What is wrong with Meath football?

Sunday was a good day for Meath, here's my tactical take on it [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

it worked well done the royals have a felling of dejavoo coming

Loyal2TheRoyal wrote:He'll have headaches trying to pick a team for the Leinster Final - I mean Bray and Byrne came on and did well, so too did Harrington at the back. Reilly and Queeney were the other substitutes and then Paddy Gilsenan has to come back from injury. There's a lot of players started yesterday who've been blessed by all the injuries. Who does Banty drop if Reilly, Bray and Gilsenan are fit after the performance yesterday.

I don't think that this is a tough call at all, Loyal. Meath, with those stars that you named, have been brutal for 18 months now, and to go back to the big names again would be completely the wrong move. I do think that the young lads will find it a lot tougher against Dublin, but it is a game to try them in, perhaps a bit like in 1996, when a young Meath side shocked the reigning AI champions Dublin in the Leinster final. At worst, at least the younger players will have had the experience of a high-octane encounter, and should be all the better for it in the future.

You could argue squeezing in Kevin Reilly, and I'd probably drop Cian Ward but, that aside, I'd go with the team that beat Kildare.

patsymc wrote:it worked well done the royals have a felling of dejavoo coming

A type of tree ?

OMAR wrote:

patsymc wrote: the royals have a felling of dejavoo coming

A type of tree ?

Something Martin McGuinness must have referred to perhaps.

worst meath team in 1 100 years

Thomas Clarke wrote:

Loyal2TheRoyal wrote:He'll have headaches trying to pick a team for the Leinster Final - I mean Bray and Byrne came on and did well, so too did Harrington at the back. Reilly and Queeney were the other substitutes and then Paddy Gilsenan has to come back from injury. There's a lot of players started yesterday who've been blessed by all the injuries. Who does Banty drop if Reilly, Bray and Gilsenan are fit after the performance yesterday.

I don't think that this is a tough call at all, Loyal. Meath, with those stars that you named, have been brutal for 18 months now, and to go back to the big names again would be completely the wrong move. I do think that the young lads will find it a lot tougher against Dublin, but it is a game to try them in, perhaps a bit like in 1996, when a young Meath side shocked the reigning AI champions Dublin in the Leinster final. At worst, at least the younger players will have had the experience of a high-octane encounter, and should be all the better for it in the future.

You could argue squeezing in Kevin Reilly, and I'd probably drop Cian Ward but, that aside, I'd go with the team that beat Kildare.

Reilly and Bray have not let Meeath down too often - even on the bad days. I think Banty will find it hard to leave both out as he will with Paddy Gilsenan. I think the Meath team will look/line-up something like this:

David Gallagher
Donal Keoghan - Kevin Reilly - Mickey Burke/Bryan Menton
Donnacha Tobin - Shane McAnarney - Mickey Burke/Bryan Menton
Graham Reilly - Conor Gillespie
Alan Forde - Damian Carroll
Paddy Gilsenan - Stephen Bray
Joe Sheridan - Brian Farrell

Three changes form the last day but Ciaran Lenihan was only a last minute replacement for Reilly anyway.

Brian Meade had a poor enough day the last time but had been good up until then. Banty is caught been rock and a hard place if he's forced to drop Meade as he clearly likes his work-rate. Having said that, he'll surely find a way to squeeze Bray in.

Cian Ward might struggle to keep Paddy Gilsenan out. It's a close call. I'd favour Gilsenan and I think Banty would too - changing a winning team makes it a harder decision.

It'll be interesting to see how Meath handle the favourites tag ....

While Forde and Carroll were called ashore and Gillespie struggled in midfield, the one shining light for Meath was the performance of Donal Keogan. He gave an exemplary display of the art of corner back. His tackling and shepherding was excellent and, unusually these days, legal. He did an excellent job on Kevin McManamon and can not have been far off MotM. There was no squaring up or hard-man antics either - he just did his job effectively and efficiently and showed great temperament. Will be keeping an eye on this lad.

Must pay tribute to my cousin Donncha Tobin who also played well. Still under 21 and a good prospect for the future, Surely learned his football from the Valentia mother.

Real Kerry Fan wrote:Must pay tribute to my cousin Donncha Tobin who also played well. Still under 21 and a good prospect for the future, Surely learned his football from the Valentia mother.

Hardly a first cousin RKF - there must be about 50 years between ye....

Real Kerry Fan wrote:Must pay tribute to my cousin Donncha Tobin who also played well. Still under 21 and a good prospect for the future, Surely learned his football from the Valentia mother.

Spanish ?

Parouisa wrote:

Real Kerry Fan wrote:Must pay tribute to my cousin Donncha Tobin who also played well. Still under 21 and a good prospect for the future, Surely learned his football from the Valentia mother.

Hardly a first cousin RKF - there must be about 50 years between ye....

2nd, Ma and me first. :

OMAR wrote:

Real Kerry Fan wrote:Must pay tribute to my cousin Donncha Tobin who also played well. Still under 21 and a good prospect for the future, Surely learned his football from the Valentia mother.

Spanish ?

Must be the Xabi Alonso connection.

[quote="Thomas Clarke"]

OMAR wrote:

Real Kerry Fan wrote:Must pay tribute to my cousin Donncha Tobin who also played well. Still under 21 and a good prospect for the future, Surely learned his football from the Valentia mother.

Spanish ?

Must be the Xabi Alonso connection.[/q

Alonso who? Mick O'Connell gave him many a lesson on his hols down south.

Hows that Hotel in Valencia holding up RKF? Give that man plenty of support - great friend of mine!

Parouisa wrote:Hows that Hotel in Valencia holding up RKF? Give that man plenty of support - great friend of mine!

Yes not bad at all. Organising more functions etc. and the some weddings. Had a pint there when down last month. They are popular hosts. We are very welcoming to refugees of all sorts in the South West.

Tobin is not u21.

Or Over 21

A fine win for the Meath minors over Ulster champions Tyrone - albeit with a 'palmed' goal in the first minute and a scrambled effort in the last. Great recovery after their Leinster final defeat and yet no mention or well done to them from their own .... who instead write about hockey ....

Yes indeed. Tyrone conceeded a goal after 12 seconds, and only led for the first time in the dying minutes. Then came the 2nd Meath goal.

This was not a vintage Tyrone minor side. In fact, it was a poor one, bailed out time and again by an extremely good full forward line. The best minor side in Ulster this year was Armagh, but Tyrone beat them 4-11 to 0-21, illustrating the damage the inside line could cause.

Still, well done to Meath on a good recovery from the Leinster loss, and good luck to them in the semi final.

The question that I posed at the outset of this thread remains shockingly valid. Meath finished last season's league with defeats to Tyrone and Westmeath by 10 and 9 points respectively, and have started this year with a 12 point pasting from Monaghan. I recognised virtually all the names on the Meath selection so, although a few players may have been absent, this was by no means an experimental line up.

What I've seen of them in recent times has been a stubborn throwback to yesteryear. Plenty of big carthorses, and the cry from the stands of 'give it long'. I wonder if the belligerence and single-mindedness that helped them win them 4 All Ireland in 12 years is now their biggest weakness.

Meath football really needs to enter the 21st century quite quickly. A good starting point would be this weekend's trip to Wicklow, for what already looks like a '4-pointer'.

Thomas Clarke wrote:The question that I posed at the outset of this thread remains shockingly valid. Meath finished last season's league with defeats to Tyrone and Westmeath by 10 and 9 points respectively, and have started this year with a 12 point pasting from Monaghan. I recognised virtually all the names on the Meath selection so, although a few players may have been absent, this was by no means an experimental line up.

What I've seen of them in recent times has been a stubborn throwback to yesteryear. Plenty of big carthorses, and the cry from the stands of 'give it long'. I wonder if the belligerence and single-mindedness that helped them win them 4 All Ireland in 12 years is now their biggest weakness.

Meath football really needs to enter the 21st century quite quickly. A good starting point would be this weekend's trip to Wicklow, for what already looks like a '4-pointer'.

Meath probably do need enter the 21st century same can be same of Galway who think the pretty passing will still work in 2013. The good news for Meath is they have played their hardest league game and should (with the players available to them) win most of the others starting this weekend.

Nobody's afraid of Meath any more in the "brown on the back of togs" sense. The days of Lyons, Harnan and other fairly tough nuts are long forgotten.

The Celtic Tiger destroyed Meath football, welcoming softies from the capital into sprawling developments in Ashbourne and other places. The day of the mighty Meathmen working for a living vanished as lads sold off plots of land and lived like Royalty thereafter.

The likes of Boylan, with his Leitrim mother and Colm O'Rourke brought whatever bit of football nous and ability to the county that hasn't been replicated by the recent batch of immigrants.

Boxtyeater wrote:Nobody's afraid of Meath any more in the "brown on the back of togs" sense. The days of Lyons, Harnan and other fairly tough nuts are long forgotten.

The Celtic Tiger destroyed Meath football, welcoming softies from the capital into sprawling developments in Ashbourne and other places. The day of the mighty Meathmen working for a living vanished as lads sold off plots of land and lived like Royalty thereafter.

The likes of Boylan, with his Leitrim mother and Colm O'Rourke brought whatever bit of football nous and ability to the county that hasn't been replicated by the recent batch of immigrants.

The man from FBD has spoken ..........