Westmeath v Meath

Good to see Meath aren't in the slightest bit cocky going into this one

'Brien refusing to underestimate neighbours


07 July 2009

Meath
manager Eamonn O'Brien is taking nothing for granted ahead of
Saturday's All-Ireland football qualifier against Westmeath in
Mullingar.

The Lake County's Leinster SFC semi-final mauling at
the hands of Dublin makes Meath favourites to extend their unbeaten
championship record against their neighbours to 22 games, but O'Brien
is wary of a backlash from Tomas O Flatharta's wounded charges.

"It's a sticky one," he said.

"A game that you
won't know what to expect. I wouldn't read too much into their defeat
against Dublin, it was one of those days that everything went right for
Dublin and nothing went Westmeath's way.

"Westmeath have
competed well for the last number of years and I don't think it is
possible for a team to go so rapidly downhill in such a short space of
time.

"They beat us in the league in Mullingar last year and ran
Tyrone close in the qualifiers in Omagh. They could have also beaten
Tyrone in this year's NFL.

"Obviously, they have ability
throughout their team, so we will have to ensure that we play well and
our performance is up to scratch. It's a local derby and the fact that
the game is in Mullingar will make it that little bit more difficult
from our perspective."

O'Brien is expected to welcome back team
captain Stephen Bray from a quad muscle injury for Saturday's game -
which isn't all-ticket - but full back Kevin Reilly is unlikely to have
recovered from a back injury in time.

sure he has to talk like that in fairness, i mean he is in another lose lose situation same as the waterford game, if they win well everyone will say it was expected if they lose or only win by a couple of points then they are the laughing stock of the place.
westmeath are so poor and low on confidence at the moment that nothing other than a meath win will happen the question for the bookies ofcourse is by how much??

2 bad teams up against each other unlikely to be much of a spectacle, viewed by many as the wooden spoon game of the Leinster Championship

bocerty wrote:2 bad teams up against each other unlikely to be much of a spectacle, viewed by many as the wooden spoon game of the Leinster Championship

Not sure if I'd fully agree Rich. If I was a Westmeath player I would have been praying for this draw, What better way to achieve redemption after the Dublin match than to turn over your virtual namesakes, a feat I dont think they've ever acieved before. O Flaherta if he's any kop at all surely wont find it to difficult to motivate them for this one. As well as that Westmeath are not as bad as they played against Dublin, and would be seriously unlikely to perform that poorly again, whilst Meath are fairly shite themselves dont forget. The only thing that rescued them from a similar hiding against the Dubs was because the Dubs put their ballet shoes on by mistake that day, not their shooting boots

To my mind this is a dream draw for Westmeath and possibly the worst one for Meath. Westies will be keen to atone for the Dublin disaster and the sight of their sworn enemies will give them a real target. Meath on the other hand - and as seen already on this thread - will be hot favs - which ain't gonna help them!

Incidentally, Loyal - as he often does in analysing big horse races - gave us the summation below re Westmeath prior to the Dublin game. With the same outcome!! How do you view it now Mr L?

I think Westmeath are great value to win this. They will be far better set up than Meath to beat Dublin. If Meath can get within two points of Dublin, then so can Westmeath.

I know Dublin hammered Westmeath in the League but O'Flaherta was only building the team for the Championship plus they were missing Dolan, Connaughtan, Shocko, Flanagan, O'Donoughue, and Wilson that day.

Fourteen points will be enough to win this game. Thats all Dublin got against Meath and they won't get half the amount of chances on Sunday they got that day. Boyle, Gavin and Keane is one of the best full-back lines in Ireland. I'm not sure what way their half-backs line out but again, they are usually fairly strong in that department. Midfield will be key for Westmeath, they struggled there against Wicklow. Having said that, I wouldn't say Dublin's midfield is any better than Wicklows. When Shocko came on, he made a huge difference, he won't last the full seventy though so Duffy and Flanagan will probably start and they will need to be on their game from go to woe. Plus Westmeath will contest the breaks far better than Meath, they'll crowd midfield, that won't suit Dublin's running game. Up front, they have four ace talismen; Lynam, Dolan, Wilson and Glennon. Dessie will play in the half-forwards and will do damage.

The more I think about this, the more confident I am that Westmeath will rattle the dubs. It won't be spectacular but I reckon the team who can score say 14 or 15 points will win.

bocerty wrote:2 bad teams up against each other unlikely to be much of a spectacle, viewed by many as the wooden spoon game of the wooden spoon Province

Fixed that for you Bo

Yes tricky tie alright. If Duffy and Flan start midfield, then its ok because they are stone useless. Flan has barely caught a ball all year, he was bad against Dublin as well. Meath can't score goals though they aren't conceding them either so that kind of cancels itself out. Still if Moyles starts FB, then Glennon will roast him. And the other boys in the corner - Lynam and Connellan - were the two best players for Westmeath against Dublin. Home advantage will probably swing it.

Grim outlook there loyal. Sure Brian Farrell could win this game on his own.

mossbags wrote:Grim outlook there loyal. Sure Brian Farrell could win this game on his own.

Probably if they gave decent ball into him. He'll win anything thats 50/50, make his own space and score once he's inside the 45. Different gravy to most forwards, only problem is that he can't tackle to save his life. Corner forward the only place for him. Love watching him though.

Loyal could you be going for the ole reverse psycology or in this case psyCODogly after your infamous rant about the Dubs and Meath.
See your starting "to do a loyal" again backing against your own!!!!!!