Sign on Andy mcentee for another 10 years, loved the spirit of that meath team today. The future is bright.

redser123 (Meath) - Posts: 403 - 18/07/2021 18:38:12    2361223

The first time in almost a decade that Dublin fans and players were rattled in the Leinster championship

The crowd were nervy when the gap went to three, but I suppose six all Ireland's in a row teaches ya how to choke a game and close it out.

Still an incredible effort. Pity there's no Qualifiers

RR (Meath) - Posts: 139 - 18/07/2021 19:04:39    2361267

Second quarter of the game was a killer. But I'm delighted that the team came out and fought in the second half instead of accepting defeat. The Dubs genuinely looked rattled at times. McEntee's hard (but perfectly legal) hit on O'Callaghan typified the performance for much of the second half and Costello's goal was brilliantly taken on the back of an excellent run by Keogan. Unfortunately, we left ourselves with way too much to do. But it was nice to see us at least die with our boots on.
That was Dublin's closest game in the province since 2013. But it's still a loss at the end of the day, and we're out of the championship and that'll have to be analyzed. But I think Andy's done enough to warrant another season at the least.

Ratoath Royal (Meath) - Posts: 1362 - 18/07/2021 19:06:45    2361270

Nice to see a bit of fight there today and on a different day Meath could have had 3 goals. It was a positive performance given recent drubbings. There is hope.

TobinsBeard (Meath) - Posts: 125 - 18/07/2021 19:09:10    2361274

nobull456 (Meath) - Posts: 1227 - 18/07/2021 19:17:52    2361282

Absolutely brilliant effort, no Meath fan does moral victories but by jesus we can take heart from that. The difference today was two terrible calls by the ref. Ours being a stonewall penalty and then Fenton who commits that foul goes up the other end and gets given a ridiculously soft pen; I'd like to think Sunday Game will discuss both but I won't hold my breath.

Management got everything spot on today I felt, reacted well in getting Jones on when we did, and when I heard the rumours re Wallace in I was delighted - he comes alive in Croke Park. On management also, for all the fawning over Dublin management in here by some, there was a huge contrast today on the lines - Dessie looked completely at sea and there's not a hope in hell I'd swap him for ours.

Every man out there put in a shift an a half in that heat, all the talk coming out of the camp was they wanted to show they were better than last years effort and they did just that.

Shane Mac nailing Costello felt like a big moment, we bullied Dublin 2nd half like I can't remember anyone else do in a long long time.

When the game was in the balance towards end (granted the water break came at a terrible time for us - a new rule I absolutely hate), a plan B I felt would have been huge - see Tommy Walsh come in to get Kerry a late draw v Dublin in league as example, it goes without saying we don't have that type of player now, our own Walsh being our closest, but we look to be producing them and bodes well for future.

All in all it was great to see us have a proper cut off them - we are moving in the right direction and will have shut up a lot of people talking rubbish in the process.

dunboynelad (Meath) - Posts: 227 - 18/07/2021 19:30:45    2361292

Thought Dublin were there for the taking.

Referee should have awarded Meath a penalty in first half for the rugby tackle on McMahon - they went down and got a penalty of their own. Rest of the half the last were below par.

Credit to McEntee, he rallied them for the second half. Hopefully bigger and better things to come. The lads can hold their head high

Up4deMatch (Meath) - Posts: 20 - 18/07/2021 19:32:46    2361294

dunboynelad (Meath) - Posts: 227 - 18/07/2021 19:56:35    2361317

Thank god for that, a long time since I got that feeling watching them in second half. Stood up, man to man, and won their battles. That game could be a huge moment for the team and Andy

Thejoeshow (Meath) - Posts: 687 - 18/07/2021 20:23:35    2361333

Your never happy after a loss but fair to lads they eventually but in a decent performance that's all I can ask. I said before the I taught we had a chance of winning I was right I was based on nothing but gut feeling. I had many conversations with the bro before hand and he ready to commit me to mad house.We did had a chance to win it was a slim one. We where roughly 15 points behind Dublin before the game ended within 6 with a chance to win thrown in. Massive problem in defence for us to porous to stand offish in first half especially mc Entee seemed get the starting section correct.

bobkarlgees (Meath) - Posts: 1263 - 18/07/2021 20:29:24    2361335

I hope we can play like we did in 2nd half all the time from now on be great to have leinster competitive again in next few years. a lot of people saying how they felt when meath were running at Dublin and they had no answers to us I had that feeling too have not had it for very long time. unfortunately I could not make the game but watched it and felt so proud watching in 2nd half. I have to admit I thought we were in for another hammering at half time but credit to the lads they fought for everything 2nd half. by the way just to say fair play to all the supporters in croke park today really got behind the team I'm sure that played a part in the fight back too just a shame we could not have went on to win hopefully future is bright

thecraw1 (Meath) - Posts: 106 - 18/07/2021 20:46:11    2361352

Thejoeshow (Meath) - Posts: 687 - 18/07/2021 21:48:17    2361396

Very proud of the meath team.Wonderful performance. Something should be done about how gaa officials get away with mistreating them. Referee Conor Lane should be retired. What clown picks the referees.

Also we should have insisted on navan as venue..home advantage worth 5 to 7 points.look how decisions were bottled.even clear penalty.

Ashrules (Dublin) - Posts: 518 - 18/07/2021 21:50:33    2361398

dunboynelad (Meath) - Posts: 227 - 18/07/2021 22:31:22    2361433

As much an improvement as it was. Itll never be a 'wonderful' performance until we beat them.

TobinsBeard (Meath) - Posts: 125 - 18/07/2021 23:07:40    2361452

thelutch (Meath) - Posts: 1049 - 19/07/2021 09:07:19    2361501

Good display overall but tremendous second half display. Too much to clawback in that second period, would have been more manageable had the same criteria been applied to Meath's penalty claim, as to Dublin's in the first half, that is assuming it was converted. Not all together happy with our sideline. I thought Fionn Reilly's withdrawal was a bit premature while at least two others in defence and a midfielder were struggling to a greater degree. Also bringing on Devine, not a noted scorer, deep in the second half was the wrong call. Assuming that Newman was fit, I thought that he was the man to spring as scores were required in the final push for the finishing line. Finally, if Hogan is to be the goalkeeper of the future, why was he not given championship experience against Longford? And please, please develop SOME SORT of kickout strategy.

MillerX (Meath) - Posts: 1066 - 19/07/2021 10:15:15    2361533

redser123 (Meath) - Posts: 403 - 19/07/2021 10:57:50    2361547

I'll take my dose of humble pie and eat it. Well done to everyone involved yesterday. They got a lot of things right on the day but they're not immune from criticism either.

Positives
Meath fighting spirit on display - 11 points down and worked their way back to 3 points. Took an immense effort and everyone to a man put their shoulder to the wheel. Well done and let's see more of this
Meath aggression and physicality - lads hunted in packs during the second half, they smashed Dublin lads with tackles, bordering on illegal but that's what we need to see versus all the top teams. There was a spirit in them that's not been seen for years.
Meath pride - the row that broke out at 65 minutes, our lads got stuck into it. In recent years we've cowered away and let Dublin dominate us physically and almost intimidate us. Those lads finally said no, you're not doing it to us this time, they fronted up and didn't take a step back. More of this please.
Work rate - lads emptied the tank and more. You couldn't ask for much more.
Build up play - they worked scores and avoided getting swallowed up in the tackle. That's the style they need to adopt versus those top teams.

Negatives
Kick Outs - different keeper, same issues. Think after the first water break we lost 6/7 kick outs in a row and that was almost the end of the game for us. We couldn't proverbially keep it kicked out to Dublin. That's not to blame Harry Hogan he was a late inclusion (more on that) and your first championship game in Croke Park v Dublin...
Keeper change - If they planned to start Harry Hogan why not just say it. Colgan hasn't done much wrong tbf to him, so it seems odd they brought in Hogan from nowhere. His goalkeeping can't be faulted but Dublin broke his kick out with ease. He'll need to work on that but what a sight to see a meath keeper kicking long and hitting the opposing 65 a couple of times in a game.
Free taking - Jordan Morris missed a couple of free's that were a killer in the second quarter. One straight in front of the posts was badly needed and was sent wide. We needed that to break Dublins momentum. Can we please get someone working with him on this over the summer or maybe allow Costello take over the free's. Costello's 2 45's along with 1 v Longford looked a lot better, there was a style and technique about him which he seems to have worked on. Fair play to the lad
Lack of subs - why the lack of running the bench? 1 change in the last 10 minutes when several lads were out on their feet. Fresh legs were needed.
Tactical cuteness - we gave dublin the ball for the last 8 or so minutes when we needed to score. We lacked the nous to pull them down or give away a free. Dubin will win a match 0-01 to 0-00 and keep the ball for 70 minutes if needed. You need to not allow them have the ball for minutes at a time. Look at the incident with McCarthy and Thomas O'Reilly, Dublin needed a bit of a stall and they got it.
Slow starts - Our slow starts are killing us against the better teams. We've given Mayo, Kildare and Dublin huge leads this year and clawed them back but never looked like winning. We're giving ourselves too much to do in the second half and teams could keep us at arms length.

Referee
Knew we were goosed from the moment i saw him appear. Meath don't have a great history with Cork referee's Michael Collins i believe was another one in the last 20 years who's screwed us over repeatedly. Look he got our penalty decision wrong. It should've been a penalty and black card for Fenton. Unfortunately those decision's rarely go against Dublin. Their penalty call was correct but Fenton shouldn't have been on the pitch to make that run and foul.

I don't think Dublin were ever in danger of losing yesterday and when needed they hit the accelerator again. They looked like a team with sugar in their engine in the second half and couldn't get out of stall mode until the end.

After the game I still have more questions than answers and have no idea where we stand. Was yesterday a 1 off from us or can we replicate it? I would hope it is the later but with 6 months until our next game it's difficult to say where we are. Why couldn't we perform like we this against Kildare. The performances were like night and day so again I'm not sure what is the real Meath.. And this is the quandry for me, are this team even sure of what they are capable off. When they want they can be a joy to watch but they're so infuriatingly inconsistent that it's hard to know what you'll get on a given day. Ultimately I can't decide if yesterday was the start of something or the last kick in this team.

I'm on record about how i feel about Andy McEntee, that hasn't changed and I'm realistic enough to say my opinion means nothing and he will be in charge for 2022, if he wants to be. If he can work on the 2 area's of kick outs and free taking for 2022 and the team performs like they did yesterday consistently there's no reason they can't get promotion back to division 1 and get to the super 8's but its about maintaining the consistency all through the season that is needed, not intermittent high spots.

I'm still sick to my stomach to have lost that match, losing to Dublin will always have that effect on me.

brian (Meath) - Posts: 1954 - 19/07/2021 11:12:09    2361557

BigJoe14 (Meath) - Posts: 935 - 19/07/2021 11:27:06    2361572