Louth v Meath

Well who would have thought this novel pairing would contest the Leinster final before proceedings began in May. Just shows that Leinster really is the strongest province. So who will win?

Meath have improved hugely this season IMO - especially up front. Shane O'Rourke's injury free run has been great for Meath and the guy himself. Graham Reilly has shown flashes of what he can do - Big Joe is like a fine wine - getting better with age. And in Cian Ward, Stephen Bray - the Royals have real matchwinners. And Queeney, Farrell and McGuinness prob on the bench. But Meath's probs are in midfield and I feel they will be cleaned out this Sunday there. Defence still has question marks IMO but haven't been asked any big questions. That may change this weekend.

Louth have been coming for a while with success in the Murphy etc. They should have knocked Meath out in Navan a few years ago but for some sucker punches. This is a good side. White and Paddy Keenan (player of the month) are a very impressive midfield duo who would give any team a battle - the fact is Meath are weak there. Lennon, Judge, JP, Adrian Reid all know where the posts are and will get plenty of supply - no doubt. Defence is the key for Louth. They are very big in the centre and the two Fs will give away nothing cheap.

I enjoyed the Louth crowd around me the last day and it might be nice to see them win and reclaim Drogheda!! Hope its a good game and am edging towards parity meself. We have a fair few Louth posters - its yer first Final in 50 - tell us what ye think lads!

I hear there is talk in the offing of next years Leinster Football Championship being cancelled due to lack of interest.

I blame the recession myself

mossbags wrote:I hear there is talk in the offing of next years Leinster Football Championship being cancelled due to lack of interest.

It should be ok as long as they don't try to dump half of Connacht into it .....

Nail on the head with the midfield there Jayo. We win that, we give ourselves a great platform. The two boys worked very well against Kildare and Westmeath and I think they will again on Sunday.

An unchanged team was named for Louth, which I am a bit disappointed with. JP hasn't the legs anymore and McDonnell is a bit light yet for this level, I would have had Pauric Smith in for one of them, maybe Derek Maguire for the other.

I worry about our defence, the power of those Meath forwards will cause bother and if they have their scoring boots on we could be in trouble.

Sawyer wrote:An unchanged team was named for Louth, which I am a bit disappointed with. JP hasn't the legs anymore and McDonnell is a bit light yet for this level, I would have had Pauric Smith in for one of them, maybe Derek Maguire for the other.

I worry about our defence, the power of those Meath forwards will cause bother and if they have their scoring boots on we could be in trouble.

Agree there S - but I'd have JP start. He has great experience and has played in Croker on a good few big days. If he gets two or three even it would be worth it. Secret will be in keeping Meath forwards shackled alright!

I really fear for our midfield. We haven't impressed really there this year, at best we've broke even in any of our games. And we'll be facing one of the best midfield pairings in the country. Louth will come out on top here without doubt, though depending who starts for Meath will dictate just by how much. If it's Meade and Crawford, that's the best we've got and they should do OK. If Mark Ward starts, we're fooked here.

I had a lot of concerns about our backs at the start of the year, but they seem to be getting better as the championship progresses. Kevin Reilly back is a huge addition, Harrington is finding form again and Gary O'Brien seems to have fitted in seemlessly. I'd prefer McGuinness at centre back, but not sure he's fully fit yet.

Our forwards have serious scoring potential, and if they can repeat their recent performances I think they can rack up a decent score. I said at the start of the year that a fit Shane O'Rourke would make a massive difference and he has, I thought the Dublin game might bring the best out of Brayer and he certainly responded in style. I reckon that it's going to be a high enough scoring game, with Meath to shade it by a couple of points.

Bermuda_Bomber wrote:I really fear for our midfield. We haven't impressed really there this year, at best we've broke even in any of our games. And we'll be facing one of the best midfield pairings in the country. Louth will come out on top here without doubt, though depending who starts for Meath will dictate just by how much. If it's Meade and Crawford, that's the best we've got and they should do OK. If Mark Ward starts, we're fooked here.

BB is midfield that big of a deal - you can win all the ball you want at midfield but if you haven't got the forwards to make best use of the ball you win at midfield then your pissing in the wind. You could finish second best at midfield and still win the game as Tyrone have shown (and other teams before a smart **** says anything) in the past.

As long as the forwards are taking their chances or the vast majority off then the midfield battle could be irrelevant.

I fancy this to be a good game of football with Meath shading it by a point or two.

Rooney showed he still has a bit of quality in the Kildare game, but only for about half an hour. He was out on his feet and should have been taken off but still played decently in the first half. Pauric Smith would give you that for 70 minutes.

As far as midfield goes, on form Louth should win here. But there is a big difference in the two half back and half forward lines. The Meath six in these positions are animals for picking up breaking ball, and are all very good, strong footballers. In our three games we have relied mostly on the two midfielders winning primary possession.

Harrington and O'Connor give very little away at 2 and 4. It will take a massive performance from Louth, but I think the occasion will bring that out of them, and it will be a close game. My heart says Louth. My head hasn't a f*cking clue!

Nice to see 2 teams playing in a final,that actually want to win a Leinster title ..Would like to think Louth have enough to beat there rival.

Forgot to say if Louth target the Meath no 3 they will win..he is the weakest link..

Just lost a long post there - F*** it!!! F*** it!!! F*** it!!!!!!!!!!!

Gist was that Meath are not Tyrone in the half lines. Tyrone have the players there to make midfield less important and have won Sam without marque midfielders - Meath haven't got that personnel in the halves. Keenan is an inspirational figure and a good winner of primary possession - he can drive on and take uplifting scores (a la Whelo!). White knows where the posts are too.

Key will be Louth handling Meath attack and the Wee county's ability to believe they can win if they are there or thereabouts with 10/15 to go. Looking forward to it.

Jayo Cluxton wrote:Just lost a long post there - F*** it!!! F*** it!!! F*** it!!!!!!!!!!!

Gist was that Meath are not Tyrone in the half lines. Tyrone have the players there to make midfield less important and have won Sam without marque midfielders - Meath haven't got that personnel in the halves. Keenan is an inspirational figure and a good winner of primary possession - he can drive on and take uplifting scores (a la Whelo!). White knows where the posts are too.

Key will be Louth handling Meath attack and the Wee county's ability to believe they can win if they are there or thereabouts with 10/15 to go. Looking forward to it.

Jayo i accept and agree with what your saying - but doesnt take away from the fact that Louth could win the midfield battle hands down and still lose the game

bocerty wrote:Jayo i accept and agree with what your saying - but doesnt take away from the fact that Louth could win the midfield battle hands down and still lose the game

Very much so B. Dublin won the MF battle v Meath and got hammered. But I think Keenan and White are among the best pairing in the country tbh and are more than capable of sticking on 5/6 points between them. That makes them different.

Jayo Cluxton wrote:

bocerty wrote:Jayo i accept and agree with what your saying - but doesnt take away from the fact that Louth could win the midfield battle hands down and still lose the game

Very much so B. Dublin won the MF battle v Meath and got hammered. But I think Keenan and White are among the best pairing in the country tbh and are more than capable of sticking on 5/6 points between them. That makes them different.

They are a good pairing alright Keenan has to be cert for an All Star

Very true. When you think about it neither Kerry nor Tyrone ( I won't dare to include Dublin here) have an outstanding midfield. Even Cork have no consistency! Maybe the two Louth lads will get All Stars!

Rooney gets one at last and a superb strike at that. Meath reply immidiatly with two frees, the first from as blatant a professional foul as you'll see. Louth a point up, five minutes left to play in this 'Jedward' game of football, Can they do it?

Quite a finish, I hope Meath do the decent thing here and offer a replay

One of the worst decisions I've ever seen.

Jesus! I've never seen anything like it at an intercounty match! Louth fans - unreal thugs! Not that it was a goal or anything.

Surely he's not actually going to make a victory speech

I have been highly critical of Sludden for the past year - today goes to show how poor of a ref he is.

Not Meaths fault even though they were completely outplayed in second half.

Louth fellas can't even connect with punches or shoulders!

3inarow08 wrote:Jesus! I've never seen anything like it at an intercounty match! Louth fans - unreal thugs! Not that it was a goal or anything.

A very soccer type element to both sets of supporeters, dark day for the GAA

There's just no words possible to describe that decision.

As Pat Spillane said the CCC should give Louth a replay.
Shame on the Gaa and the offcials.

GAA-Fan wrote:I have been highly critical of Slugden for the past year - today goes to show how poor of a ref he is.

The umpires are just as bad, about a metre away and can't see that Sheridan threw the bloody ball in the net.

Disgraceful scenes aswell though.

hurlingguru wrote:There's just no words possible to describe that decision.

As Pat Spillane said the CCC should give Louth a replay.
Shame on the Gaa and the offcials.

Exactly! Shame on the GAA is right. You could even see the ref had played more time than he should have (3 minutes) and was playing for the draw to fill the GAA's purse once again. Disgraceful.