Peter O'Brien Would like to see Dublin Succeed, But definitely not on Sunday They're at it again. For the twelfth time in ten years (including the unforgettable four game saga of 1991) Meath and Dublin are due to lock horns in the Leinster Senior Football Championship. 1995 produces the seventh Leinster final pairing of these two sides in that same space of time. The rivalry between the Royal County and the Metropolitans is greater than great at this stage. Make no mistake about it, this is the most intense rivalry in the modern game. When Sean Boylan's and Pat O'Neill's changes take to the field there is much more than a Leinster Championship at stake, more than pride. There is no room for losers out there. There's no such thing as dignity in defeat because defeat is all-consuming. Defeat is Defeat! In the past two campaigns (1993 Leinster semi-final, 1994 Leinster final), Dublin have inflicted painful one-point defeats on their arch-rivals and this year, more than ever arguably, Meath need to exact revenge. Former Royal County star Peter O'Brien is confident that the Meathmen can do just that! Peter O'Brien hails originally from Carlanstown near Kells in County Meath. He first began to play Gaelic football there in 1950 at Juvenile level under the guidance of Fr Conway, Master Keaveny and Jimmy Curran. The following year he won a Juvenile county Championship medal with Carlanstown and by 1953 he had added to this a county Under 16 Championship. "It was a good start to my career but, even though I played up until 1973 when I turned 36, I never won another Championship medal. Carlanstown had some very good teams, and we could win all the tournament games in the world, but for some reason couldn't find our winning touch in the Championship. We lost two Intermediate finals, one against local rivals Kilmainhamwood, which was a very big disappointment," Peter recalls. Peter O'Brien played at right half forward for Meath's Minors in 1954 and '55. On each occasion the Royal County Under 18s reached the Leinster final, both times they were beaten by (you guessed!) . Dublin. In '54 Dublin won by 2-7 to 0-11, in '55 the final score was 2-11 to 1-4. Peter went on to represent Meath at Junior level in 1955 and '56 and at Senior level from '56 until '58. "I never actually got a Leinster medal at any grade, but was there or thereabouts on a number of occasions. I have great memories, however, of lining out alongside the likes of Tommy Smith from Carnaross, the late Michael Grace from Kells, Benny Hand from Carlanstown and Michael Campbell, also from Kells. At the end of 1959 Peter went to England where he represented Warwickshire for three years. Still Lady Luck refused to smile down on the Meathmen and honours won in England were conspicuous in their absence. Resident in Dublin since 1963, Peter lined out for St Michaels in Carlanstown for ten more years up until 1973. "For most of that time we had a very good team but, whatever was wrong, failed to get it right on the big day," he ruefully reflects. Peter O'Brien & Sons Landscaping, based in Malahide, was set up in 1963. What exactly does the company do? "Our business is very widespread, covering a number of different areas. We do golf courses, football pitches, industrial work, work on housing developments and private work. For example, we built the eighteen hole golf course at Tara and have also developed from scratch a 27 hole course called Corrstown beside St Margaret's," Peter explained. With the company's founder as Managing Director, Peter O'Brien & Sons Landscaping is a family business with sons Ciaran and Dermot and daughter Karen also working there, and now employ's a total of 47 people. "Thankfully things are going very well. There's one man here who deserves a mention, Christy Carlon, a first cousin of mine from Carlanstown who's been here with us from the very start. Another cousin, Sean Carlon from Robertstown has been with me for the guts of ten years now." Meath, with comfortable victories over Offaly, Wexford and Wicklow, have looked untroubled en route to this year's Leinster final. Peter O'Brien has been very impressed. "They're getting back to their old selves and seem to be hungry enough to go all the way this year. Their backs looked a little loose early on in the Championship but were very well balanced against Wicklow. It was a good sign because they kept moving the Wicklow forwards out the field. I'm delighted to see Martin O'Connell still there - he's a great half back and is doing extremely well in the full back line." Peter believes that old war horse, Colm O'Rourke remains an indispensable asset to the Royal County. "Take him off the team and they just wouldn't be the same. He seems to be going stronger than ever. When O'Rourke gets the ball the rest of the Meath forwards can pull the opposition backs all over the place. If Meath don't win the All-Ireland then I'd love to see Dublin do it. I was very sad to see Dublin go down last year. Soccer and a number of other distractions have come and the GAA now need Dublin to win an All-Ireland." The proprietor of Peter O'Brien & Sons Ltd is of the opinion, however, that Meath will prove too strong for Dublin in Sunday's Leinster final. "I think Meath's forwards have the ability and the hunger to score heavily. Last year they seemed haphazard but this year they have the determination to do well. They didn't get the breaks against Dublin last year, but probably didn't work hard enough to get them. The hunger didn't seem to be there. Dublin weren't a better team, they were just hungrier. There'll only be a kick of the ball between them this year but I think Meath have the edge." Who will be Meath's key men on Sunday? "We'll be hoping for big performances from Colm O'Rourke and Graham Geraghty but we have fifteen very capable players. I'm delighted to see Bernard Flynn back in the panel and would love to see him get even five minutes. Tommy Dowd will hopefully carry the forwards, but our backs will have to be alert. They'll have to play the forwards out the field." Peter notes. How big a treat will the much-hyped Jason Sherlock pose to the Meath defence? "He's fast and he's skilful, but he'll have it tough against Meath. I'll be amazed if he gets the same chances against Meath that he's been getting. Colm Coyle, Bob O'Malley or Enda McManus would be more than able for him." Peter is confident that the current Meath team is good enough to go all the way. "I think they will win the All-Ireland this year. The winners of the Dublin/Meath game will be in with a great chance but Tyrone will be a very big threat. There'll be great craic here in the yard in the build-up to the Dublin/Meath game because the workers here are split roughly50/50 between the two counties. The time of the four games in '91 the craic here was just unbelievable. The interest in this year's game seems to be almost as great." Like everybody else from the Royal County, Peter O'Brien will, of course, be hoping for a Meath success on Sunday. "I'd like to take this opportunity to wish the Meath team every success, especially Martin O'Connell and Brain Stafford who would be neighbours of mine if I was still living in Meath." Methinks Sean Boylan's men won't be letting Mr. O'Brien down. Taken from Hogan Stand magazine 28th July, 1995 Tweet

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