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I think this game will come down to two areas.
If Meath show the same intensity as kildare, two areas will decide the match. I expect to see kildares best performance of the league on Sunday. So Meath need a performance similar to Donegal and Armagh games.
The two areas r.
In the two games in 2017 there was three areas kildare won the match. Meath have improved in these 3 areas but there is still concerns on the Meath side.
1 Kildare had huge sucess in full forward line , huge sucess in their half forward line and Feehily dominated Midfield.
2 The Meath half back line was tore to pieces in 2017 in both games. Niall kelly was brillant in first game. He is missing , this is a loss for kildare. Meath are stronger with Keoghan at centre back. If Meath had J McEntee Keoghan Kane half back line that wud be Meath best half back line in years. But J McEntee is injurey. And kane while brillant v Donegal was poor v Armagh and lost his place v Cork. Kane is best club wing back in the county for years , he wud be my number 1 wing back in every game. But we cud see Mcoy Keoghan Ryan half back line. Its not as attacking as J McEntee Keoghan Kane but it is stronger half back line then we had in 2017. So Meath sud be stronger in this area. But the loss of J McEntee could be pivotal. He has been man of the match contender in 7 of his last 8 Meath games. Not since Martin O Connell have Meath had a wing back perfoming to such a level. His loss could be the difference in kildare winning. For he is brilliant at breaking first line of defence. All the top teams have top class half backs eg Mccarthy Sullivan Boyle T O Se. All the top teams have top class attacking wing backs eg keegan Harte McCaffrey. For me J McEntee Keoghan Kane are best Meath half back in a while and r division 1 half back line.
2 But the two areas that will decide the match are
a Kildare full forward line v Meath full.back line
b Kevin Feehily v Meath midfield
If Meath full back line gets on top of kildare full forward line and if Meath break even at midfield or even win midfield Meath will.win.
If kildare full forward line get on top of Meath full back line and Feehily wins Midfield kildare will win. If Feehily dominates midfield kildare could hammer us like they did in 2017.
In both games in 2017 the kildare full forward line got the better of Mesth full back line. And in both games Feehily was outstanding at midfield. Dan Flynn was also excellent in both games. He is a big loss for kildare.
(In both game kildare set out and blew Meath out of the game in first 20 mins in both games in 2017. It is so important Meath start well. For I expect kildare to try and do the same thing on Sunday. )
But Hyland McCormack N Flynn is still top class forward line. A division 1 forward line v Meaths division 1 full back line. In their last game Hyland McCormack and N Flynn scored 7 pointe from play. That is top class. Meath full forward line scored 2 points from play v Cork. Every game Meath play kildare in next 4 or 5 years Meath will need to have a plan to stop Hyland McCormack N Flynn and Dan Flynn. That is the best kildare full forward line of last 40 years. Meath always had better inside forwards then kildare or even Dublin. While Meath have good forwards and there is some real good ones coming down the line. Currently Dublin and kildare have better forwards. Hyland is the best forward talent kildare have produced since Larry Tompkins. He looks top class. McCormack is also a quality inside forward. And Neil Flynn is Johnny Doyle natural heir from the frees and can also score from open play. As I said that is a div 1 full forward line kildare have.
But for me Meath full back line is the best one I have seen in years. There is some teams in div 1 that wouldnt have as good a full back line as Meath. Seamus Lavin has turned into a quality effective man marker. Since Mark Reilly retired Niall McKeigue was Meaths best man marker. Lavin is an even better man marker then Mckeigue. He was Meaths best players in last years Byrne cup and early stage of league. The whole team nosedived in the middle of league. He finished league strongly. He kept all.best forwards in Meaths scorelss in Duboynes club title winning run eg Sheridan Mckeever and Dardis. And was also excellent v Paul Mannion in leinster club championship. Again in Byrne cup and league this year he has been excellent and being man of the match contender on numerous occasions and was man of the match v Cork last day. Meath have always had top class corner backs eg Mick O Brien Peter Darby Robbie O Malley Mark O Reilly. Lavin is carrying on that tradition.
Very few have seen Conor McGill on national stage for Meaths only games on national tv have been bad loses to Dublin in 2014 and 2015 and Westmeath in 2015. So most GAA supporters wouldnt know that Donal keoghan is a top class defender who walk onto Meath teams of 80s and 90s and any team in the country. And GAA supporters wouldnt know Conor McGill is one best and most consistent full backs in the country. He is no Darren Fay. But then no one is. But there is a serious lack of good full backs in the country. McGill is a quality inter county full back.
Ronan Ryan is a young defender from Summerhill who has been brilliant since start of the season..A real tigerish corner back. He played wing back v Cork very well. If he does play wing back. Shane Gallagher will play corner back. Gallagher was excellent v Cork and Tyrone last year. He has been best man marker in Meath club football for last 3 to 4 years.
This means that with lavin McGill Gallagher or lavin McGill Ryan full back line , this means for me we have best full back line we have had in years..So the battle between the kildare full forward line and Meath full back line will decide this match. Of course if Kildare dominate midfield and quality ball keeps coming into quality forwards like Hyland McCormack N Flynn, it doesnt matter how good ur full back line is u r in big trouble.
So midfield will really decide this game. I see Kevin Feehily was brillant v Clare. Kildare won. Feehily is kildares main man. In both games in 2017 he was outstanding. This wud be a concern for Sunday. Feehily is one best midfielders in the country..For me he is the most talented kildare midfielder since Niall Buckley. Buckley always played well v Meath. Feehily always plays well v Meath. Meath have lost quality midfielders like Conor Gillespie Conor Nash Shane O Rourke Harry Rooney and Ronan Jones in last few years. This has meant we have had two wing backs at midfield all this league campaign. It has worked for Menton is playing really well and Shane McEntee has been excellent in every game.
Together they give Meath a hardworking Atletic mobile modern midfield. And in all games they have won midfield battle. Tyrone in mid 00s with Cavangh and Hughes showed u can be sucessful with a mobile midfield with kickout strategy and breaking ball strategy. Dublin in this decade with Macauley and Bastick and Cluxton showed u cud be sucessful with mobile midfield and kickout strategy. Meath usually have had two big guys at centre field. This year its more mobile hard working midfield who has a kickout strategy tackling strategy and breaking ball strategy. All areas Meath have improved since 2017. But someone like Flanagan might be needed to come from the bench to couteract Feehily. Flanagan wud be a more traditional midfielder. Thats my worry how will Menton and S McEntee do v top class traditional midfielder. Midfield always decides games. It will be no different on Sunday.
But if S McEntee doesnt start and Flanagan is not playing well our options are very thin. The only other player to play midfield wud be Ethan Devine who is more half forward and have never played a second for Meath at midfield. If Menton and S McEntee were to play and play real well. There is issues here. But It wud be a real good sign that these two players can be effective as a midfield partnership at consistent standard at inter county level. They have been good so far. But Sunday will be true test of how good they are as they come up against the best midfielder in the division.
It should be a good game. And possibly the game of the weekend. Whoever wins will have bragging right in leinster best rivalry but more importantly whoever wins has a great chance of promotion. For the sake of leinster football if both counties were promoted this wud be a good thing. U have to go back 15 years or for when u had 3 leinster teams in division 1.
Furlong1949 (Meath) - Posts: 1067 - 01/03/2019 03:07:28
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In the following I am assuming that mcentee O'Sullivan and Brennan will be missing.
1, colgan
2.lavin
3, McGill
,4 Ryan
5, McCoy
6, keoghan
7, Gallagher
8, menton
9, s mcentee
10, Devine
11 Reilly
12 campion
13, McMahon
14, Newman
15, O'Reilly
Subs to be used ,Kane, dardis , lynch Conlon burke Curran.
Things change if either O'Sullivan or Brennan are available, and also in the unlikely event that J mcentee can make a appearance.
royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 19449 - 01/03/2019 09:28:43
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Replying To cuttothebone: "I can understand Kildare posters lack of confidence because of our patchy performances so far but i really think we should be beating Meath, if not its a big step back in our progress. Meath are better than 2017 but so should we be.
No excuses if we are turned over, Fermanagh game can be put down to a "one off, bad day at the office" who knows what sort of training or when our team are timing to peak so one bad performance can be excused but that's it, the other games were just ok but were good battling performances all the same.
How many Meath players would make Kildare team? Menton, Keoghan and McEntee no doubt would start, McGill, Lavin maybe.. o'Sullivan Reilly and Newman would be an addition to the panel only, the rest? Not so sure.. Their keeper is poor, ff line is just ok, 2 quality players in midfield for sure but neither are midfielders and they don't have any depth after first 16/17.
K Flynn and P Cribben in particular are a big loss for us but we have the best u20 panel in the country filling any gaps so once we keep the discipline, respect their key players, learn from each game so far we should get out of dodge with similar scoreline to Clare game and 2 pts.. No excuses for us here i'm afraid, lose and something is very wrong indeed imho." I find your arguement really flawed. I understand why u r saying this. I think u r thinking of two games in 2017 as reference points. But its not a great one. For example
1 Meath will have 10 changes to the first 15 on Sunday to that Meath team that played Kildare in 2017. The Meath Players who played v kildare in 2017 who are not on even on the Meath panel this year are Brian Sheridan Willie Carry Paddy O Rourke Cian O Brien Ronan Jones Brian Power Alan Forde Jack Hannigan Ruari Coilean James Toher Donnacha Toibin Alan Douglas Eamon Wallace Conor Downey Brian Conlon David McQuillan. All those players played for Meath v kildare in 2017. None of them are on the Meath panel this year.
2 Even there is changes to Meath team since last year. 7 of the players who started v Cork last week did not play any part of the championship game for Meath v Tyrone last year.
3 When you say that Meath players wouldnt get on the kildare team. How can u say that when u havent seen them play. I doubt u attended any of Meaths league games last year. Only 1 Meath match was televised last year that was Tyrone on sky. And I doubt u have seen any Meath league matchs this year. So how can u say how good Ronan Ryan Shane Gallagher Niall Kane Gavin Mcoy Ethan Devine Ben Brennan Daragh Campion Thomas O Reilly James Conlon are when u havent seen them play. Also Meath players have improved in last 6 months. Again u woulsnt have seen improvement in Lavin McGill James and Shane McEntee in last 6 to 9 months. Keoghan played v kildare at corner back in both games in 2017 and in games on TV v Dublin 2014 and 2015. Again u wouldnt have seen Keoghan play in his best position of half back line. Newman has returned. And has bulked up and is playing better then he has in 7 years.
This year in games u haven't seen Meaths defence full back half back line and midfield have improved. Meaths tackling has improved and Meaths attack has improved. Meath overall play had improved. Again u wouldnt have seen these games for full 70 mins. Meath are still not finished article. And yes kildare are ahead of Meath..But we not talking about top div 1/ top 3 or 4 team playing a div 4 team.. Kildare and Meath are at the same level. But are top div 2 team fighting for promotion. Kildare are ahead after winning promotion and reaching super 8. Kildare are somewhere between 8 to 10 in country ranking. Just outside top 8. Meath are somwhere from 10 to 12 13 or 14. Again trying like kildare to break into top 8. Both have problems beating Ulster teams. kildare were knocked out of championship 8 times in last 15 years by Ulster teams Meath were knocked out of the championship 7 times in last 15 years by Ulster teams. But have bad loses eg Carlow and longford last year. Both have had bad defeats to Dublin. Both have played well v division 1 team in last two year. Kildare v Mayo Tyrone Monaghan and Galway. Meath v Tyrone Galway Donegal and Roscommon. Both are young teams with good talent coming thru. Kildare are ahead of Meath. But not by a massive gap.
The fact is if the game is close on Sunday and kildare win by point or 2 it is a sign Meath has improved.
The same if Meath win on Sunday is a sign Meath have improved not a sign that something wrong with kildare. Just that better team won on the day. Both counties are going in right direction. Ideally for both counties promotion to div 1 would be a great boost for both counties and for leinster football in general.
Furlong1949 (Meath) - Posts: 1067 - 01/03/2019 09:42:32
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Replying To Furlong1949: "I find your arguement really flawed. I understand why u r saying this. I think u r thinking of two games in 2017 as reference points. But its not a great one. For example
1 Meath will have 10 changes to the first 15 on Sunday to that Meath team that played Kildare in 2017. The Meath Players who played v kildare in 2017 who are not on even on the Meath panel this year are Brian Sheridan Willie Carry Paddy O Rourke Cian O Brien Ronan Jones Brian Power Alan Forde Jack Hannigan Ruari Coilean James Toher Donnacha Toibin Alan Douglas Eamon Wallace Conor Downey Brian Conlon David McQuillan. All those players played for Meath v kildare in 2017. None of them are on the Meath panel this year.
2 Even there is changes to Meath team since last year. 7 of the players who started v Cork last week did not play any part of the championship game for Meath v Tyrone last year.
3 When you say that Meath players wouldnt get on the kildare team. How can u say that when u havent seen them play. I doubt u attended any of Meaths league games last year. Only 1 Meath match was televised last year that was Tyrone on sky. And I doubt u have seen any Meath league matchs this year. So how can u say how good Ronan Ryan Shane Gallagher Niall Kane Gavin Mcoy Ethan Devine Ben Brennan Daragh Campion Thomas O Reilly James Conlon are when u havent seen them play. Also Meath players have improved in last 6 months. Again u woulsnt have seen improvement in Lavin McGill James and Shane McEntee in last 6 to 9 months. Keoghan played v kildare at corner back in both games in 2017 and in games on TV v Dublin 2014 and 2015. Again u wouldnt have seen Keoghan play in his best position of half back line. Newman has returned. And has bulked up and is playing better then he has in 7 years.
This year in games u haven't seen Meaths defence full back half back line and midfield have improved. Meaths tackling has improved and Meaths attack has improved. Meath overall play had improved. Again u wouldnt have seen these games for full 70 mins. Meath are still not finished article. And yes kildare are ahead of Meath..But we not talking about top div 1/ top 3 or 4 team playing a div 4 team.. Kildare and Meath are at the same level. But are top div 2 team fighting for promotion. Kildare are ahead after winning promotion and reaching super 8. Kildare are somewhere between 8 to 10 in country ranking. Just outside top 8. Meath are somwhere from 10 to 12 13 or 14. Again trying like kildare to break into top 8. Both have problems beating Ulster teams. kildare were knocked out of championship 8 times in last 15 years by Ulster teams Meath were knocked out of the championship 7 times in last 15 years by Ulster teams. But have bad loses eg Carlow and longford last year. Both have had bad defeats to Dublin. Both have played well v division 1 team in last two year. Kildare v Mayo Tyrone Monaghan and Galway. Meath v Tyrone Galway Donegal and Roscommon. Both are young teams with good talent coming thru. Kildare are ahead of Meath. But not by a massive gap.
The fact is if the game is close on Sunday and kildare win by point or 2 it is a sign Meath has improved.
The same if Meath win on Sunday is a sign Meath have improved not a sign that something wrong with kildare. Just that better team won on the day. Both counties are going in right direction. Ideally for both counties promotion to div 1 would be a great boost for both counties and for leinster football in general." Again complete sense
royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 19449 - 01/03/2019 10:09:35
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While I haven't seen Meath playing in the league I have read their match reports and by all accounts Meath's defence has improved as a unit and the midfielders are playing well. Plus Newman is a potent threat in the forwards. He has played well in three of Meath's four games to date.
Going g on our respective league performances to date, plus home advantage I think the game will be a lot closer than the two games in 2017.
lilywhite1 (Kildare) - Posts: 2989 - 01/03/2019 15:43:46
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Replying To cuttothebone: "I can understand Kildare posters lack of confidence because of our patchy performances so far but i really think we should be beating Meath, if not its a big step back in our progress. Meath are better than 2017 but so should we be.
No excuses if we are turned over, Fermanagh game can be put down to a "one off, bad day at the office" who knows what sort of training or when our team are timing to peak so one bad performance can be excused but that's it, the other games were just ok but were good battling performances all the same.
How many Meath players would make Kildare team? Menton, Keoghan and McEntee no doubt would start, McGill, Lavin maybe.. o'Sullivan Reilly and Newman would be an addition to the panel only, the rest? Not so sure.. Their keeper is poor, ff line is just ok, 2 quality players in midfield for sure but neither are midfielders and they don't have any depth after first 16/17.
K Flynn and P Cribben in particular are a big loss for us but we have the best u20 panel in the country filling any gaps so once we keep the discipline, respect their key players, learn from each game so far we should get out of dodge with similar scoreline to Clare game and 2 pts.. No excuses for us here i'm afraid, lose and something is very wrong indeed imho." I think this is a fair enough post.
While Meath are progressing well and likes of Campion, Devine and Lavin etc are playing great stuff, the Kildare team probably has players who have proven themselves more (be that at senior level in giving Meath a hammering or winning with the u20s).
But from a Meath perspective, hopefully these young Meath lads go on to prove themselves on Sunday and in the years to come. I'm quietly optimistic and we've some very talented forwards and midfielders coming up through the minor ranks in recent years who will should be involved over the next couple of years to add to whats already there.
Crinigan (Meath) - Posts: 1318 - 01/03/2019 16:35:22
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Replying To lilywhite1: "While I haven't seen Meath playing in the league I have read their match reports and by all accounts Meath's defence has improved as a unit and the midfielders are playing well. Plus Newman is a potent threat in the forwards. He has played well in three of Meath's four games to date.
Going g on our respective league performances to date, plus home advantage I think the game will be a lot closer than the two games in 2017." I'd say it will be a kick of the ball either way, The bookies have it as a 1 point victory for Meath. I'd take a draw and keep us in contention.
royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 19449 - 01/03/2019 17:00:21
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Replying To royaldunne: "I'd say it will be a kick of the ball either way, The bookies have it as a 1 point victory for Meath. I'd take a draw and keep us in contention." Unfortunately the weather forecast promises heavy showers for Sunday.
lilywhite1 (Kildare) - Posts: 2989 - 01/03/2019 18:24:53
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Replying To lilywhite1: "Unfortunately the weather forecast promises heavy showers for Sunday." That's very good news for Meath, they won't get caught out with the heat during their warm up this time round so...
if_in_doubt (Kildare) - Posts: 3685 - 01/03/2019 18:58:59
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Replying To lilywhite1: "Unfortunately the weather forecast promises heavy showers for Sunday." Pity that. The weather hopefully won't play a part in outcome
royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 19449 - 01/03/2019 19:43:58
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Replying To if_in_doubt: "That's very good news for Meath, they won't get caught out with the heat during their warm up this time round so..." Once they don't bring out big orange foam to bounce off I'm happy.
royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 19449 - 01/03/2019 19:45:06
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To my mind a draw would be a great result for both counties, keeping both in the promotion hunt. It would be great for Leinster football if both counties could get to Div 1 next year.
kildare73 (Kildare) - Posts: 854 - 01/03/2019 23:41:38
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Replying To kildare73: "To my mind a draw would be a great result for both counties, keeping both in the promotion hunt. It would be great for Leinster football if both counties could get to Div 1 next year." Nothing will be decided on Sunday, but would take a draw, as you say would be good to see both in Div one
seadog54 (Meath) - Posts: 2141 - 02/03/2019 00:13:05
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Replying To kildare73: "To my mind a draw would be a great result for both counties, keeping both in the promotion hunt. It would be great for Leinster football if both counties could get to Div 1 next year." Indeed it would be.
Same team named as last week. However I think there will be changes.
royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 19449 - 02/03/2019 06:50:29
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Looking forward to this, hoping both make it to Div 1 next year.
TheUsername (Dublin) - Posts: 4445 - 02/03/2019 09:45:09
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I woke up this morning with a pep in my step for the weekend ahead. And no the missus played no role in that! By the looks of it the rain will be pouring in Navan tomorrow so I'll be selling flasks of Bushmills in my usual spot
JohnJoeRoyal (Meath) - Posts: 56 - 02/03/2019 10:25:38
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For a change all the hype seems to be around Meath. Not much coming from the Kildare camp so hopefully they're focussed for sunday. Can't seeing it being a draw, whoever gets the upperhand will drive on and win by at least 3.
Hear Paul Cribbin might be on the bench but can't see him making a major impact with no game so far.
St.Conleth (Kildare) - Posts: 1700 - 02/03/2019 15:09:42
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Certainly no hype from Meath players or management, they extremely focused, yeah some supporters (myself included) have a pep in our step, and we will pack out navan tomorrow, and will be very loud, but the team despite injuries etc will be fully focused, we will play our own game, it's up to Kildare to stop us, if they do then fair play, we dust ourselves down and move on to ennis, either way that's what we do, we move forward, talk of revenge for 17 is nonsense, this is one game , yes a very important game, but it won't define Meath this year, the game that will all going well will be v Fermanagh in navan. Hopefully by then we all ready promoted.
Hon the royal
royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 19449 - 02/03/2019 15:45:23
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Really looking forward to this game. Hopefully the weather won't be as bad as predicted.
Donegal back on track and Cork get their first win tonight.
lilywhite1 (Kildare) - Posts: 2989 - 02/03/2019 22:10:36
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Replying To lilywhite1: "Really looking forward to this game. Hopefully the weather won't be as bad as predicted.
Donegal back on track and Cork get their first win tonight." Things getting tight. It will go down to the wire. Can't wait for tomorrow, hopefully weather holds ok.
royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 19449 - 02/03/2019 22:31:56
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