Meath Forum

Meath V Donegal

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I'm proud of these Meath players.

However, at this stage, management are letting the players down with their lack of a kickout strategy. Many of us on this forum have been lamenting our lack of a kick out strategy for the past two years. It's simply unforgivable as it's one of the factors within our sphere of control going into a game. It's so vital. What are we doing in training? Is someone on coaching staff not analyzing our own and opposition kickouts and creating strategies?

Crinigan (Meath) - Posts: 1318 - 14/07/2019 17:17:02    2210818

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We're in a much better place going into next Sunday's game than Mayo and that's for sure.

NuttyMeathMan (Meath) - Posts: 35 - 14/07/2019 17:35:43    2210827

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Replying To Crinigan:  "I'm proud of these Meath players.

However, at this stage, management are letting the players down with their lack of a kickout strategy. Many of us on this forum have been lamenting our lack of a kick out strategy for the past two years. It's simply unforgivable as it's one of the factors within our sphere of control going into a game. It's so vital. What are we doing in training? Is someone on coaching staff not analyzing our own and opposition kickouts and creating strategies?"
I think we have a kickout strategy....i think it's the execution and the delivery of the kickout strategy that is letting us down.

WhyTheLongFace (Meath) - Posts: 876 - 14/07/2019 17:58:35    2210841

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Replying To WhyTheLongFace:  "I think we have a kickout strategy....i think it's the execution and the delivery of the kickout strategy that is letting us down."
Ssh apparently we can't criticise the goalie

BoynesideBlue (Meath) - Posts: 130 - 14/07/2019 18:07:55    2210845

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Replying To Crinigan:  "I'm proud of these Meath players.

However, at this stage, management are letting the players down with their lack of a kickout strategy. Many of us on this forum have been lamenting our lack of a kick out strategy for the past two years. It's simply unforgivable as it's one of the factors within our sphere of control going into a game. It's so vital. What are we doing in training? Is someone on coaching staff not analyzing our own and opposition kickouts and creating strategies?"
Nonsense. Clearly there is a kickout strategy but unfortunately the goalkeeper doesn't seem to have the ability to execute the kickouts that are part of the strategy.

Aloblack (Meath) - Posts: 265 - 14/07/2019 18:10:39    2210849

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Replying To WhyTheLongFace:  "I think we have a kickout strategy....i think it's the execution and the delivery of the kickout strategy that is letting us down."
Pretty much agree with that. Disappointing in end score. It was closer than that. Onwards and upwards.
Hon the royal

royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 19449 - 14/07/2019 18:33:50    2210864

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We did well today. It was a very hot day. Donegal were at home in front of a large crowd; full panel. We went toe-to-toe and traded blows for most of the game. Went from 4 points down to a point up at one stage in the 2nd half. Gallagher took one for the team and did well to not get the red card. O'Sullivan was brilliant; a performance from him not seen this season. Lavin was brilliant. Newman and Conlon did ok but Walsh coming in definitely, 100% made a difference. Keogan was his usual self; simply irreplaceable, a truly great player. I thought the team performed well, they were solid on the ball and create goal chances when they run directly and can find the last pass. However the build-up is too slow, and laborious, and the end-product is not top quality too often. Kick-outs/goalkeeper can be addressed at the end of the season. Devine was good. Campion coming in off the bench contributed as well. All in all, the scoreboard flattered Donegal a bit and a great opportunity for our lovely, supportive neighbours on this forum to have a typical snipe at their neighbours losing, as opposed to their winning (as Ive noticed), but a very solid performance and great to see the spread of players used on the day. The players don't strike me as the kind who do moral victories, but they'll look back on this as a good performance. Onward to Mayo. It just keeps getting better!

Young_gael (Meath) - Posts: 587 - 14/07/2019 18:45:45    2210875

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Replying To Aloblack:  "Nonsense. Clearly there is a kickout strategy but unfortunately the goalkeeper doesn't seem to have the ability to execute the kickouts that are part of the strategy."
Of course the keeper has to take some responsibility, but I do feel a bit sorry for him, I really dont know what the story about a strategy but the sad fact is we dont have a physical presence around the middle and have to work so hard to get even a 30 % of kickouts. I thought other than that, we were really good and such a shame about that lack of a big stong midfielder. Lads wasn't it great that the country saw a competitive meath team - at least for 60min, we are going the right way!! One small point, management need to have a word with young conlon, if he wants to make it , he will need to learn when to recycle and not keep going for ridiculous shots. Really looking forward to next week. P.s. Murphy was brilliant when he was needed today

Footnote (Meath) - Posts: 66 - 14/07/2019 18:59:11    2210888

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Just home . 9 points not a true reflection . However we were beaten by a better and more seasoned team. It's a steep learning curve but I'm concerned we still making the same key errors . In order of magnitude ...
1. Goalkeeper is a massive concern . He is just not at the required level nor will he ever be and it is a poor reflection on Mgt that it is acceptable to concede 3-4 scores per game by either driving the ball across the sideline or straight to the opposition . Not to mention the other 20 Hail Mary efforts The at least 50% come straight back at us . No other county had to absorb this level of incompetence .
2. We continue to take too many balls into the tackle and get turned over . Surely we should be seeing less of this at this stage .
3. Shane McEntee is not an inter county midfielder . However worse still is his over indulgence on slowing down play and either passing the backward or sideways .
On the game itself Lavin was eminence , McGill played very well ,maybe over commutes to the tackle that led up the Donegal goal . Gallagher was also strong and had to take
One for the team late on .
Mention continues to perform to a high level . Upfront we are working hard but have to work very hard for scores .We tend to make the wrong decisions under pressure .
Hopefully next week we can up
Our game a few notches and beat what will be a wounded Mayo team and then welcome Kerry to Navan .
What a day that could be ......

royalpad (Meath) - Posts: 46 - 14/07/2019 19:12:17    2210901

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Seamus lavin was absolute class today, glad he got the praise he deserved on sky, Jamie brennan was arguably player of the year going into today, didnt look it today, roll on mayo next sunday they looked like dead men walking against Kerry today

redser123 (Meath) - Posts: 402 - 14/07/2019 19:12:38    2210902

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I to am proud of the lads too. fair play we stuck with them and where even a point up with 15 minutes to go at home against what I think are All-irleand contenders. A few turning points Mc Brearty clearly pushed was it Gallagher in the back for Donegals first goal it was missed. Also Conlon missed a half a goal chance and the dis allowed goal. So things didn't go our way. pity about 9 points loss but we didn't deserve that much of gap. It will be interesting now against Mayo.

bobkarlgees (Meath) - Posts: 1263 - 14/07/2019 19:24:44    2210908

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Replying To royalpad:  "Just home . 9 points not a true reflection . However we were beaten by a better and more seasoned team. It's a steep learning curve but I'm concerned we still making the same key errors . In order of magnitude ...
1. Goalkeeper is a massive concern . He is just not at the required level nor will he ever be and it is a poor reflection on Mgt that it is acceptable to concede 3-4 scores per game by either driving the ball across the sideline or straight to the opposition . Not to mention the other 20 Hail Mary efforts The at least 50% come straight back at us . No other county had to absorb this level of incompetence .
2. We continue to take too many balls into the tackle and get turned over . Surely we should be seeing less of this at this stage .
3. Shane McEntee is not an inter county midfielder . However worse still is his over indulgence on slowing down play and either passing the backward or sideways .
On the game itself Lavin was eminence , McGill played very well ,maybe over commutes to the tackle that led up the Donegal goal . Gallagher was also strong and had to take
One for the team late on .
Mention continues to perform to a high level . Upfront we are working hard but have to work very hard for scores .We tend to make the wrong decisions under pressure .
Hopefully next week we can up
Our game a few notches and beat what will be a wounded Mayo team and then welcome Kerry to Navan .
What a day that could be ......"
100% agree with you. McEntee is undermining himself somewhat sticking with 50% of that midfield. We surely have better midfielders in Meath. A great trier but not a good enough footballer for super 8 level and we are paying the price.

In fairness McEntee has stuck by his GK in hope he'd come good and fair play for that, lads can improve and prove doubters wrong. But it's time now to give Brennan a go.

We need to unearth a good GK, a top class midfielder and 2/3 top forwards to really compete at top level. Not easily done!! I actually think McGill would be fantastic in midfield along with Menton but that obviously leaves a hole at full back.

Crinigan (Meath) - Posts: 1318 - 14/07/2019 19:29:15    2210915

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Replying To royalpad:  "Just home . 9 points not a true reflection . However we were beaten by a better and more seasoned team. It's a steep learning curve but I'm concerned we still making the same key errors . In order of magnitude ...
1. Goalkeeper is a massive concern . He is just not at the required level nor will he ever be and it is a poor reflection on Mgt that it is acceptable to concede 3-4 scores per game by either driving the ball across the sideline or straight to the opposition . Not to mention the other 20 Hail Mary efforts The at least 50% come straight back at us . No other county had to absorb this level of incompetence .
2. We continue to take too many balls into the tackle and get turned over . Surely we should be seeing less of this at this stage .
3. Shane McEntee is not an inter county midfielder . However worse still is his over indulgence on slowing down play and either passing the backward or sideways .
On the game itself Lavin was eminence , McGill played very well ,maybe over commutes to the tackle that led up the Donegal goal . Gallagher was also strong and had to take
One for the team late on .
Mention continues to perform to a high level . Upfront we are working hard but have to work very hard for scores .We tend to make the wrong decisions under pressure .
Hopefully next week we can up
Our game a few notches and beat what will be a wounded Mayo team and then welcome Kerry to Navan .
What a day that could be ......"
Royalpad, good assessment. The tendency to slow the game is a bit of a killer. When we drove at them at pace in the 3rd quarter, it shows what we are capable off. Kick-out strategy is killing us as well.
After we drew level we had two great chances to tag on scores before we did go in front and I think they were crucial misses. We brought Walsh on and fed him one ball which he claimed well but didn't use him effectively. Donegal keeper was superb. Super handling under the high ball and his ability to find his man either directly or into space from the kickouts. In the last quarter Murphy was superb and showed his immense talent and was the catalyst for the Donegal finish.
From a Meath perspective, we can compete with the top 8 teams. 12 months ago it was looking bleak for us but we have made good progress this year but we do need to speed up our game significantly.

Diego (Meath) - Posts: 1205 - 14/07/2019 19:45:10    2210925

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very proud of this Meath we could have won this game. where are all the Meath supporters very poor show from them, they need to get off Facebook and start supporting our good young team

meath1977 (Meath) - Posts: 534 - 14/07/2019 19:47:01    2210928

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We did very well today. This will drive us on to div 1 football next year. I give us a 50 50 chance against mayo. A couple of things though. We need a keeper who can find a man. We are losing 3-4 scores a game at critical points which drains our confidence. Keegan is a shoe in for an all star. Absolute class.
Is mickey burke or Chris lynch retired. Never get a run and looked good in the league. Burke is our player of the year.

Foley91 (Meath) - Posts: 418 - 14/07/2019 20:13:39    2210951

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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.

men_of_49 (Meath) - Posts: 1988 - 14/07/2019 20:34:52    2210966

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Replying To Footnote:  "Of course the keeper has to take some responsibility, but I do feel a bit sorry for him, I really dont know what the story about a strategy but the sad fact is we dont have a physical presence around the middle and have to work so hard to get even a 30 % of kickouts. I thought other than that, we were really good and such a shame about that lack of a big stong midfielder. Lads wasn't it great that the country saw a competitive meath team - at least for 60min, we are going the right way!! One small point, management need to have a word with young conlon, if he wants to make it , he will need to learn when to recycle and not keep going for ridiculous shots. Really looking forward to next week. P.s. Murphy was brilliant when he was needed today"
Couldn't agree more with all of this. There is a strategy you can see what the keeper his trying to do but too often he doesn't find his target and goes to an opponent or straight over the sideline. That being said when the time comes for him to go down the middle to our midfielders we don't have any strong fielders of the ball so we're always gonna struggle. I don't know what the answer is. We're probably right in trying to pick men out on the wings or go short due to the lack of good high fielders we have but we are keeper who can execute the plan better. Also complete agree re conlon. Really excited by his potential and some of the stuff he did today but still has plenty to learn

Aloblack (Meath) - Posts: 265 - 14/07/2019 20:50:41    2210981

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This is why it was nonsense to suggest we got to the super 8's a year too early. The panel would have been devastated if they lost to Clare. Instead they go into the lions den and leave there thinking they could match donegal next year if they apply some realistic improvements.

Next up Mayo in Croker and they really should be running them close. Donegal probably the 3rd best team atm and Mayo the 6th. Great prep for Div 1 next year.

Kerry i would genuinely fear but 3 things id consider. We are at home and they will be away. They are unlikely to play so good or be as pumped as they were for Mayo. And lastly they could already be qualified and rest some players. The way the draw fell is perfect for Meath and I'm hoping meath can blow this group open next Sunday.

Jack_Goff (Meath) - Posts: 2920 - 14/07/2019 21:15:17    2211011

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Whilst Meath played bravely throughout the game today we have to face reality. When push comes to shove the team cannot drive on. I have no negative remarks on the players I think they all upped their game and gave a good account of themselves individually.

Unfortunately, this game had all the hallmarks of Donegal 2017 and Tyrone 2018 but instead of a 1 point defeat with a moral victory to end the season, it was a 9 point defeat which occurred in a 12 minute spell at the end of the game.

There is little merit in saying how proud we are of the team when in fact that game was there for the taking. We dragged ourselves back from 5 down to go in front but after 60 mins we had an implosion conceding 1-6/1-7 in 12 minutes. That is simply unacceptable. This also cannot be ignored as Clare could have done similar last week if they had some quality.

We need to address midfield/kickouts/goalkeeper and have forwards shoot when in sight of goals. It will not be done for Super 8s but has to be sorted out this winter.

On to Mayo in Croke Park next Sunday. I'm looking forward to the remaining 2 games but I can only see the same sort of result.

Royalio11 (Meath) - Posts: 757 - 14/07/2019 21:18:14    2211016

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Replying To Aloblack:  "Nonsense. Clearly there is a kickout strategy but unfortunately the goalkeeper doesn't seem to have the ability to execute the kickouts that are part of the strategy."
More nonsense, kickouts are causing a problem, you say there is a strategy but it's not working, whatever you do don't blame management, more say don't blame the kicker, ah for fe** sake maybe we should blame the boots he is wearing or maybe even the socks or the tee. For kickouts to be effective we have to involve at least two elements, ie the kicker and the receiver. I should mention that other teams also involve decoy runners and thereby keep the opposition guessing but not us which is a real pity as the team is developing very well. If we had an effective kickout strategy it could contribute 5 or 6 points per match and at the same time deny our opponents the same amount. Now that would have made a big difference today and any day.

It's the next step in the evolution of this team.

MillerX (Meath) - Posts: 1063 - 14/07/2019 21:34:11    2211030

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