Meath Forum

Meath V Roscommon

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Replying To brian:  "RD i think even at this stage you have to accept we're almost back where he took over the team. An unfit rabble of players without any direction or identity. As you always say We are Meath, well the product on the pitch is not Meath football of any time i ever remember. I can't ever remember a time where the most basic skills of the game kicking, catching, passing and hand passing were so bad within a Meath team. You loved to beat up on Mick O'Dowd on the state he left Meath football in, and I don't disagree with you on it. But are we honestly any better at this point in time then when Mick departed, because I'd argue the case we're as bad if not worse than that.

Andy McEntee's position is now unsustainable. No Meath manager that I'm aware of has ever been sent off (i am open to correction) and yesterday a referee had the bottle to actually do it. I applaud Jerome Henry for that. For all six years we've seen Andy hand out ear bashings to referee's, officials and having to be physically held back from all out assaulting them buy his own players. Yesterday was not an isolated incident. Robbie Clarke was black carded and rather than ask the linesman what the card was for it was straight in his ear and hair dryer in overdrive. That on it's own was a yellow card incident, James Mcentee was sent off and guess what happened... he went at officials again, not letting rip at his player who was rightly given a straight red card... no no it was turn a blind eye to my players indiscipline and go at officials.. Do you see any top manager a Jim McGuinness, Jim Gavin, Jack O'Connor, Malachy O'Rourke constantly rip on officials or try and work with them and understand what happened

Default from Andy is always to not look at his own players indiscipline it's always to focus on another incident which wasn't picked up on by the referee's by the opposition. Is that honestly all he can think of. Accept and own the actions of your own players first and foremost. It's embarrassing to listen to his interviews and the deflectionism from him. That most certainly has never been the Meath way.

Now I'm not overlooking the two incidents of what happened Shane in the first half or Cillian at the end but Cillian wasn't innocent either, The roscommon player was out of line but he hardly dragged Cillian down the tunnel for the hell of it. Referee's and officials get things wrong and don't see everything. Hopefully we'll see some retrospective action for it based on the video evidence that will be made available.

Unfortunately i think after yesterday, change has to be made right now. The cord needs to be cut and Andy needs to be put out of his misery. The team on the pitch reflects the manager, its out of idea's and doesn't know what to do. The county board if they haven't been doing this since October or November, now needs to action and look towards new management. The current trajectory we're on will see us in the Tailteann cup this summer, and i'd hazard a guest a lot of lads won't hang around for that, and why should they.

If the county board hasn't already gotten on the phone to Robbie Brennan of Kilmacud and sounded him out about if he'd be interested then they're even bigger idiots than we think. Malachy O'Rourke is available and could be sounded out too. They're at a shot to nothing now for 2022 so bring them in if they're interested. Sitting on their hands now will only push us further off track and might see us lose any and all the progress that is being made at underage."
Colm coyle was sent off. Btw are you saying he deserved the red? Under no way did he. And yea he will be gone AT END OF YEAR.

royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 19449 - 07/02/2022 13:42:35    2398915

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Replying To ratlag:  "I wasn't at the game so can't comment on the sending off but from listening to the radio James McEntees was a fair call but nobody could see what Andy got his for.
Anyone that tries to argue that we haven't improved since Andy took over is either purely looking for a row or hasn't a breeze about football. I do think he has run his course and has brought the lads as far as he can and at the end of the year can pass the mantle on.
First two performances haven't been near good enough from anyones perspective but removing the manager now is worse than trying to oust him in Nov/Dec. We will finish this year out, finishing 3rd/4th in Div 2, possibly make a Leinster Semi or Final depending on the draw and then we will go again next year.

I do feel a bit for Andy and the team, missing McGill and Menton who have been two mainstays in vital positions for the last 6-7 years was a massive blow, add to that Jones, who despite not being as much of a constant would definitely have benefitted us took us from challenging for promotion in the league to what will end of being just staying there.
Some here will argue that Andy should have replacements but the simple fact is, they aren't there. We haven't had a consistent partner for Menton over the last few years not to mind a replacement for when/if hes injured. And McGill (despite a below par year last year) is by far and away the best full back in the county.

Lets just hope all three are back with a game or two left in the league so that they can hit the ground running for championship and hopefully we can end the year on a high and with a bit of pride restored"
This exactly. What happened with the mallee was James Conlon got a dirty hit from a Roscommon player bounced up James mcentee was been shoved about and he reacted wrongly but not without severe provocation. Andy did very little apart from I presume saying to ref what happens to the dirty rossie who hit Conlon. And that seems enough to warrant a sending off. In my opinion mcentee went up in many peoples views rather than down for been sent off. And anyone who says it was right or a embarrassment need to cop themselves pretty sharpish.

royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 19449 - 07/02/2022 13:49:08    2398919

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Replying To sourmilk93:  "If you heard what he was shouting and roaring at the ref and Roscommon players he could have been arrested never mind sent off. You just can not shout those things anymore in this day and age. Pavee Point would be sticking their noses in.
I have watched the footage of the row and see no sign of O'Sullivan getting punched of his head hit against steel barrier??? Where about is this alleged to have happened"
Well since it happened right in front of me I can clearly tell you it did happen.

royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 19449 - 07/02/2022 13:52:15    2398921

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Replying To royaldunne:  "A few things we no better than when he took over ? Yes we are.
Sent off for what ? Meanwhile the Roscommon player who was punching cillian O'Sullivan in the face and banging his head against a steel barrier got nothing.
I'm all for changing management at END OF YEAR. But at least let's talk some common sense here."
RD I have an honest question for you or anyone else that claims we're better under McEntee.

Can you please tell us how were better?


I'd honestly love to know how we are.

Fitness- Extremely debatable, it's regressed alarmingly since 2019 and teams are far fitter than us.

Basic skills - on yesterday's showing we can't do the basics

Tactics - that's laughable

Second half fade outs - been replaced by even slower starts

New players - aren't progressing as they could and should be

brian (Meath) - Posts: 1954 - 07/02/2022 13:55:55    2398925

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Replying To seadog54:  "The same excuses were used last year, wrong time to replace him, who could replace him, in truth current management have set the bar so low anyone could do a job. Select a panel and pick a team, because evidence suggests nothing happens inbetween. The best defence his supporters can come up with is improved fitness, but we are still a way off required standard."
I'm not his supporter anymore but we also got into super 8s, Division 1, Leinster finals players got all star nominations. Andy brought Meath on from previous management teams and to discount that is just malicious and personal vs Andy it's not just fitness he has brought.

He has run his course and can't bring us further as tactically he isn't strong enough to make the next jump and it's regressing quickly now. Agree that a change is needed and wouldn't argue now is the right time but not many options who will take the job now, I am struggling to remember last time any county got rid of a manager mid year?

Thejoeshow (Meath) - Posts: 687 - 07/02/2022 14:00:01    2398930

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Replying To CMAN1570:  "The substitution of ethan devine and leaving on Shane mcentee who for pretty much the whole game as a centre back struggled to lay a hand on a roscommon player only infuriated me as a meath supporter. Surely our centre back position should be doing more then marking space..I think Andy is a great coach but the situation I have stated above leaves him very much open to been attacked."
Sadly that's where we are with this manager.

bobkarlgees (Meath) - Posts: 1263 - 07/02/2022 14:20:54    2398942

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Replying To Thejoeshow:  "I'm not his supporter anymore but we also got into super 8s, Division 1, Leinster finals players got all star nominations. Andy brought Meath on from previous management teams and to discount that is just malicious and personal vs Andy it's not just fitness he has brought.

He has run his course and can't bring us further as tactically he isn't strong enough to make the next jump and it's regressing quickly now. Agree that a change is needed and wouldn't argue now is the right time but not many options who will take the job now, I am struggling to remember last time any county got rid of a manager mid year?"
Joe I think to be fair I'm coming from the same view point as yourself in that we should rightly recognise what Andy did in 2018 and 19 in particular, and maybe i'm wording it not as well as you. Unfortunately that's 3 years ago and it's a case of what have you done for me lately Andy and I fear that once this is all said and done we're going to be right back where he picked us up. None of us within the county want boom and bust cycles, we'd all love to be consistent and sustain that top 8 level of football. We've some great young players coming through in the short to medium term and I fear they will be wasted if things don't change. If any of the newer crop are given the option of tailteann cup or a summer in america, which should they take? As i said this morning, I would hope the county board have maybe sounded out a robbie brennan or Malachy o'Rourke since October and you might be able to rescue something from the season and maybe correct the ship before it hits the rocks.

brian (Meath) - Posts: 1954 - 07/02/2022 14:24:01    2398944

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Replying To royaldunne:  "This exactly. What happened with the mallee was James Conlon got a dirty hit from a Roscommon player bounced up James mcentee was been shoved about and he reacted wrongly but not without severe provocation. Andy did very little apart from I presume saying to ref what happens to the dirty rossie who hit Conlon. And that seems enough to warrant a sending off. In my opinion mcentee went up in many peoples views rather than down for been sent off. And anyone who says it was right or a embarrassment need to cop themselves pretty sharpish."
Harney stood in front of James mcentee and stopped him taking a quick free and he lifted the elbow and hit him a cowardly dig. That's not much of a provocation it happens multiple times every game and most don't react like a thug. It's amazing you were so close you could see something happen to O sullivam that the cameras missed but were that close and couldn't hear the despicable abuse Andy was dishing out. Me thinks your an Andy fan boy who has selective sight and hearing . Must be a tough time for you seeing your idol reduce meath to a worse position than Mick O dowd who you gave dogs abuse too. Let me know if you want this footage I can DM it to you on twitter. You can point out the O sullivan incident

sourmilk93 (Roscommon) - Posts: 1145 - 07/02/2022 14:28:07    2398948

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Replying To bdbuddah:  "Andy came in at a low ebb and at least moved us to have a basically fit team (which compared to teams in the modern era we were way off before). In truth his time at the helm we have had a serious lack of talent player wise (especially forward wise), best forwards available in Andy's time was Newman/ Reilly but Andy's time never really coincided with their peak years. Now, especially after watching first 2 league matches I have the feeling Andy's management has run its course. This year I think Andy we will probably end up keeping us in div 2 (I think will beat Down and Offaly) but after this year a fresh voice will probably be needed. Usually unless things are going seriously well any management team will get very stale after 6 years. Hopefully more talent will be available in future years (hopefully recent minor success can be built on and the next management team can talk us forward."
Its up the the manger to replace players that are not available/retired. Spot talent coach players develop players etc. this is the job of manger. Simply to say Newan and Reilly are top class players that can not be replaced is not the case IMO, and get of jail card for the manager, Newnan is a loss ok, Reilly I am not sure about good one day avg the next, Bar Jordan Morris and Shane Walsh (both that stood out like sore thumbs) Andy has performed well in this area either.

bobkarlgees (Meath) - Posts: 1263 - 07/02/2022 14:31:26    2398950

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Replying To royaldunne:  "This exactly. What happened with the mallee was James Conlon got a dirty hit from a Roscommon player bounced up James mcentee was been shoved about and he reacted wrongly but not without severe provocation. Andy did very little apart from I presume saying to ref what happens to the dirty rossie who hit Conlon. And that seems enough to warrant a sending off. In my opinion mcentee went up in many peoples views rather than down for been sent off. And anyone who says it was right or a embarrassment need to cop themselves pretty sharpish."
RD i can see that last point is directed at me so I'll answer you in kind. You find it acceptable that a Meath manager consistently hurls abuse at officials for six years (yesterday wasn't an isolated one off incident), that he's had to be physically restrained from hitting referee's by his own players an embarrassment. If you don't I honestly can't help you. Claiming he's gone up in people's view really is laughable at best. You just don't want to see past your own tinted colored glasses.

The red card he received was fully warranted. 1) hurled abuse at officials after Robbie Clarke's black card 2) did likewise after James McEntee and was rightly sent off. Any manager worth their salt would be discussing with their player the stupidity of getting themselves but as ever Andy had to have his word and abuse an official.

Its nothing but the same petulance he's shown time after time with people during his tenure and was again on show last week in Galway where he refused to speak to the media. He's created the rod for his own back and it looks the rod's about to snap.

BTW thanks for coming back on the Colm Coyle sending off point. I admit it didn't stick out in my mind and that's why i asked the question.

brian (Meath) - Posts: 1954 - 07/02/2022 14:45:33    2398961

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Replying To royaldunne:  "This exactly. What happened with the mallee was James Conlon got a dirty hit from a Roscommon player bounced up James mcentee was been shoved about and he reacted wrongly but not without severe provocation. Andy did very little apart from I presume saying to ref what happens to the dirty rossie who hit Conlon. And that seems enough to warrant a sending off. In my opinion mcentee went up in many peoples views rather than down for been sent off. And anyone who says it was right or a embarrassment need to cop themselves pretty sharpish."
Give it a rest Royaldunne your making a fool of yourself now. To come out with such a stupid statement like that, In you opinion he went up in peoples views. Thankfully it is only in your opinion because it's nobody else opinion. To see him getting sent off was just embarrassing to all involved. As I stated earlier I didn't see what he did but for the lines man to point him out ahead of anyone else speaks for itself. Enough is enough we are the laughing stock of the country with this carry on. If he can't control his emotions on the line then remove himself from there up into the stand maybe from there he may see what's happening on the field without the sideline distractions.

latouche25 (Meath) - Posts: 520 - 07/02/2022 14:53:18    2398966

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So it turns out the O'Byrne cup form was sadly an indicator of things to come soo early this year. The writing has been on the wall since last year.
I won't add to the witch hunt, having already made my views known, other than stating how utterly embarrassing it is to have a manager flagged again for abusing officials - it's not the Meath way, as had been said before!!
The silence from AMac supporters is notable today, perhaps finally they have opened their eyes.

Tweety (Meath) - Posts: 30 - 07/02/2022 14:53:32    2398967

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It was better than the Galway game for sure but that's a very low bar. The last 10 mins before half time we got destroyed. Our kickouts were getting mauled and there was maybe a lack of experience by Harry Hogan to slow it down, find a short out ball and just take the sting out of it combined with a midfield who couldn't win primary possession. There are a few green shoots. Harry Hogan looks to have improved a lot. And his kickouts are quite good as well as scoring his 2 frees. He has a bad habit of standing still soloing rather than running onto the ball to create the overlap, but that's fixable and aside from that he's been very good the last 2 games. Also worth considering that he was called up from Dundalk under 19 soccer I believe so management deserve credit on that. Harkin and Clarke have done much better than I thought they would have and Harkin in particularly seems to be growing into the corner back jersey. Last positive Jordy Morris has some magic about him. He missed his goal chance but his movement before was really good, he also had a hand in Matt Costello's goal. And he does try some crazy shots but he scored 2 great scores in the 2nd half and offered that spark that aside from him we seem to lack. The negatives are that we don't have an inside forward to put along side him that can win the ball and bring others into it. Our depth really is poor. With Jones, Menton and Jack Flynn out our midfield really is struggling and there are tried and tested guys across all positions on the panel who have proven they aren't up to it. Promotion is all but gone. But when we do have Jones, Menton, Cillian (from the start), Hickey, Walsh and hopefully our 2 best under 20's last year James O'Hare and Jack Flynn to return the team should an awful lot stronger near the end of the league and into the championship

LeitrimRoyal99 (Meath) - Posts: 1463 - 07/02/2022 15:00:53    2398971

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Replying To Thejoeshow:  "I'm not his supporter anymore but we also got into super 8s, Division 1, Leinster finals players got all star nominations. Andy brought Meath on from previous management teams and to discount that is just malicious and personal vs Andy it's not just fitness he has brought.

He has run his course and can't bring us further as tactically he isn't strong enough to make the next jump and it's regressing quickly now. Agree that a change is needed and wouldn't argue now is the right time but not many options who will take the job now, I am struggling to remember last time any county got rid of a manager mid year?"
I have said Since the Vote, that Andy needed to go.
Once so many expressed a lack of faith & confidence in him , it made the whole situation unworkable.
The Whole Panel would then suffer...and if for no one else, Andy should have recognised that at the time. Problem now is, The pressure in that whole set up is now reaching boiling point....and better squads & better set ups have crumbled than the one we have. Only hope is , a win at home , takes the heat down a notch or two, and we are left alone to salvage what we can from this year...yesterdays red card doesn't help...not by a long shot...it means it puts things front & centre on a national level...so You can sense that RTE are all over this "story" ...its critical we get through the season & the dial doesn't get reset to zero in all of this...there has been some progress.....but it is fast getting lost in all of the mess ..get a win , calm things down...stay in division 2 ...and calmly set out a plan for 7-10 years

Thelongwoodslasher (Meath) - Posts: 385 - 07/02/2022 15:31:10    2398983

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Replying To Thejoeshow:  "I'm not his supporter anymore but we also got into super 8s, Division 1, Leinster finals players got all star nominations. Andy brought Meath on from previous management teams and to discount that is just malicious and personal vs Andy it's not just fitness he has brought.

He has run his course and can't bring us further as tactically he isn't strong enough to make the next jump and it's regressing quickly now. Agree that a change is needed and wouldn't argue now is the right time but not many options who will take the job now, I am struggling to remember last time any county got rid of a manager mid year?"
No he hasn't brought Meath on, not even in the slightest. There was a period where things were looking good, but we've regressed now to a place even worse than where Mick O'Dowd left us. Under O'Dowd we were a team who were placing mid division 2, always in with a squeak of promotion, we lost out on promotion because of a head to head tie with Roscommon in his last league campaign. Couple of Leinster Final appearances and a few hammerings from Dublin.

What did we do under McEntee? Basically the same. I do agree there was some genuine hope and improvements made in 2019 on the back of the super 8s and getting to Division 1. But we're a million miles away from that level of form at the minute. And I don't give him any credit for brining on the fitness of the players, that's just the modern day football player, strength and conditioning is completely different to even how it was 10 years ago in a general sense. So you would assume players would have sorted that bit out themselves

But just ask yourself this, did Meath ever win a single big game when it mattered under McEntee? I can't think of one.. We got to Division 1, lost every game bar the draw in the final game. We lost every super 8 game, we lost every big game against Dublin, Kildare beat us in the Division 1 play off last year, we lot narrowly in qualifier games to Tyrone and Donegal. We genuinely lost every single big game.

We got to Leinster finals under O'Dowd, and under previous management we we had poor teams but reached All Ireland semi-finals in 2007, 2009, and the 1/4 final in 2010. We were in the Leinster Final in 2012, 2013, 2014. The only additional thing Andy McEntee did was get us to division 1 and if he managed to keep us there I would say that's genuine progress. But now he's leaving us possible getting relegated to Division 3.

I'm sorry but it shouldn't matter if other teams have gotten rid of managers mid season or not, that's not the point. Other managers aren't being sent off for viscously abusing referees either so he needs to be take a long look at himself. If he had any dignity he'd walk, take the decision out of others hands. Yeah it's a terrible situation we're in, people complained back when the country board tried to vote him out in 2021 that it was too late, well in hindsight they probably should have done. They will probably wait until the end of the season but if they acted now, I'd have no objections.

hyperache (Meath) - Posts: 206 - 07/02/2022 15:36:49    2398985

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Replying To latouche25:  "I see so McEntee had no option but to throw a punch. that is the most ridiculous statement yet. He was fouled and had a free we were totally on top of Roscommon at that point. So because of his lack of self control we were reduced to 14 men and lost the momentum. There's no doubt he's a talented footballer but that edge to his game has to be removed, he has got several red cards for Curraha with the same behavior. It doesn't matter how good you are if your on the bench and the team are a man short. I didn't see what Andy did buy the linesman was pretty adamant about it. The second half display was better that the first but was that because of the wind and Roscommon taking the foot off the pedal I'm not sure. I was happy we have found a good keeper 2 very good frees and not short of confidence. He will only get better and betted as the year progresses."
agree with this James mcentee is a very good footballer but he often seems to get in his own head and make uncharacteristic erros or get a black card/red card, I heard hes studying medicine in cork so i would have sympathy with the effort he has to give.

redser123 (Meath) - Posts: 403 - 07/02/2022 15:39:43    2398989

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Replying To brian:  "Joe I think to be fair I'm coming from the same view point as yourself in that we should rightly recognise what Andy did in 2018 and 19 in particular, and maybe i'm wording it not as well as you. Unfortunately that's 3 years ago and it's a case of what have you done for me lately Andy and I fear that once this is all said and done we're going to be right back where he picked us up. None of us within the county want boom and bust cycles, we'd all love to be consistent and sustain that top 8 level of football. We've some great young players coming through in the short to medium term and I fear they will be wasted if things don't change. If any of the newer crop are given the option of tailteann cup or a summer in america, which should they take? As i said this morning, I would hope the county board have maybe sounded out a robbie brennan or Malachy o'Rourke since October and you might be able to rescue something from the season and maybe correct the ship before it hits the rocks."
That's fair Brian and listen at the moment it's remarkably similar to the end of micko. No issue at all calling it out as end of road for Andy but some on here making it seem like it's been this way for his full tenure is just a bit much for me.

Thejoeshow (Meath) - Posts: 687 - 07/02/2022 15:46:46    2398995

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Replying To brian:  "Joe I think to be fair I'm coming from the same view point as yourself in that we should rightly recognise what Andy did in 2018 and 19 in particular, and maybe i'm wording it not as well as you. Unfortunately that's 3 years ago and it's a case of what have you done for me lately Andy and I fear that once this is all said and done we're going to be right back where he picked us up. None of us within the county want boom and bust cycles, we'd all love to be consistent and sustain that top 8 level of football. We've some great young players coming through in the short to medium term and I fear they will be wasted if things don't change. If any of the newer crop are given the option of tailteann cup or a summer in america, which should they take? As i said this morning, I would hope the county board have maybe sounded out a robbie brennan or Malachy o'Rourke since October and you might be able to rescue something from the season and maybe correct the ship before it hits the rocks."
Malachy O' Rourke
Brennan
McGuinness
Murray (ladies manager)

Any of these 4, as soon as possible.

Crinigan (Meath) - Posts: 1319 - 07/02/2022 15:48:44    2398996

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Replying To Tweety:  "So it turns out the O'Byrne cup form was sadly an indicator of things to come soo early this year. The writing has been on the wall since last year.
I won't add to the witch hunt, having already made my views known, other than stating how utterly embarrassing it is to have a manager flagged again for abusing officials - it's not the Meath way, as had been said before!!
The silence from AMac supporters is notable today, perhaps finally they have opened their eyes."
id reckon that there may be one or two "dyedi n the wool" Andy supporters...and fair play to them...But vast majority on here , are just disappointed .Supporters ..who take no pleasure is seeing what is unfolding . the sooner we get away from Pro ANDY, Anti Andy....Im 100% certain, that he has put his life & soul into trying to further Meath Senior football , and i cant even imagine what that entails ,as im a long time away from inter county....but he deserves respect , from his county men,....and whether we support him or not...the reality is 99% of people on here support him simply because he is the man in charge & the man we put there ....so need to own some of this ourselves

Thelongwoodslasher (Meath) - Posts: 385 - 07/02/2022 16:05:12    2399010

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I presume that the referee's report will make some reference to Mr A McEntee. Is it possible that there may be further sanctions, at a minimum, a player who gets a straight red card misses the next game?

MillerX (Meath) - Posts: 1066 - 07/02/2022 16:18:41    2399020

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