Meath v Kildare

Ain't karma a b*tch?

Disallowed goal aside, I thought Meath played very well in the first half - the 2 O'Rourke's were incredible and Sheridans point from around 50 metres out was immense. They defended like tigers with Kevin O'Reilly cleaning up everything in his path. Meath seemed to run out of steam in the second half. Murphy caught some great ball early in the second half but he needed more support coming out with the ball. The sending off was very harsh and if Geraghty had come on at that stage and if Meath had 15 players it could have been a different result.
I felt Kildare were a bit complacent in the first half but I think Meath getting tired made them look sharper rather than Kildare blitzing them. Callaghan had a great second half and his scores at vital times probably were the difference.

All is not lost for Meath though and I think with a bit of fitness/stamina work, they could give the qualifiers a good rattle

Graham Geraghty <3

To be honest the lead at halftime flattered Meath - Doyle was winning oceans of ball but Kildare seemed to over-complicate things around the 45 - wrong options- slow handpasses - 10 wides - They clicked in the second half although they still had another 7-8 wides.

Heard Banty on the radio talking about 5 nights a week training - well whatever they did its either not enough or too much cause Meath were shagged in the second half.

Thought Banty was well off the mark - Emptied the bench - mostly forwards when midfield was the biggest problem -
Left O Sullivan on Callaghan even after his Fourth point from play.

We shouldn't have lead at halftime, if Kildare had scored half their chances we would have been dead and buried. The lads didn't have the legs in the second half and they were making stupid stupid mistakes. They defended well at times though and I felt Bryan Mento (go Mentooo! ) did well. Brendan Murphy did well under the high ball but I felt he was lucky not to conceed a few goals as he let the ball draw a couple of times. Apart from Graham's goal we only really threatened the Kildare goal once with Joe in the first half which he sent wide, which is worrying considering the players we have in our forwards. I don't know what Brian Farrell got sent off for, in fact I didn't even notice he was gone til about 5 minutes later. We have NO mid-field. They were breaking it down but there was nobody there to collect loose ball at all.

On the bright side Shane O'Rourke showed some of his 2007 form and Joe got a couple of great points. Also I think Kevin Reilly did quite well at FB.

I also think Graham could be a good option at FF, I know that that won't help us in the long run but it would be handy just to sort ourselves out as he showed today that he can be lethal infront of the goals, and he is no worse than any other player out there on the pitch. I also thought he was looking very fit, as usual.

AN MHÍ ABU

I thought the best team won.

However, it'll be interesting to the sending off and the goal again. The consensus seems to be that both decisions went against Meath. Brian Farrell dosen't have a bad stroke in him and the umpires were swift to decide about the goal, only for the ref to over-rule them - that was my take on it at the time. People will call it karma but the reality of the situation is that the officials got the big calls wrong again, and that is the inexcusable thing. Had both decisions went to Meath, then who knows.

I thought Banty made some odd substitutions, Bray is always dangerous but only got seven minutes in the second half? Sheridan and O'Rourke went out of it in the second half, their heart for a close game is called into question again. Brendan Murphy's antics cost us two points, the midfield was largely outplayed and the route one tactic is all too hit and miss.

Loyal2TheRoyal wrote:Brendan Murphy's antics cost us two points

What was he at coming out to the 45 with it? THEN LOSING IT! He was VERY lucky not to have cost us a goal that time, and on a few other occasions.

As one song might go, Geraghty's goal was Written In The Stars.

But those writers in their ethereal world forgot to let the referee in on the script.

My main issue here is not that the incorrect decision contributed to Meath's defeat but that it ruined what could have turned out to be one of the great moments in Meath GAA. Had it stood, Graham would've kicked the equaliser from the resulting kickout. And probably followed it up with the winner.

Loyal2TheRoyal wrote:As one song might go, Geraghty's goal was Written In The Stars.

But those writers in their ethereal world forgot to let the referee in on the script.

My main issue here is not that the incorrect decision contributed to Meath's defeat but that it ruined what could have turned out to be one of the great moments in Meath GAA. Had it stood, Graham would've kicked the equaliser from the resulting kickout. And probably followed it up with the winner.

And fook the Gardaí and stewarts it would have been like Galway in 2007 x10.

Graham Geraghty = God.

Noticeable that Kevin Reilly had a quiet word in Bantys ear around the hour mark - By quiet I mean I heard it on the radio.

OMAR wrote:Noticeable that Kevin Reilly had a quiet word in Bantys ear around the hour mark - By quiet I mean I heard it on the radio.

What did he say?

Royal_Girl2k9 wrote:

OMAR wrote:Noticeable that Kevin Reilly had a quiet word in Bantys ear around the hour mark - By quiet I mean I heard it on the radio.

What did he say?

Sorry RG bit of Hyberbole there - It was clear that Reilly was roaring at Banty in an argumentitive manner
- one can only assume at the lack of action re centrefield and/or Callaghan and Doyle

OMAR wrote:

Royal_Girl2k9 wrote:

OMAR wrote:Noticeable that Kevin Reilly had a quiet word in Bantys ear around the hour mark - By quiet I mean I heard it on the radio.

What did he say?

Sorry RG bit of Hyberbole there - It was clear that Reilly was roaring at Banty in an argumentitive manner
- one can only assume at the lack of action re centrefield and/or Callaghan and Doyle

Oh well that makes sense... Sorry my minds still on Graham Geraghty... Everything else is a big blurry

Yep, good goal by Graham and Brian Farrell can count himself very unlucky.

Questions about Geraghty's legs might remain, but his eye for goal hasn't abated over the years. Only a handful of players in the country who'd have read that situation and rose above three Kildare players to palm to the net.

Loyal2TheRoyal wrote:Yep, good goal by Graham and Brian Farrell can count himself very unlucky.

Questions about Geraghty's legs might remain, but his eye for goal hasn't abated over the years. Only a handful of players in the country who'd have read that situation and rose above three Kildare players to palm to the net.

And he timed it to perfection. I wouldn't really be too worried about his legs either though, considering the state biggy was in today it doesn't seem to be Banty's big thing.... That is what I predicted about his return though, they'd stick him on for the last 10 minutes and he'd make the difference- which he would have had it not been for the ref cocking up.

Karma me **** is right Loyal. But I reckon the controversy of last year was very much in the minds of the two umpires (one of whom looked about 13) - and I don't think it did Meath any good. Sending off v harsh too. But Meath are not fit - I follow one lad a bit and know he's been acting the maggot any chance he gets - that won't win you anything. Kildare were faster fitter and stronger and did deserve the win but the Royals were unlucky with two big calls.

Btw I note this thread was started by a Dub ... and there is none on the Monaghan-Tyrone game ....

Meath were very poor today, and I thought that Kildare dealt with them quite easily. Geraghty's goal may have made a difference, but I don't think it would have affected the result.

Meath don't look fit, although that may because they are just lumbering, slow giants, whose only tactics are to drive the ball upfield and hope for the best. They seem to be trying to play football from another era.

Kildare still miss Earley in midfield, and need one more decent forward. But they will give Dublin a mighty game in the semi-final One to look forward to.

Graham Geraghty is god. That is all lads- cheerio.

Jayo Cluxton wrote:Btw I note this thread was started by a Dub ... and there is none on the Monaghan-Tyrone game ....

I saw the Kildare v Meath game, I didn't see the Monaghan v Tyrone game

In Hollywood, GAA umpires wouldn't get beyond the cutting-room floor.

The guy in the high chair would just call for a retake and tell them to "concentrate for Crisssakes!"

There'd be no corruption of the fairytale just because someone had their feet up, reading Ibsen, at that very moment the movie cried out for full attention.

Graham Geraghty's misfortune is that human frailty doesn't get rinsed out in the editing process of big Sundays in Croke Park. Then again, Louth could probably have told him that. For a flurry of giddy seconds yesterday, Geraghty's comeback story was too good to be true.

Then the men in white coats intervened and we awoke to a familiar world of short-sightedness and error. The umpires got it wrong, again. And Elvis left the building. Inevitable talk of karma in the big house, then. If Meath could claim silverware courtesy of a ghost goal last summer, why sympathise as they now fell foul of slapstick officiating themselves? The answer, then as now, is it simply shouldn't happen.

We were in the 63rd minute when Joe Sheridan's delivery began to descend towards the Kildare 'square' and, to a palpable frisson in the stands, Geraghty moved. He materialised between Morgan O'Flaherty and Andrew McLoughlin, palming the ball -- gentle as a parent's caress -- into the Hill end goal.

Meath trailed at the time by four, so the score, particularly one of this provenance, was likely to pack gunpowder into the remainder. The umpires were happy, or so it seemed. But then Syl Doyle arrived and it was if he came carrying a magnum in his hand.

All the confidence suddenly drained out of them. A fidgety consultation ensued and, lo and behold, the flags were crossed, 'square ball' the decision. And Geraghty smiled the rueful smile of a man who'd just been thieved an audition as Balboa.

Three years out of the county game and, at 38, just a single year younger than his opponents' manager, his return had tossed petrol on the fire of opposition to Seamus McEnaney's leadership of Meath. Two selectors even absconded in apparent disbelief at Banty's taste for excavation.

Yet, just four minutes after his introduction, the supposed old ruin delivered. It should have been Banty's moment.

Someone suggested afterwards that the gamble had not worked and McEnaney swallowed hard. He comes across as a peaceable man with a nuclear temper. This was testing him.

"Is that your opinion that it didn't work?" he said, vexation in his tone.

"Look, Graham Geraghty has been fantastic for the young lads, he's been a real leader in the dressing-room, brought real positivity to the team since he came in. And I think he has a big contribution to make going forward."

So did it work? Well, yes it did. TV pictures showed clearly that the goal was legitimate, Geraghty timing his arrival to perfection. In other words, with better officiating, who can say how Banty might be regarded by his adopted family now? Or, indeed, what garlands would be getting tossed at Geraghty's feet?

As it happened, Kildare kicked away into the distance after, the better team undeniably. But that was a moment the pendulum swung.

"I think you know when you introduce a player of the quality of Graham Geraghty and you want a lift in a team and he gets a goal for you ... I think it would have been a huge lift to Meath," sighed McEnaney afterwards. "A crucial time in the game, 10 minutes to go ... I suppose you felt that every piece of your jigsaw was starting to come together.

"And, unfortunately, it was disallowed. You know, a call, a wrong call, that has gone against us on the day. That's very disappointing. But, listen, it wasn't just down to that decision, even though it was a crucial time in the game.

"Still if, suddenly, we had the thing back to a point, I'd have felt we were on the front foot from there."

Given the commotion surrounding his return, Geraghty cut a strikingly confident figure from the moment he climbed the dressing-room steps. Just before throw-in, he gathered the Meath substitutes in a huddle and delivered a -- seemingly impromptu -- finger-jabbing oration. Then, as the teams left the field at half-time, he could be seen in animated discussion with McEnaney.

Still, Banty kept him as the last throw of the dice, four substitutions made inside 51 minutes and Geraghty still sitting high in the Hogan Stand.

After Brian Farrell's dismissal, Meath were clearly fire-fighting and it even became a moot point if the call would ever come. But then, the hooked finger from Banty and a mix of roars and jeers as Geraghty finally made an entrance with the stadium clock reading 59.13.

Four minutes from a spoiled fairytale.

"I couldn't actually see from my angle, but it looked like a square ball like," said Kieran McGeeney later. "Was it?

"No? So, there you go, maybe there's a bit of justice out there for us somewhere (smiling)."

Last March, McGeeney had been photographed nose-to-nose with McEnaney on the line in Navan after a feisty National League game but, now, the Armagh man's sympathy fell with his Ulster neighbour.

"There was huge pressure, probably unfair pressure," he said.

"You know, did Banty make the move of the season? He (Geraghty) put the ball in the back of the net, youse tell me it wasn't a square ball. It's easy to have a pop.

unfair

"I don't know a manager out there that makes a decision that's going to be bad for his team like. We all have opinions, that's a given. But, if you have a fella in, you have to give him a chance.

"I think the pressure on them -- and I know it's easy to say it from the outside -- has been unfair. But I'm sure youse don't know anybody who purposely goes in and makes bad decisions. They mightn't always make the right ones, but in my 20 years involved in county football, they always make them for the right reasons."

It ended without recrimination. Geraghty shook what hands were pushed in his direction and walked quietly to the showers.

"This is a test of character for this group, like it never was tested before," said McEnaney later. "But they are absolutely united and I have no doubt in my mind that you will see more of this team in the summer."

Had the publicity rattled them? "Absolutely not!"

It was as economical as Meath had been all day.

Vincent Hogan