Meath GAA discussion thread

Dublin up to this decade were poor at underage, actually up to this decade Meath would have been more suscessful then Dublin at minor level in 00s and 90s and more sucessful at under 21 level in the 90s then Dublin. But Dublin at underage level in this decade have gone up a level. At minor and under 21 they have more become sucessful and very competitive. Kildare have also in the last 3 to 4 years had a golden age at minor level with a couple of titles. Meath have been very poor at under 21 level since early 00s and at minor level have dropped down the table in leinster since 2008, our last leinster win at that level. We did reach an All Ireland final at minor level in 2012 ,which was the only leinster team to reach a minor All Ireland final besides Dublin since laois in 2003 and Meath in 2002. But overall this decade has been poor at underage for us. We ignored the underage teams. There has been work done recently and there has been results to show that. We just need titles to really back up the work.


You might want to downplay Meath beating Dublin 3 years on the trot at underage level , but the fact that is unusual in leinster football in this decade. Even in the past beating Dublin regularly in the championship by 1 team is not very common. The fact is kerry are trying to build there next great team on All Ireland winnig minor teams, and while Meath have got no where near kerrys level. Beating Dublin teams in consecuative years has been in the past the launching pad for great Meath teams to win trophies.
Tipp and kilkenny rivalry in hurling defines both counties. Cody grew up seen Tipp teams beat kilkenny year in year out. Kilkenny were soft ,Tipp were tougher thats what they used to say. So when he became manger the one team he wanted to beat more then anyone was Tipp. He built a powerful physical team that would never be bullied by Tipp. Rivalries have a massive role in GAA, how counties respond to neighbours sucess. Kerry will never want to lose to Cork in Croker. Mayo and Galway respond to each other. In the 90s Mayo came very close , then Galway won Sam in 98. Again in this decade Mayo have come very close , Galway seem to be coming again. Its like Galway are getting to Mayos level and then using that to suceeed outside the provience.


If you look at Meath football the rivalry v Dublin is central. And for Dublin the rivalry with Meath and then kerry was central Dublin up to this decade. It wasnt that long ago that beating Meath in the championship was the highlight of the year for a Dublin footballer. Cluxton and Alan Brogan played on those teams. Of course the kerry rivalry is one sided now and the Meath rivalry is dead, but this has happenned before many times. In the ealry 30s, mid 40s, ealry 60s, mid 80s and mid 90s Dublin were just as dominant and Meath were in worst positions. Being in this position is nothing new to Meath football. Dublin have alway had the popualtion, the resources, many many times bigger then Meath.


Tipp and kilkenny are similar enough counties Cork and Kerry are similar enough counties , so are Galway and Mayo and Tyrone and Armagh. Yes there is differences but none compared to the differences that are between Meath and Dublin, Which is the most unequal rivalry in Irish sport. In soccer terms Dublin are Man Utd and Meath are leicister City, but yet for 80s years up to this decade Meath went toe to toe with the countries most populated ,most powerful , most iconic and most famous county.
So before this decade for 80 years or so Meath were going toe to toe with Dublin

In 1940s Dublin win 1 All Ireland Meath won 1 All Ireland
In 1950s Dublin win 1 All Ireland Meath win 1 All Ireland
In 1960s Dublin win 1 All Ireland Meath win 1 All Ireland
In 1970s Dublin win 3 All Ireland Meath win 0 All Irelands
In 1980s Dublin win 1 All Ireland Meath win 2 All Irelands
In 1990s Dublin win 1 All Ireland Meath win 2 All Ireland
In Noughties Dublin win 0 All Ireland Meath win 0 All Irelands

Its in this decade Dublin have gone up a level, Dublin have always been in the top 4 or 5 teams in the country, but in this decade they have replaced Kerry as the number 1 football county. Dublin were just as strong in mid 80s as now the only thing was they couldnt beat Kerry ,they can now. Dublin have won 12 of the last 13 leinster tiltes and played in 5 All Ireland finals in 13 years. In the the same kind of period of 11 years 1974 to 1985 Dublin won 9 leinster titles in 11 years and played in 9 All Ireland finals in the same period. The only difference is now they are winning them all and they can beat Kerry ,something they do couldnt in the 70s and 80s. We have been here before with a superstrong Dublin.

For Meath our sucess was built on a couple of things . For example great GAA men like Paddy O Brien Peter McDermont Jack Quinn Fr Tully Colm O Rourke and Sean Boylan to name a few. But it facing down and beating Dublin which as been so key to Meaths past sucess. And this is why beating Dublin in consecutive years is so so so important. Firstly it rarely happens. When was the last time a county defeated Dublin in 3 years 3 times and also another 1 strong performance in that period in leinster at any grade or even outside leinster, It rarely happens.

But Meath have been doing this for generations, beating Dublin teams. What has happenned in leinster football down the ages is Dublin for 6 or 7 years defeats Meath 4 or 5 o r 6 times in a row in consecuative years and then Meath come from nowhere knock Dublin from their perch and in a 6 or 7 year period Meath defeat Dublin year after year, 4 or 5 or 6 times in the leinster championship. The greatest example of this was in the 80s and 90s in 15 years when Meath defeated Dublin 9 times ( in 7 leinster finals , 1 league div 1 national final) and 3 draws. Beating Dublin in consecuative years in 40s 50s 60s 80s and 90s meant when Meath came out of leinster they had belief and were afraid of noone, kerry Cork Mayo or northern teams. Beating Dublin in a leinster final is the closest thing to an All Ireland final. And whenever a team beat Dublin in any era you are beating one of the top teams in the country, but also one of the most difficult opponents in gaelic football, a Dublin footballer in front of packed Hill 16.

Meath beating Dublin teams in the past was the launching pad for Meath teams to win Sam. After beating Dublin in 1947 1964 1975 1986 1996 2010 Meath went from outsiders to genuinie All Ireland contenders over night. And those victories have led most of them to Meath winning Sam in the following years. When you beat Dublin at any grade year after year its a massive boost and gives a massive belief to any county. Look at how Dublin didnt win Sam between 1996 and 2010, yet most of the teams that beat Dublin in that era went on to win Sam eg meath 96, 99, Armagh in 02 and Tyrone and Kerry in the 00s. So its important at senior level to beat Dublin. But beating Dublin at underage level particularly in this golden age for Dublin football, it can be so important for those young footballers when they become senior.

Yes Dublin have been poor at underage level up to this decade. But they have become very strong recently at underage. And its very rare for a county to beat Dublin a few times in a short period at any level. It doesnt matter how anyone downplays beating Dublin at underage level , for any county it is a massive help and advatange.

Meath need to keep the players on board, not lose them to Auzzie rules etc. Something Dublin dont have a problem with. And yes Meath need to win trophies also and start to beat kildare at underage also, And maybe it a false dawn, who knows, but it could also be a beginning. Meaths fight back v the Dubs starts here and it might take time and years to topple Dublin. But no one knows whats around the corner. But maybe just maybe when people look at Meath hammering Dublin in 2016, and Meath beating Dublin in 2017 in a leinster final and Meath beating Dublin again this year all at underage in leinster championship, they will say this was when Meath football turned the corner and rose up from ashes and did what we have done for generations and generations, topple the Dubs, knock the Dublin from their perch. To see 16 and 17 years old playing with such passion and fire v the Dubs last night and last year and in 2016, it gives me hope that Meath football has not gone way, there life in the old county yet, and as long as there is a leinster championship and a hill 16 and Dublin GAA, Meath will keep coming and keep coming and keep coming and keep trying to knock Dublin from their perch. It might not happen soon or maybe in a while.. Dublin have to stay at the top all the time. We the underdogs, the boggers, the culchies, only have to beat the jackeens, the Dubs once and then twice or three times and then its game on.

So congratulations to the young footballers of Meath last night. You have done what Meath footballers have done for decades ,bring the determination guts and bravey and beat the Dubs. Well done, your Meath footballers now. You can only be called a true Meath gael when you beat Dublin in leinster. No one knows what the football lanscape will be in 5 or 6 years times. If you say Meath beating Dublin at underage is irrevelant, maybe u r right , but u also could be wrong. We might lose to longford on Sunday or be hammered v Dublin in the semi final. But in the coming years , its doesnt matter what agenda you have, if your a member of ABM brigade, the fact is results like last nights and in 2017 and 2016 are definalty not an hinderance, its definatly not a negative, it surely can only be a positive for the future of Meath football. Come on the Da Royals .

One point about the Meath v Dublin minor match last week. It is some turnaround we are having v the Dubs in the last 3 years at minor level compared to 6 or so years where Dublin were beating Meath out the gate at minor level year after year.

In the last 3 years Meath have played Dublin at minor level 5 times including the new inaugural new minor under 17 leinster championship last year. In those 5 Meath v Dublin games in 3 years Meath have won 4 times v the Dubs at minor and in the fifth game Meath were unlucky to lose in extra time after being 10 points up at half time v the Dubs. That is an impressive turnaround v the Dubs at underage. Its long long time at underage since Dublin were beaten 4 times by the same county in a couple of years in leinster or outside leinster at underage or even senior. We need to back these results up with leinster titles. Dublin under Sherlock wouldnt want to lose to Meath twice in the same year again this year. And kildare will fancy their chances also after their very good record at minor recently. The leinster minor is wide open. But with us beating Dublin we should be looking to win leinster. Hopefully we do. I hope its new beginning not another false dawn.

Ffs. This is the lowest point in Meath football that I can remember.

Tyrone. Our annual Ulster executioner has been decided.

Minors should beat Louth on Wednesday evening & go 3-0 in their championship, some green shoots amongst those hopefully.

Unfortunately a 13 man defense system is the shortcut to becoming a more competitive team. Point and case Carlow; huge physical defensive platform that is extremely hard to break down. Nothing stylish or nice about their play but they defend all day and now have adapted the system to include attacking in numbers and not being afraid to recycle the ball to midfield multiple times per attack to start over - and the higher scores are coming now so it'll soon be forgotten about that they have such a defensive hand passing setup. Just like Dublin, the general mass ignore how often they filter everyone back because they can still attack with numbers and rack up big scores.

Carlow have transformed into what most likely is the 2nd best team in Leinster in a matter of no time, albeit partially responsible for Kildares sudden implosion and no one else really at the races.

It'd be great for everyone to play ball, but for much of the first half yesterday Kildare left 3 forwards up the field and Carlow had ample space to patiently rack up the across. I'd honestly prefer a manager to come in and have us play super defensive stuff so long as the scores came too. McGeeney had us defending as good as anyone and for 2/3 years we were a top top team. It's easy to say you'd rather lose playing attacking football and going for it; but believe me after 12 losses on the trot with a leaky defence who give up scoring chances EVERY opposition attack, I want 15 men behind the ball the next game.


Either way, best of luck against Tyrone.

Felexicon wrote: »

Just saw the clip of Andys interview on the Sunday game. Very disappointing seeing him talk about 3 goal chances in the first half and how if they went in it would be a different story. I think yesterday was a time to hold his hands up and say he got it wrong.

He said in radio interview Longford had no goal chances in first half. Looking at Sunday Game they had two clear cut goal chances and it pretty much confirmed what i taught all along. Andy McEntee hasnt a flipping clue the man in deluded and a very poor manager. They sooner Meath get rid of him the better for all involved.

Hammer Archer wrote: »

U20s made it 2 from 2 by beating Kildare by a point in the Leinster championship. That should be enough to make it to the semi final automatically.

Wolfe Tones won the Comortas Peile na Gaeltachta in Donegal by beating An Cheathrú Rua of Galway 3-9 to 2-7.

At under 20, Leinster semi finals look like kildare v Dublin in one semi final and Meath in the other. Laois would need to beat Meath by 24 or 25 points or kildare lose quarter for it not to happen. Dublin are the still the team to beat at under 20 as they have dominated around this level for decade. Kildare have been their main challenger and with kildare having players from a minor winning leinster team they are genuine contenders. Offaly could be a long shot. But we look like real contenders also.

After ignoring underage for 10 years we have put in the work and our producing good footballers and very credible results, just need to now turn that into leinster titles. I think people didn't see Meath as contenders in leinster this year but minor results indicated they could be. They have players from minor team that hammered Dublin 2 years ago..And players that won minor leinster title last year v Dub's ( Under 17 inaugural leinster championship).

The game yesterday kildare was a repeat of the game which had players from both teams involved in a brillant minor semi final that went to extra time and kildare won 1 point two years ago. Yesterday again was a cracking gane which again was decided by 1 point ,this time in Meaths favour. This victory and Meath beating Galway in a challenge game at this level under 20 in recent weeks , would indicate Meath are definatly in the mix in leinster. Seen as Galway are one of the favs for under 20 All Ireland title. But Meath have had tendency to blow hot and cold at underage. We need more consistency and winning leinster titles is the next step at underage. If we dont serious questions must be asked. Dublin are still the team to beat at under 20. And kildare v Dublin semi final will be a massive game. At senior level leinster football championship is in dire straits. At minor and under 20 it is a more interesting and competitive leinster championship.

Al_Coholic wrote: »

Felexicon wrote:

I think we can beat Tyrone this weekend.

But...Meath at home are tough to beat

Are we?

Our home record aint that spectacular.