Meath GAA discussion thread

dixiefly

1st round of championship fixtures on Hoganstand.


http://www.hoganstand.com/meath/ArticleForm.aspx?ID=234315

My own club Trim have a tough start against IFC favourites Ratoath in a difficult group.

Hammer Archer

dixiefly wrote: »

1st round of championship fixtures on Hoganstand.


http://www.hoganstand.com/meath/ArticleForm.aspx?ID=234315

My own club Trim have a tough start against IFC favourites Ratoath in a difficult group.

That's a rotten group alright. Two semi finalists, two quarter finalists and a Trim side who just missed out on the knockouts to Ballinlough.
I'm a Ratoath man myself. Quietly confident about this season. Had we a decent manager last year I think we would have won it. Despite having one of the best forward lines in the county, we only played with a 2 man full forward line all the time. Also had no idea how to play with an extra man for more than half the game against the Bracks in the semi final. At times it looked like Bracks had the extra man. We've got Hugh Kenny, the ex Wicklow manager, at the helm this year.

dixiefly

Sounds like he could be a good manager for ye guys Hammer.

Yes, Trim were very unlucky not to qualify ahead of Ballinlough last year. When the full time whistle was blown Trim were about 4 up on score difference but Ballinlough got a lot of late scores and qualified.

Trim will always have the issues regarding hurling and football equally competing but they should improve this year. No county players though Douglas, Toher and Joyce are with the hurlers. In my opinion Alan Douglas is the type of player that should be getting a run on the county football team but i dont see it happening this year.

All in all I think it will be a great 1st round game.

Hammer Archer

Meath (FL Division 2 v Down) – Paddy O'Rourke; Donnacha Tobin, Conor McGill, Donal Keogan; Mickey Burke, Kevin Reilly, Brian Power; Bryan Menton, Adam Flanagan; Graham Reilly, Padraic Harnan, James McEntee; Eamon Wallace, Michael Newman, Mark O'Sullivan.

Stephen Bray obviously still injured which is a blow. We'll see if that's actually the team that starts. The last few games there's been a number of changes to the named team.

dixiefly

Yes, it seems to just be fulfilling requirements to name a team.

I wasnt at last weeks game so can't comment on it but, judging on reports, Newman's form is a big worry. We really need a cast iron reliable freetaker.

Hopefully Gillespie will get a run. Same for Shane O'Rourke if fit.

Hammer Archer

dixiefly wrote: »

Yes, it seems to just be fulfilling requirements to name a team.

I wasnt at last weeks game so can't comment on it but, judging on reports, Newman's form is a big worry. We really need a cast iron reliable freetaker.

Hopefully Gillespie will get a run. Same for Shane O'Rourke if fit.

My biggest worry is frees as well. Had we a reliable one, we'd be on 8 points at the moment rather than 5 and in pole position for promotion.

I just feel Newman's confidence is extremely fragile. If he gets the first couple in a game he's generally OK afterwards but if he misses his first, he can have an awful game from placed balls. Last week in injury time he had a free about 25 yards out and straight in front of the posts which he put wide. Why he then went for a point from the next free when time was up is baffling.

Paddy also needs to stop coming up for frees unless it's 50+ metres out.

rpurfield

Just reading back through the posts from last week, I missed the Laois match as well as last week, and tonight's is by the wayside too. But I will say one thing, Mick O'Dowd isn't to blame for the lack of talent at his disposal. That one lies firmly at the feet of county board officers who served from the mid 80's through to about 10 years ago. I drove past Dunganny the other day and I thought to myself, what's the point in having that state of the art facility when we are miles behind on the field?

I mean no disrespect to the current bunch of players, but I think we need to be starting at u10 or u12 level and really working on the talent coming through. Our minor and u21 records are awful and all the best training facilities in the world wont change that

Rock Lesnar

If Down had a forward, we'd be in trouble

Hibbeler

Good to have another win on the board. I think Cavan won their match tonight as well so there will be something to play for in Navan next time out!

iDave

Haven't been that pumped after a Meath match in a while. Hope Galway do us a favour tomorrow.

If we finish equal on points with Roscommon is it points difference or head to head?.

CrabRevolution

iDave wrote: »

Haven't been that pumped after a Meath match in a while. Hope Galway do us a favour tomorrow.

If we finish equal on points with Roscommon is it points difference or head to head?.

Head to head. Even if we beat Cavan, we will finish 3rd if Down win their last match and Roscommon win either of their last 2 matches.

iDave

CrabRevolution wrote: »

Head to head. Even if we beat Cavan, we will finish 3rd if Down win their last match and Roscommon win either of their last 2 matches.

That Laois draw has really cost us. We could be on 8 with a better head to head with Down. Oh well.
Perhaps Laois will do us a favour next week. Cant see Ros losing to Westmeath.

Hammer Archer

Yeah like last year, it looks as though a draw when we should have won will coat us promotion.

Bery good second half performance I thought. The wind really picked up and when Down got to within a point I fully expected them to push on.
Some bordering on nasty play from a couple of Down players when the game began to get away from them.

Jampip

Hibbeler wrote: »

Good to have another win on the board. I think Cavan won their match tonight as well so there will be something to play for in Navan next time out!

There'll be nothing to play for. Roscommon will win both their remaining games and Down won't lose to Laois.

Division 2 next year is going to be an even bigger minefield then with five Ulster teams in it.

Hammer Archer

Jampip wrote: »

There'll be nothing to play for. Roscommon will win both their remaining games and Down won't lose to Laois.

Division 2 next year is going to be an even bigger minefield then with five Ulster teams in it.

Wouldn't be so sure about Roscommon winning tomorrow. They were mediocre last week and Galway will be desperate for points (not sure if the Corofin players would be back or not). But I can't for the life of me see them losing to Westmeath. It's all on Laois to beat Down. If Down play the way they did tonight, I wouldn't put it past them.

Good thing is that there will be no dead rubbers in the last set of games in Division 2. Every team will need two points for one reason or another.

Hibbeler

Jampip wrote: »

There'll be nothing to play for. Roscommon will win both their remaining games and Down won't lose to Laois.

Division 2 next year is going to be an even bigger minefield then with five Ulster teams in it.

Both teams should technically be able to be promoted plus the local derby element so of course there'll be something to play for.

HighKing33

Have to give the team full credit for the victory but it's hard to know what to make of it, by all accounts it was a scrappy affair.

Very depressing considering a very average Roscommon team are now primed for promotion but at least we're getting the full squad fit for the summer months.

iDave

What impressed me is how we closed the game out instead of letting Down back into it. They did get back to a point but unlike some other games like Laois for example we kept our noses ahead and kept them at arms length. A rare occasion where we looked comfortable actually leading. Why can't this happen more often????
Still a lot of negatives. Posession was given away cheaply a lot and accuracy in point taking is still not good enough.
That Laois game really grates. A win over Cavan would of guaranteed promotion. Maybe Laois will repay the debt and get a result in Newry. Not that Cavan will be easy for us. They have no fear of Navan after 2013.
Very happy to Gillespie to hit the ground running.

HighKing33

Yeah, it's a shame. Reading the interview with Brian Menton you can see how pleased he was with the defensive performance - that's something that's improved this year, all be it in patches but three years to build a defence seems excessive, especially seeing as it seems to have come at the expense of our forward play. Maybe all the pieces will come together when the summer rolls around but I've given up on wishfull thinking this year.

Hammer Archer

Well Galway seem to be doing us a favour.

iDave

So beat Cavan and hope either Westmeath or Laois get a win.
Both have relegation concerns so they have to go for it.

tanko

If Cavan/Meath and Roscommon finish level on points, how will promotion be decided?

Hibbeler

tanko wrote: »

If Cavan/Meath and Roscommon finish level on points, how will promotion be decided?

I might be wrong but I think if 2 teams are level on points then it's head to head but if it's 3 teams then score difference.

I'm very much open to correction however

iDave

tanko wrote: »

If Cavan/Meath and Roscommon finish level on points, how will promotion be decided?

I believe its head to head so equal points with Roscommon isnt enough for us but is enough if level with Down.

Hammer Archer

iDave wrote: »

So beat Cavan and hope either Westmeath or Laois get a win.
Both have relegation concerns so they have to go for it.

Granted the quality isn't good, but you can't fault Division 2 for the excitement. No team's run away with it and no team has been cut adrift at the bottom. 5 teams mathematically have a chance to go up and 5 mathematically have a chance of going down. A team could technically go down with 6 points this season which I'd say would be the highest any team's ever gone down with.

Can't see either Westmeath or Laois getting the results we need next weekend. Laois will be missing Kingston after picking up a straight red yesterday.

Hammer Archer

Hibbeler wrote: »

I might be wrong but I think if 2 teams are level on points then it's head to head but if it's 3 teams then score difference.

I'm very much open to correction however

Yup that's correct. However if Cavan beat us next weekend and Roscommon win, it'll be score difference as they drew earlier in the campaign.

iDave

We'll have our earphones on anyway in PT on Sunday.

my friend

iDave wrote: »

We'll have our earphones on anyway in PT on Sunday.

Beats?

mushykeogh

iDave wrote: »

I believe its head to head so equal points with Roscommon isnt enough for us but is enough if level with Down.

The current league table on gaa.ie has us above Roscommon?

iDave

mushykeogh wrote: »

The current league table on gaa.ie has us above Roscommon?

Doesnt matter, on Sunday evening they'll have Ros ahead of us if we finish equal.