxfan wrote: »

Maurice wasn't great on Sunday either.

we havent had deegan this year in the championship either, thankfully but that could change

CrabRevolution

I find it interesting hearing some people saying Armagh got relegated to division 3 this year, due to not being that good a team. Some people seem to love calling them a division 3 team....meanwhile apparently Meath got relegated to division 3 because Joe went to america, because we didnt get a free in the last minute vs Kildare, because our manager did us out of it etc.etc. The case of the greenest tinted glasses of all time.

chrysagon

Also the small fact...Armagh beat us in the league!

Obrieski

Championship week is upon us. Hopefully the sting in the tail from Meath is coming and we give these Armagh lads the full wrath of it. I am confident we can beat them. Our experience in Croke Park should stand to us, can't recall Armagh playing there too often in the recent past and also I feel we have better players. Keoghan has to pick up Jamie Clarke, stop him and we win the game I feel. Hopefully, Newman should be sharper, the Dublin game will have helped him after the hamstring injury and the extra 2 weeks also. Wonder will MOD make many changes? Thought Donncha Tobin was excellent the last day and hopefully his good form continues. He didn't get the credit he deserved I felt last time out. Hopefully a win is in order and we can approach a 1/4 final against Donegal with no fear!

Hibbeler

Also Galway and Cork showed us last week that it is possible to recover after a heavy defeat against the arch-nemesis so we can surely take some heart from that.

iDave

Kevin Reilly in todays papers talking about abuse from 'fans' after the Leinster final.
Disappointed to hear that tbh I always thought of Meath fans as being more respectful than that. Jesus I know myself I've been frustrated with them at times but trolling on their Twitter accounts or wherever it was done is pathetic.

keane2097

iDave wrote: »

Kevin Reilly in todays papers talking about abuse from 'fans' after the Leinster final.
Disappointed to hear that tbh I always thought of Meath fans as being more respectful than that. Jesus I know myself I've been frustrated with them at times but trolling on their Twitter accounts or wherever it was done is pathetic.

I was outside the Croke Park hotel with a long serving Meath player after the National League finals two years ago and we got chatting to a man who happened to be from Meath as well.

It didn't take much prompting from me to get this fella to start lacing the Meath footballer standing alongside me, saying how terrible he was etc all while completely oblivious to the fact that the guy he was talking about was also the guy he was talking to.

Idiots like that in every county unfortunately.

DoctaDee

Just on a related note, I was chatting with one of the Dublin lads that played last time out. Again like most he thought it was a lot easier game than they had planned it to be and interestingly pointed out that the strategy from the outset was to get their match ups right.

They'd planned all week on O'Rourke starting centre forward, he couldn't understand the midfield match up, particulalry Meade on the bench and Tormey in there. Interestingly, it was a big surprise to them Graham Reilly being withdrawn (he was poor in fairness), but thought he might have functioned well in the HB line.

Meath are a reasonably good side that had a shocking poor day, but in fairness played right through the 70 odd minutes. Some of their wides alone would've brought another 6-8 points on a good day.

Rather than berate the players which serves little purpose, they should be getting behind Newman and the front 6. While the performace was poor the match ups were blinding obviously wrong ... hopefully O'Dowd is a lot shrewder this weekend and returns to his best 15 starters. I expect a vast improvement and going against their recent trend in the qualifiers a win against Armagh. Ta

Oasis_Dublin

I'd much rather see Leinster teams win on Saturday, considering the abuse the Leinster Championship gets, but realistically it's not going to happen. Meath aren't as bad as they showed in the Leinster Final, but it's so difficult to get back up from a defeat like the one they suffered. The only thing going for them is the extra week they had off, which is unusual at this stage of the competition.

Like the Dublin hurlers on Sunday, Meath will do well to mentally be ready for Saturday.

Hammer Archer

iDave wrote: »

Kevin Reilly in todays papers talking about abuse from 'fans' after the Leinster final.
Disappointed to hear that tbh I always thought of Meath fans as being more respectful than that. Jesus I know myself I've been frustrated with them at times but trolling on their Twitter accounts or wherever it was done is pathetic.

Unfortunately, with the onset of social media these people are given a voice that goes directly to the players while sitting safely behind their computer screens. Even 5-10 years ago, they would be screaming this abuse from the sidelines which would have little chance of being heard by the players. Either that or they would have to say it to their face (as if they'd have the courage to).
Although, going by a few screenshots, at least some of the abuse certainly isn't coming from Meath fans.

Oasis_Dublin wrote: »

I'd much rather see Leinster teams win on Saturday, considering the abuse the Leinster Championship gets, but realistically it's not going to happen. Meath aren't as bad as they showed in the Leinster Final, but it's so difficult to get back up from a defeat like the one they suffered. The only thing going for them is the extra week they had off, which is unusual at this stage of the competition.

Like the Dublin hurlers on Sunday, Meath will do well to mentally be ready for Saturday.

Maybe I'm being overly optimistic (which is exceptionally odd for me), but I honestly can't see why a lot of people seem to be writing us off in such emphatic fashion. Yes, the defeat and the performance against Dublin was a blow, but to say us winning on Saturday is "realistically not going to happen" is a bit strange to me.

We're not playing a team that's almost certainly going to be in the All Ireland final (and probably going to win it) like we were in the Leinster final. We're playing Armagh. Yes they've performed well this season (beating a fancied Cavan, Tyrone and Roscommon and taking Monaghan to a replay) but they ain't unbeatable. Especially in Croke Park where they haven't won a non Ulster final since 2003. And after last Sunday week and indeed the league game against Armagh back in March that we threw away, I'd expect the players to come out with a performance.

I'm not saying we will certainly win on Saturday, but I just don't understand the fact that we're being written off completely.
Though having said that, I wouldn't have it any other way :pac:

Regarding the game on Saturday, Rory Hickey of Clare is the referee. He refereed the game against Kildare and was a bit "meh" if I remember correctly. Didn't have too bad a game but allowed Stephen Bray be manhandled throughout the first half and gave free after free for every single time Kevin Reilly went near his man. Thankfully we're spared Maurice Deegan though.

harpsman

iDave wrote: »

Kevin Reilly in todays papers talking about abuse from 'fans' after the Leinster final.
Disappointed to hear that tbh I always thought of Meath fans as being more respectful than that.

Really?- I always had the impression that Paidi O Ses famous description of the Kerry fans would apply well to Meath as well. I remember Trevor Giles saying that his parents almost had to leave their seats during 01 all ireland as some ignoramus was sitting behind them shouting foul mouthed abuse at him for the whole match. Was sittin in front of the same fella, I reckon the following year as he spent the entire match shouting abuse at the ref, irrespective of what was going on in the match. Apart from dublin, I dont see that level of abuse from other supporters.

Hibbeler

Meath fans for as long as I can remember have always been demanding and there's a group of a certain age who remember a time when success came often and I suppose expected it to continue.

I think fans of my age and younger would possibly have a more realistic outlook as have seen little other than disappointment in our time. I mean I remember from '98 onwards so I count myself lucky to even have seen Meath win an all Ireland in my lifetime.

Though having said that I don't feel that fan expectations are necessarily a bad thing though needless abuse is certainly uncalled for.

As regards this year's Meath team I think an appropriate expectation would be to beat Armagh on Saturday and reach the quarter final. Anything after that is bonus territory

RoyalCelt

Hibbeler wrote: »

Meath fans for as long as I can remember have always been demanding and there's a group of a certain age who remember a time when success came often and I suppose expected it to continue.

I think fans of my age and younger would possibly have a more realistic outlook as have seen little other than disappointment in our time. I mean I remember from '98 onwards so I count myself lucky to even have seen Meath win an all Ireland in my lifetime.

Though having said that I don't feel that fan expectations are necessarily a bad thing though needless abuse is certainly uncalled for.

As regards this year's Meath team I think an appropriate expectation would be to beat Armagh on Saturday and reach the quarter final. Anything after that is bonus territory

Well said. A certain demographic of Meath die hards who don't remember anything pre late 80's shout awful abuse from the stands. Don't blame them really because if I wasn't a little older I'd probably do the same. It's hard to accept the team in such a long decline but I'd wish they'd tone the abuse down a little when there are young kids nearby. If you're going to be like that buy a hill ticket so nobody has to worry about you.

On the match itself I think it's 50/50 but I hope we come through. Would love to see us give Donegal a good rattle.

Alvin Holler

Hammer Archer wrote: »

We're playing Armagh. Yes they've performed well this season (beating a fancied Cavan, Tyrone and Roscommon and taking Monaghan to a replay) but they ain't unbeatable. Especially in Croke Park where they haven't won a non Ulster final since 2003.

I think you're clutching at straws there a bit. They also won a league final in Croke Park in 05 as well as a quarter final against Laois, plus some of their players won minor all ireland in 09 and club all irelands with Cross.

It's hard to call but I think Meath could more do with a win to show that progress has been made since last year.

Oasis_Dublin

Hammer Archer wrote: »

Maybe I'm being overly optimistic (which is exceptionally odd for me), but I honestly can't see why a lot of people seem to be writing us off in such emphatic fashion. Yes, the defeat and the performance against Dublin was a blow, but to say us winning on Saturday is "realistically not going to happen" is a bit strange to me.

Kildare are a Leinster team, and they're playing this weekend also!

I'm not being overly emphatic, or at least not intentionally. If Meath can deliver the type of performance that I thought they were capable of in the Leinster Final, then they can beat Armagh. But it's just so difficult to bounce back from such a heavy defeat.

Have Meath got the talent? Of course they do. Only lost to Armagh, Monaghan, and Dublin all season. So a big performance could definitely see them through.

Hopefully Kildare and Meath win.

iDave

Hearing the team wont be announced until tomorrow.

iDave

In good new Ciaran McKeever is out

Hammer Archer

Alvin Holler wrote: »

I think you're clutching at straws there a bit. They also won a league final in Croke Park in 05 as well as a quarter final against Laois, plus some of their players won minor all ireland in 09 and club all irelands with Cross.

It's hard to call but I think Meath could more do with a win to show that progress has been made since last year.

You're right. I don't know how I missed their 2005 quarter final win.

Oasis_Dublin wrote: »

Kildare are a Leinster team, and they're playing this weekend also!

I'm not being overly emphatic, or at least not intentionally. If Meath can deliver the type of performance that I thought they were capable of in the Leinster Final, then they can beat Armagh. But it's just so difficult to bounce back from such a heavy defeat.

Have Meath got the talent? Of course they do. Only lost to Armagh, Monaghan, and Dublin all season. So a big performance could definitely see them through.

Hopefully Kildare and Meath win.

I got from your post that you felt that neither Leinster team would "realistically" win. I obviously misinterpreted it.
Difficult to bounce back? Absolutely. But I think they will know themselves that they didn't do themselves justice in the Leinster final and will want to put that right. Especially against a Grimley and McGeeney led Armagh side. They'll also know that a loss would mean three years in a row of getting to the Leinster final yet failing to win another game. I think/hope we'll see some sort of backlash tomorrow.

Not surprising the team announcement is late given Grimley's involvement with the players 2 years ago.
As for McKeever, I'll believe he's out if he doesn't tog out. Wouldn't be surprised if it's a ruse by Armagh.

Always_Running

Much will depend on how Meath have recovered from the manner of the Leinster final defeat. Back in 2008 Wexford shipped a heavy defeat to Dublin but recovered to reached the All Ireland semi final which included a win against Armagh.

iDave

Right Up Meath. Lets put a hault to this orange march.

COYBIG

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