Meath Forum

Meath V Donegal

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Replying To Reco:  "Brennan injured ??"
Haven't heard anything official to suggest he's injured. His omission from the 26-man panel was striking. Seems like he has fallen down the pecking order. Walsh, Campion, Graham Reilly, Thomas O'Reilly, probably Tobin, all ahead of him in managements' eyes.

On Graham Reilly, once again it was infuriating to see his unwillingness to dig in and track back when the going got tough. This was at a time when Donegal were powering through us and you would expect your substitutes with fresh legs to really help out in tracking the deep runners. On one particular occasion along the sideline in front of the terrace it was bordering on disgraceful. Expect more from one of our more senior men.

men_of_49 (Meath) - Posts: 1987 - 15/07/2019 11:22:37    2211254

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Replying To gwanyagudthing:  "Thoughts:

- we were actually quite unlucky in terms of McGill's slip for McBrearty's goal, conlon hitting the post, mcentee blazing over when a goal was clearly on, the disallowed goal for square ball and i think we could have got another penalty on another day. Even if a couple of things went our way we could have been 4/5 points up with 15 minutes to play.
- having said that, I always felt Donegal had an extra gear and would have a hot spell which they did.
- our kickouts are killing us. Can anyone answer this? Why do we insist on kicking for the sideline and handing possession to the opposition when going long down the middle at least gives us some chance of winning possession? We are literally one of the worst teams in the country when it comes to kick-outs. This has to be sorted for next year as #1 priority with finding a second midfielder as the #2 priority.
- Conlon, Walsh and Devine certainly have potential but aren't ready for top flight football yet. Unfortunately, we don't have any more experienced players on the bench that are in form. Would be great to see Lenihan back next year. This time next year I would expect at least 1 if not 2 of Conlon, Walsh, Devine, McGovern and Campion to be well up to it.
- Our defence is one of the best in the country and I wouldn't swap them for anyone. Menton is a class act too and O'Sullivan, McMahon and Newman can be great on their day.
- The future is definitely bright. This is all great experience and we will be better next year. The age profile of our team is good and there is no reason why we can't be one of the top 5/6 teams next year. I hope the management team give it another two years as that is when this team will peak. I've seen enough this year to convince me that we can get to the last 4 and beyond which is amazing considering where we were a couple of years ago."
Well said!
McGill was unlucky and the ball broke kindly for McBrearty. We are a little exposed when McGill gets dragged out from in front of goal I feel! I agree, Donegal seemed to have another gear - especially in McHugh and Murphy!

I agree with you too on Conlon, Devine and Walsh (and Campion) - really good prospects but let's not heap pressure on them by expecting them to be our saviours!

A second midfielder is a priority for sure - Shane McEntee is a decent player but not a midfielder and it is probably not fair on him to push him into that role! Has anyone seen a good midfielder at club lever? Sean Reilly is a good player but I see he didn't play mid field with the juniors!

I think the management team have found their feet - the biggest single issue is the kick out situation - I am sure that will be a focus this week! I'd say Mayo aren't in a great place after yesterday but they will be fired up for next weekend - should be a cracker! If we could get across the line who knows what Pairc Tailteain could bring against teh Kingdom!!

ASaminthehand (Meath) - Posts: 422 - 15/07/2019 12:01:38    2211280

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Replying To SheridansTry:  "Have to agree , it was a very poor turnout for us tbh. Regarding the team we were right in the mix until last 12 or 13 mins but sadly Donegal had a good bench to turn to and that extra bit of experience to close this game out. On to Mayo now and a good day out in Croker."
Came back from Donegal quite disappointed in the end given the fact we were within sight of winning this game on 55 mins. I thought there were some great performances. Lavin, McMahon and Keogan as usual were brilliant. McMahon had his best game for Meath while up to now I was not totally convinced by him. COS upped his game big time too and was working very hard from the start. Devine got some great possession but let himself down with a few mistakes. Expect him to kick on now though. However, the big issue is and has been all year our kickouts. I don't expect a change at this stage but disappointed management have not remedied this long ago. Really not sure the basis is of picking rest of panel. Brennan not on it after coming on a kicking point last day? Mickey Burke still there. I know he's been a great servant but surely some young talented players even on the junior team deserve a squad place ahead of him.

winatallcost (Meath) - Posts: 507 - 15/07/2019 12:18:28    2211291

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In Fairness to players. As neither sidelines or frees are taken from the ground anymore youngsters no longer kick balls off the ground. This means that It is very difficult for lads to step up like Andy Colgan and be able to take kick outs well consistently.
Try taking a ball out to a pitch and kicking it off the ground and see how many good kicks you will get out of 10 . it would be an eye opener

Ashrules (Dublin) - Posts: 518 - 15/07/2019 12:22:33    2211296

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Replying To ASaminthehand:  "Well said!
McGill was unlucky and the ball broke kindly for McBrearty. We are a little exposed when McGill gets dragged out from in front of goal I feel! I agree, Donegal seemed to have another gear - especially in McHugh and Murphy!

I agree with you too on Conlon, Devine and Walsh (and Campion) - really good prospects but let's not heap pressure on them by expecting them to be our saviours!

A second midfielder is a priority for sure - Shane McEntee is a decent player but not a midfielder and it is probably not fair on him to push him into that role! Has anyone seen a good midfielder at club lever? Sean Reilly is a good player but I see he didn't play mid field with the juniors!

I think the management team have found their feet - the biggest single issue is the kick out situation - I am sure that will be a focus this week! I'd say Mayo aren't in a great place after yesterday but they will be fired up for next weekend - should be a cracker! If we could get across the line who knows what Pairc Tailteain could bring against teh Kingdom!!"
yea agree with alot of the points that have been said.

Firstly: agreed about the fans. Very bad show from Meath fans yesterday. I dont buy the 6 hour round trip cop out, sure we all had to that! I noticed especially that of the fans who were there, generally they were over 30 age group. So few young people coming to support the team in recent years.

Thought our backs played extremely well for the most part. I know the scoreline suggests otherwise but that was a blitz in the last 10 minutes to be fair.

Havent seen it mentioned at all but for me Gallaghers back card was a turning point. We had just got on top, you could feel the pressure around the stadium on Donegal and then he did that, they got a free, he (who I thought had a solid game) was taken off, defence had to shuffle abit, they scored and the momentum changed.

Kick outs, discussed to death, but they were a killer and resulted in at least 3 points for Donegal

I thought near the end, there was a bit of panic in the forward line, going for goal, whilst had they had just focused abit, taken their points ( before the 2nd Donegal goal) they would have been level or close to level again.

I really like Conlon, and hes done well, but I just dont think he should be starting yet. Better impact I think. I reckon give Walsh a crack at it next sunday.

Graham Reilly, used to have alot of time for him, dont anymore, simple. Hes not up for it, he wanders around waiting for the ball to be given, no pace, no will and shouldnt get on for a game like we had yesterday. And for anyone who says sure who else, well my answer is anyone, thats how bad O thought he was.

Eri (Meath) - Posts: 45 - 15/07/2019 12:29:08    2211298

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Replying To Ashrules:  "In Fairness to players. As neither sidelines or frees are taken from the ground anymore youngsters no longer kick balls off the ground. This means that It is very difficult for lads to step up like Andy Colgan and be able to take kick outs well consistently.
Try taking a ball out to a pitch and kicking it off the ground and see how many good kicks you will get out of 10 . it would be an eye opener"
Are you joking? This is intercounty we are talking about. Nearly every club team in Meath has a keeper that can find his man with a kicking. Not sure you attend many matches. Its not a bunch of lads trying to kick a ball off the ground after talking about it the night before in a pub.

winatallcost (Meath) - Posts: 507 - 15/07/2019 12:31:56    2211301

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Replying To winatallcost:  "Came back from Donegal quite disappointed in the end given the fact we were within sight of winning this game on 55 mins. I thought there were some great performances. Lavin, McMahon and Keogan as usual were brilliant. McMahon had his best game for Meath while up to now I was not totally convinced by him. COS upped his game big time too and was working very hard from the start. Devine got some great possession but let himself down with a few mistakes. Expect him to kick on now though. However, the big issue is and has been all year our kickouts. I don't expect a change at this stage but disappointed management have not remedied this long ago. Really not sure the basis is of picking rest of panel. Brennan not on it after coming on a kicking point last day? Mickey Burke still there. I know he's been a great servant but surely some young talented players even on the junior team deserve a squad place ahead of him."
Yes, Mc Mahon was on fire yesterday. Why was he taken off ? And others left on the pitch to long ?

bobkarlgees (Meath) - Posts: 1263 - 15/07/2019 12:40:53    2211307

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Replying To men_of_49:  "Haven't heard anything official to suggest he's injured. His omission from the 26-man panel was striking. Seems like he has fallen down the pecking order. Walsh, Campion, Graham Reilly, Thomas O'Reilly, probably Tobin, all ahead of him in managements' eyes.

On Graham Reilly, once again it was infuriating to see his unwillingness to dig in and track back when the going got tough. This was at a time when Donegal were powering through us and you would expect your substitutes with fresh legs to really help out in tracking the deep runners. On one particular occasion along the sideline in front of the terrace it was bordering on disgraceful. Expect more from one of our more senior men."
Graham looked half hearted in his approach to winning back possession. Has been a match winner in the past and owes Meath nothing. O Coileann may now take over the role of impact sub when he returns from injury. Not sure how it was intended to use Shane Walsh . To me he should be used as 3rd midfielder for his fielding ability at least for yesterday.
As regards Andy Colgan yes prone to errors..... but any goalie must find it difficult when no player makes themselves available ,plus no player of proven fielding ability in midfield. Cluxton himself would be tearing his hair out in that position. In fairness to Andy Mc Entee he has given our known high fielders every chance without success It seems Flanagan's slow recovery from his long term injury hampers his potential as top class highfielding midfielder.
Overall 9 point win flatters Donegal. Meath are on the way back. Cillian o Sullivan needed a good match..he delivered the goods yesterday ..well done Cillian . Seamus Lavin to me was outstanding .Well done Seamus. Can be easy to forget Keoghan just a top class player every time. In years to come we will be talking about him as one of our all time greats
We are still on a steep learning curve as a team and management. Playing at this level is just what the doctor ordered for our stage of development. Our next match will tell us more ,and we can win it with any luck.

nobull456 (Meath) - Posts: 1211 - 15/07/2019 13:04:53    2211326

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Replying To bobkarlgees:  "Yes, Mc Mahon was on fire yesterday. Why was he taken off ? And others left on the pitch to long ?"
Yes Mc Mahon played very well and one of our most improved players this year

nobull456 (Meath) - Posts: 1211 - 15/07/2019 13:14:20    2211330

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i think overall we learnt alot about the team yesterday and hopefully will continue to do so , it's important to remember that they were beaten once in nine years there so it was always going to be difficult We are getting good a creating goal chances and possibly should of had a better return , again we made some basic errors which cost us . Our kick outs need work and Donegal always made the subs when we had our kick out, that said they were much more tactically aware , but they will learn from this and have really come along way since last summer , i think we will beat Mayo next week which could be a classic

meath1987 (Meath) - Posts: 126 - 15/07/2019 13:17:45    2211334

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Replying To bobkarlgees:  "Yes, Mc Mahon was on fire yesterday. Why was he taken off ? And others left on the pitch to long ?"
I suspect management felt he was ran out and were hoping Biggy would come on and kick on. Never really happened but the root cause of our poor finish was our kickouts. I actually noticed towards the end Menton was clearly struggling what looked like a calf problem or cramp. Donegal got a score and when Menton got up, M Murphy picked him up and gave Menton a belt. Murphy is not the angel media make out to be. Believe me! However what was worse was that our keeper proceeded to kick the ball out between their best Murphy and our player Menton who was struggling at the time. This has nothing to do with a strategy!

winatallcost (Meath) - Posts: 507 - 15/07/2019 13:18:51    2211335

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Replying To men_of_49:  "Need some more time to digest today's game and our overall performance but here are some initial thoughts:
1. Great to see a Meath team play with such battle and fight in them. How long this has been lacking in the post-Boylan years. Not going to get into individual performances right now but some of our performances were heroic and very proud of the lads.
2. Kickouts continue to be a massive issue for us. We won our share of breaking ball up to 50 minutes or so which was a positive but a primary kickout strategy seems non existent. Too often I fear our kickouts are a lottery and that's not good enough at this level.
3. I felt that our much maligned forwards collectively upped their game today. We kicked some fine scores and running from deep with support men is developing into a potent weapon for us. As always there is lots of room for improvement and a more calmness on the ball when in scoring positions is required.
4. The experience from today alone should bring this team on massively. We went toe to toe with an all Ireland contender for 60 minutes. The remaining two games and next years league campaign will be a great development for the lads."
I agree with all this.

summerof09 (Meath) - Posts: 315 - 15/07/2019 13:54:02    2211354

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Replying To winatallcost:  "Are you joking? This is intercounty we are talking about. Nearly every club team in Meath has a keeper that can find his man with a kicking. Not sure you attend many matches. Its not a bunch of lads trying to kick a ball off the ground after talking about it the night before in a pub."
Agree with you - that is a crazy comment! Every club keeper kicks the ball off the ground once they get to Under 15! In my club I see teams starting to work with their keepers on kicking from the ground even before they are 15! To me the keepers ability to take kick outs is as important as his ability to 'shot stop'!

ASaminthehand (Meath) - Posts: 422 - 15/07/2019 14:10:29    2211365

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Replying To bobkarlgees:  "Yes, Mc Mahon was on fire yesterday. Why was he taken off ? And others left on the pitch to long ?"
Was McMahon injured? I felt we lost our shape after he came off! He does so much work that goes unnoticed!

ASaminthehand (Meath) - Posts: 422 - 15/07/2019 14:12:07    2211367

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Hard luck on the lads, we were never 9 points the worse team. Having said that Donegal were/are the better team and always thought this was the toughest of the 3 games.

We need a little more composure in front of goal, namely taking the goal chance when on and popping it over when not. Seem to be caught between minds and hence the final pass goes astray.

Really feel we're not far off the top teams, another couple of scoring forwards to clip some over especially when we're on top are needed.

Make no mistake we had them rattled and if Shane takes the goal chance who knows.

For the next 2 games we need 70+ minute performances as we tend to go 10-15 minutes in each game without scoring.

Goal kicks as everyone is stating are key and as a few have already pointed out Donegal were extremely clever making their subs as Andy had found his man on each occasion only to have the ball handed back with them reset and ready for a 50/50.

Before a ball was thrown in in killarney I thought we had a great chance this weekend coming and still think we do.

Finally great to see our backs getting the analysis and plaudits for what we've been seeing from them since the start of the league.

RoyalSteel (Meath) - Posts: 18 - 15/07/2019 14:53:05    2211385

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Replying To ASaminthehand:  "Was McMahon injured? I felt we lost our shape after he came off! He does so much work that goes unnoticed!"
No. I dont think he was injured, Like someone said I think he wanted Reilly on the pitch. I dont think I would have taken Mc Mahon of though. Yes, he dose a lot of unnoticed. He is a fantastic player when he gets going. If we could get him scoring regularly we would be laughing. He tracking back alot had was a defender for long periods.

bobkarlgees (Meath) - Posts: 1263 - 15/07/2019 15:44:37    2211414

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Replying To bobkarlgees:  "No. I dont think he was injured, Like someone said I think he wanted Reilly on the pitch. I dont think I would have taken Mc Mahon of though. Yes, he dose a lot of unnoticed. He is a fantastic player when he gets going. If we could get him scoring regularly we would be laughing. He tracking back alot had was a defender for long periods."
Yes I think Andy would think that was a poor call on his part. McMahon is now a hard worker. No room for any player standing back now. Loyalty can only go so far Again Andy is wiser now and will act accordingly no doubt!

nobull456 (Meath) - Posts: 1211 - 15/07/2019 16:40:30    2211446

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Replying To winatallcost:  "I suspect management felt he was ran out and were hoping Biggy would come on and kick on. Never really happened but the root cause of our poor finish was our kickouts. I actually noticed towards the end Menton was clearly struggling what looked like a calf problem or cramp. Donegal got a score and when Menton got up, M Murphy picked him up and gave Menton a belt. Murphy is not the angel media make out to be. Believe me! However what was worse was that our keeper proceeded to kick the ball out between their best Murphy and our player Menton who was struggling at the time. This has nothing to do with a strategy!"
I don't think the media have ever painted Murphy as a saint ... Just an outstanding footballer and possibly the difference between us and them . Perhaps we have a few too many saints compared to when we were competitive and winning !

noluso (Meath) - Posts: 164 - 15/07/2019 18:45:46    2211518

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Replying To Eri:  "yea agree with alot of the points that have been said.

Firstly: agreed about the fans. Very bad show from Meath fans yesterday. I dont buy the 6 hour round trip cop out, sure we all had to that! I noticed especially that of the fans who were there, generally they were over 30 age group. So few young people coming to support the team in recent years.

Thought our backs played extremely well for the most part. I know the scoreline suggests otherwise but that was a blitz in the last 10 minutes to be fair.

Havent seen it mentioned at all but for me Gallaghers back card was a turning point. We had just got on top, you could feel the pressure around the stadium on Donegal and then he did that, they got a free, he (who I thought had a solid game) was taken off, defence had to shuffle abit, they scored and the momentum changed.

Kick outs, discussed to death, but they were a killer and resulted in at least 3 points for Donegal

I thought near the end, there was a bit of panic in the forward line, going for goal, whilst had they had just focused abit, taken their points ( before the 2nd Donegal goal) they would have been level or close to level again.

I really like Conlon, and hes done well, but I just dont think he should be starting yet. Better impact I think. I reckon give Walsh a crack at it next sunday.

Graham Reilly, used to have alot of time for him, dont anymore, simple. Hes not up for it, he wanders around waiting for the ball to be given, no pace, no will and shouldnt get on for a game like we had yesterday. And for anyone who says sure who else, well my answer is anyone, thats how bad O thought he was."
Well done Eri ...very good summary .... Totally agree re Graham .... Not at r
The races for past few seasons . Time to come up with a better impact dub for next round

noluso (Meath) - Posts: 164 - 15/07/2019 18:53:13    2211527

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Replying To meath1977:  "yes very true where I was with my son not one Meath person around us I was shouting on top of my lungs against all the arrogant Donegal supporters . our Meath supporters who have been on top on their games on Facebook ready to to sick the knife in to this very young and courageous Meath team which has been disgraceful all summer. thank so much to Andy and the Meath team for giving us so much all summer and so much to look forward too over the next few years"
Well said. 100% agree

royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 19449 - 15/07/2019 18:57:56    2211532

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