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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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Hammer Archer

Lemlin wrote: »

In fairness, teams can rapidly crumble in the space of a few years now with emigration being so rampant. My own club in Cavan lost 13 players in the space of two years.

True. As evidenced by Slane who were Senior not too long ago and are now Junior B (and are struggling badly). Ballinlough however were supposedly one of the favourites for the intermediate championships.

Hurlers never showed up for the second half today. Did well against a strong breeze and up a slope in the first half to go in 3 points down but just never got out of the blocks in the second. Can't see Kerry having much trouble in the final though.

Lemlin

Hammer Archer wrote: »

True. As evidenced by Slane who were Senior not too long ago and are now Junior B (and are struggling badly). Ballinlough however were supposedly one of the favourites for the intermediate championships.

Hurlers never showed up for the second half today. Did well against a strong breeze and up a slope in the first half to go in 3 points down but just never got out of the blocks in the second. Can't see Kerry having much trouble in the final though.

I'll be attending the Kells Longwood game in Dunderry tomorrow so will get a look at my first Meath intermediate game of the year.

I may even get to the earlier Drumbaragh game so will see a junior and intermediate game.

In terms of intermediate vs senior, I know a couple of years ago Kells reached the intermediate final and I would have thought Kilmainham, junior at the time, were a better team than them having seen both sides playing on a few occasions.

Hibbeler

Hammer Archer wrote: »

True. As evidenced by Slane who were Senior not too long ago and are now Junior B (and are struggling badly). Ballinlough however were supposedly one of the favourites for the intermediate championships.

Slane's biggest problem from what I've been told is that their pitch is miles outside the village and it's hard to get lads out at underage. In contract the soccer pitch in Slane is close to the centre of the village.

The likes of Kells and Ballinlough are routinely tipped for the intermediate championship but often it really is hard to tell at club level as you could have almost a different team the next year as a result of emigration, etc. especially in rural clubs.

This year I actually feel it could be wide open however Ratoath do seem to be one of the favorites based on their performances so far. As for my own club, we have a very young team (2 county minors included) and have a good chance of getting to the Quarter Finals. Won't get much further than that this year but in a few years maybe...

Lemlin

Kells game only called off at about 5 last night. Very bad form on a long weekend for players and fans alike to call it off so late.

Haven't heard the reason for the cancellation but I did hear Longwood were missing a few players and won't exactly be upset it's being rescheduled.

rpurfield

Hibbeler wrote: »

Slane's biggest problem from what I've been told is that their pitch is miles outside the village and it's hard to get lads out at underage. In contract the soccer pitch in Slane is close to the centre of the village.

The likes of Kells and Ballinlough are routinely tipped for the intermediate championship but often it really is hard to tell at club level as you could have almost a different team the next year as a result of emigration, etc. especially in rural clubs.

This year I actually feel it could be wide open however Ratoath do seem to be one of the favorites based on their performances so far. As for my own club, we have a very young team (2 county minors included) and have a good chance of getting to the Quarter Finals. Won't get much further than that this year but in a few years maybe...

yep the slane pitch is miles out id say its at least a ten minute drive from the village itself.its a shame to see any club go that way, i wonder how long it will be before the bru na boinne merger with st marys for underage is extended all the way up

Hammer Archer

And Shane O'Rourke went off injured for Simonstown against Dunboyne yesterday. I hope it's not serious and I hope even more that it's not another recurrence of his hip problem. The poor lad seems to be cursed.

Lemlin

What starting 15 are yas expecting for the weekend lads? I think Wicklow could be a tough assignment. Aughrim isn't an easy place to go.

Hammer Archer

I'd say similar to the league final against Monaghan. The only differences being Keogan (who had exams for the final) in for Harrington and Seamus Kenny in for Davy Dalton who's injured. Possibly a few positional changes as well. I'd personally like Éamonn Wallace to be in the half forward line so that he can run at Wicklow's defenders.

Certainly won't be easy (very few trips are for us anymore), but I think the experience of Aughrim from the league will stand to them. I know Aughrim in the summer is a lot different to Aughrim in the league, but at least it won't be a trip into the unknown. I think we are good enough to win.
Whoever wins won't get past Wexford in my view.

ebbsy

Lemlin wrote: »

What starting 15 are yas expecting for the weekend lads? I think Wicklow could be a tough assignment. Aughrim isn't an easy place to go.

And that's before ye start talking about parking, everybody will be funnelled into the €4 field............

Lemlin

ebbsy wrote: »

And that's before ye start talking about parking, everybody will be funnelled into the €4 field............

Didn't realise this game was on TV. Fair play to RTE they seem to have increased coverage this year.

Meath are a championship team so will be good to see them in action. I think Wicklow will give ye the usual scare Meath can get from lesser teams but I'd fancy ye to lift it against Wexford and make the final.

blackbelt

Lemlin wrote: »

Didn't realise this game was on TV. Fair play to RTE they seem to have increased coverage this year.

Meath are a championship team so will be good to see them in action. I think Wicklow will give ye the usual scare Meath can get from lesser teams but I'd fancy ye to lift it against Wexford and make the final.

I can see Meath winning this weekend but I actually think Wexford in Croke Park will be a bit too much for Meath IF Wexford are on good form.They have an Indian sign over Meath in the last 10 years and a quality free taker in Ben Brosnan could be the difference.

meath12

blackbelt wrote: »

I can see Meath winning this weekend but I actually think Wexford in Croke Park will be a bit too much for Meath IF Wexford are on good form.They have an Indian sign over Meath in the last 10 years and a quality free taker in Ben Brosnan could be the difference.

mickey newman is a very good free taker too. hes only new but hes been very consistent in the league and I can see him having a very good year.

Lemlin

meath12 wrote: »

mickey newman is a very good free taker too. hes only new but hes been very consistent in the league and I can see him having a very good year.

Newman is new to the Meath setup but he's been one to watch for a while. His club do play junior but any time I've seen him play for Kilmainham he's being excellent.

He got little service but was Meath's best player in the league against Cavan I thought. Him and Peadar Byrne.

Hammer Archer

Newman is a very good player alright. Though we still lack a consistent free taker from the ground. Cian Ward could be magical from frees at times but had too many off days in previous years. Both Newman and Paddy O'Rourke are also pretty inconsistent off the ground.

Team named for Saturday. Some surprises, biggest of which is Caoimhín King at centre half back and Menton in the corner.
P O'Rourke; D Keogan, K Reilly, B Menton; C Lenihan, C King, M Burke; B Meade, C Gillespie; P Byrne, D Carroll, G Reilly; E Wallace, S Bray, M Newman.

Not sure about Damien Carroll starting given that he's been out for a while injured. Would have preferred Paddy Gilsenan instead. I'm presuming Micko is anticipating a Wicklow 2 man full forward line meaning Menton will be further out the field.

rpurfield

Hammer Archer wrote: »

Newman is a very good player alright. Though we still lack a consistent free taker from the ground. Cian Ward could be magical from frees at times but had too many off days in previous years. Both Newman and Paddy O'Rourke are also pretty inconsistent off the ground.

Team named for Saturday. Some surprises, biggest of which is Caoimhín King at centre half back and Menton in the corner.
P O'Rourke; D Keogan, K Reilly, B Menton; C Lenihan, C King, M Burke; B Meade, C Gillespie; P Byrne, D Carroll, G Reilly; E Wallace, S Bray, M Newman.

Not sure about Damien Carroll starting given that he's been out for a while injured. Would have preferred Paddy Gilsenan instead. I'm presuming Micko is anticipating a Wicklow 2 man full forward line meaning Menton will be further out the field.

happy enough with the team but i still think menton should be our full back.it will be interesting to see king at centre half back i hope he can do a job its a position weve struggled to fill for years now

Lemlin

Hammer Archer wrote: »

Newman is a very good player alright. Though we still lack a consistent free taker from the ground. Cian Ward could be magical from frees at times but had too many off days in previous years. Both Newman and Paddy O'Rourke are also pretty inconsistent off the ground.

Team named for Saturday. Some surprises, biggest of which is Caoimhín King at centre half back and Menton in the corner.
P O'Rourke; D Keogan, K Reilly, B Menton; C Lenihan, C King, M Burke; B Meade, C Gillespie; P Byrne, D Carroll, G Reilly; E Wallace, S Bray, M Newman.

Not sure about Damien Carroll starting given that he's been out for a while injured. Would have preferred Paddy Gilsenan instead. I'm presuming Micko is anticipating a Wicklow 2 man full forward line meaning Menton will be further out the field.

What's the craic with young Forde, Alan I think it was, who was very good against Kildare last year? He had pace to burn. Is he still in the panel?

Hammer Archer

Alan Forde was injured since last year and only came back with O'Mahony's recently as far as I know. Not sure if he's been brought back to the panel yet.

Hammer Archer

Why oh why did you have to open your mouth Graham?
Meath have too much for Wicklow

I'd be sticking some of those quotes to the wall of the dressing room if I was the Wicklow manager.

ebbsy

Hammer Archer wrote: »

Why oh why did you have to open your mouth Graham?
Meath have too much for Wicklow

I'd be sticking some of those quotes to the wall of the dressing room if I was the Wicklow manager.

Thanks for that Mr. Reilly ! Best of luck with those incoming tackles !!!!!

royaler83

Hammer Archer wrote: »

Why oh why did you have to open your mouth Graham?
Meath have too much for Wicklow

I'd be sticking some of those quotes to the wall of the dressing room if I was the Wicklow manager.

Birdbrain of a thing to say :eek:

meath12

ah I think people are overreacting about what reilly said, its what most meath people are thinking anyway and he said we'd have to have intensity and pace to win so hes not saying they just need to show up to win and anyway one comment isn't going to suddenly make the Wicklow team better players.

keane2097

Ridiculously in-depth preview here if anyone needs to pass a bit of time!

http://www.livegaelic.com/news/championship-preview-wicklow-v-meath/

RoyalCelt

Fair play to Reilly he has the balls to speak his mind and the truth instead of the usual mind games and making sure not to say anything that could motivate the other team. The way I look at this is if we can't beat Wicklow we wouldn't have beaten Wexford but most definitely would have been hammered in the final. I hope we can win as Wexford would be a slightly tougher test for us and if we got past them we'd be set up nicely against Kildare or Dublin in the final which I believe Meath or Wexford would win!

Dublin have done everything in Leinster over the last few years including beating Meath in the Leinster final. That was that teams final boxed ticked and I don't see them being very motivated for it if they get over Kildare.

Kildare will be a different animal but I think the pressure and the tag of heavy favs (if they beat the dubs) will come back to bite them!

Leinster needs Kildare in the final this year. A kildare v Meath/Wicklow?Wexford final would be way better than Dublin v Meath/Wicklow/Wexford. Apart from the Meath Dublin rivalry there wouldn't be much of an edge to it. But Kildare and Wicklow are rivals with the later being a bogey team for Kildare. Wexford would have an interesting twist to it as Jason Ryan switched his allegiances! And don't get me started on Meath Kildare the past few years!

That's enough hoping for one night! Off to bed, hopefully it's a Meath win tomorrow! See you all in Aughrim!!

DRose1

Got over the line by 5 points in the end.

Positives:

1. Mickey Newmans free taking was excellent for the most part.
2. Eamonn Wallace looked good in patches and Reilly scored some great points from play.
3. Gilespie and Meade managed to catch a lot of ball around midfield.
4. Kev Reilly is looking very fit/strong and back to his best - Hopefully he can stay fit. Keoghan got roasted for Wicklows goal but tightened up significantly after that. Harnan also put in a good shift when he came on.
5. Paddy O'Rourke was great all game.
6. Some decent subs came on from the bench and highlighted the fact that we have a relatively deep panel, but changes have to be made to the first 15.

Negatives:

1. To no surprise to anyone who knows Meath football, the team selection was a joke. Lenehan, King and Burke is possibly one of the worst half back lines in the country and I genuinely do not believe that to be an overstatement - Zero pace, weak in the tackle and every one of them is a poor marker.
2. Menton is a quality young player when played centrally but for some reason O'Dowd saw fit to play him corner back where his relative lack of pace was exposed. Play him either full back or center half the next day. Him and Reilly can rotate positions depending on the matchups.
3. Came out asleep in the first 10 minutes of the second half and it could have cost us.
4. Damien Carroll is not up to it at this level (maybe in the future) and although he worked a lot harder in the second half, Peadar Byrne should not be starting imo.
5. While he has been a great servant for Meath, Stephen Bray was well off the pace today and I am not convinced he should be starting at this point in his career. Would be happier to see him as an impact sub this year.

All in all not a bad days work. I wouldnt be overly confident going into the Wexford game. However, if Micko can make some changes to the lineup, I think we should have enough to beat them by 3-4 points on the day. Id be looking for the likes of Seamus Kenny, Harnan, Gilsenan and Dalton to be starting the next day. Would be great to see Shane O'Rourke back on the panel but seems unlikely he will be up to that kind of pace this year. While he his detractors, I also wouldn't mind seeing Joe Sheridan starting full forward.

Hibbeler

I think both teams can be fairly happy with today. We probably expected wicklow to put it up to us and in fairness to them they gave it a good go and if some of the key points of the match went the otherway (the penalty and k reilly goal straight after) things could have turned out differently.

DRose1 I think is right about the half back line in particular but i do think that the positives outweigh the negatives in this case and hopefully we can push on and beat wexford

royaler83

DRose1 wrote: »

Got over the line by 5 points in the end.

Positives:

1. Mickey Newmans free taking was excellent for the most part.
2. Eamonn Wallace looked good in patches and Reilly scored some great points from play.
3. Gilespie and Meade managed to catch a lot of ball around midfield.
4. Kev Reilly is looking very fit/strong and back to his best - Hopefully he can stay fit. Keoghan got roasted for Wicklows goal but tightened up significantly after that. Harnan also put in a good shift when he came on.
5. Paddy O'Rourke was great all game.
6. Some decent subs came on from the bench and highlighted the fact that we have a relatively deep panel, but changes have to be made to the first 15.

Negatives:

1. To no surprise to anyone who knows Meath football, the team selection was a joke. Lenehan, King and Burke is possibly one of the worst half back lines in the country and I genuinely do not believe that to be an overstatement - Zero pace, weak in the tackle and every one of them is a poor marker.
2. Menton is a quality young player when played centrally but for some reason O'Dowd saw fit to play him corner back where his relative lack of pace was exposed. Play him either full back or center half the next day. Him and Reilly can rotate positions depending on the matchups.
3. Came out asleep in the first 10 minutes of the second half and it could have cost us.
4. Damien Carroll is not up to it at this level (maybe in the future) and although he worked a lot harder in the second half, Peadar Byrne should not be starting imo.
5. While he has been a great servant for Meath, Stephen Bray was well off the pace today and I am not convinced he should be starting at this point in his career. Would be happier to see him as an impact sub this year.

All in all not a bad days work. I wouldnt be overly confident going into the Wexford game. However, if Micko can make some changes to the lineup, I think we should have enough to beat them by 3-4 points on the day. Id be looking for the likes of Seamus Kenny, Harnan, Gilsenan and Dalton to be starting the next day. Would be great to see Shane O'Rourke back on the panel but seems unlikely he will be up to that kind of pace this year. While he his detractors, I also wouldn't mind seeing Joe Sheridan starting full forward.

Burke in particular is not a man marker in a million years, can't understand him and King starting. Lenihan was unfortunate, picked up a yellow card for a lazy tackle and just didnt get up to the speed of the game. Harnan and Kenny both played very well when coming on and both may well start the next day.

Wallace and Newman did well for their championship debuts. Bray never got a sniff all game. G Reilly was class again.

Farrell was awful when he came on, lost possession nearly every time he got it.

As you say Menton needs to be centre back, the corner doesnt suit him.

Wexford will b favourites the next day which will suit.

Hammer Archer

Half decent performance. Midfield and forwards did quite well. Paddy O'Rourke did extremely well. Defence was an obvious problem, especially (as has been said) the half back line. Wexford's forwards will be a good bit better than Wicklow's so they certainly will punish us if we defend as badly in two weeks.

Individually, Wallace, Kevin Reilly (who must be the luckiest player in Ireland with both his goals this season), Brian Meade, O'Rourke and Biggie were best for us. I'd like to see Harnan and/or Kenny starting in the half back line the next day. I think Lenehan should be tried at half forward as he seems to be a decent scorer from play.

A word on the officials: there must be something about Cork referees with us. Any Meath player going into tackles seemed to be blown for a foul with countless other "advantages" being played. And I cannot understand how two umpires can't decide whether a 30 yard free halfway up the posts went over or wide. I don't know whether it was a score or not but Newman seemed adamant that it was over.

DRose1 wrote: »

4. Damien Carroll is not up to it at this level (maybe in the future) and although he worked a lot harder in the second half, Peadar Byrne should not be starting imo.
5. While he has been a great servant for Meath, Stephen Bray was well off the pace today and I am not convinced he should be starting at this point in his career. Would be happier to see him as an impact sub this year.

Think you're being a bit too harsh on Carroll there. He hasn't played a game for Meath since early in the league and only recently came back for Ballinabrackey. It'll take a while for him to get back up to intercounty speed and I don't believe he should have been started today.
As for Bray, again I think Micko made a mistake in playing him at full forward. I feel he's much more effective at half forward.

vcshqkf9rpzgoe

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4q88rA0irzk

Hammer Archer

Kalel Deep Camera wrote: »

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4q88rA0irzk

Pretty sure his goal against Roscommon was from just inside his 45. Amazing that the same player can score two of those types of goals in one season.

NufcNavan

I think the Newman free was wide, and so was the one that was allowed soon after.

Think you're being harsh on the ref HA. We got a fair few favourable decisions off him too and overall I thought he was ok.