Good display in the 2nd half yesterday and a win is the main thing, Thought the halfback line was a bit shaky would prefer to see Hickey in the corner and Jack O'Connor at wing back who had a good impact yesterday scoring a point. Adam O'Neill was impressive also when introduced at the half. Would think Jack Flynn slots into the middle when fit and McGowan to move to 11 possibly.

RoyalGael14 (Meath) - Posts: 2 - 30/01/2023 12:05:10    2455237

nobull456 (Meath) - Posts: 1266 - 30/01/2023 12:49:14    2455247

Hmm…if going by this forum for yesterdays match coverage, a stranger would be forgiven for thinking that Meath were scintillating! Important to distinguish between a good start to the league campaign, and a reasonably good performance on the pitch. Blueprint it positive but the execution is far from perfect, which is exactly what should be expected in the 1st league game as the team find their feet. Bigger games to come, but equally confident that better performances will follow. I think the acid test will actually be how our kicking game can break a blanket defence like Derry! We've struggled against northern teams for too long.

GenderNeutral (Meath) - Posts: 114 - 30/01/2023 13:20:23    2455263

latouche25 (Meath) - Posts: 532 - 30/01/2023 13:28:00    2455266

seadog54 (Meath) - Posts: 2195 - 30/01/2023 14:03:36    2455280

I haven't watched the game back since but when I look at midfield, I thought Jones and McGowan broke even. They didn't win primary possession all that often but they worked harder, made supporting runs, tracked runners and tackled (not perfectly) a lot of which Corks midfield didn't do.

UsernameInvalid (Meath) - Posts: 403 - 30/01/2023 15:31:19    2455308

So we actually looked like we had a dangerous ff line yesterday for the first time in a long time, and some suggestions on here are to move Walsh and Morris further out the field ? ......... mind boggling

southmeathgael (Meath) - Posts: 937 - 30/01/2023 15:31:36    2455309

Can I just ask those who are way better informed than me (so that's pretty much everybody), from the players we have at our disposal, what is the best midfield pairing available to us? It seems to have been a problem position for years. Really thought the likes of Harry Rooney back in the day would have been a long-term answer but that never materialised. We really miss Menton even though he's probably not a natural midfielder either.

GlasgowRoyal (Meath) - Posts: 293 - 30/01/2023 15:54:00    2455312

What a diffence a positive manager makes after 2 years of self exile it was great to travel to Cork yesterday knowing the manager was going to encourage the lads to play football .
It wasn't perfect and it's not going to be perfect over night but yesterday was a step in the right direction.
Kickoutds still a problem just a little slow but still better than before .
People are saying our midfield struggle but their two lads were as big a midfield pairing that I've ever seen When we needed our midfield in the second half they done really well they got stuck in when it really mattered .
Walsh was outstanding yesterday he was always an outstanding player but hard to shine when you are playing negative football .
Costello had a super second half and O'connor when he came on played excellent , met his dad in a pub in Cork after the game he was beaming and rightly so .
Our defence done well especially for a relatively new bunch just have to cut out some of the silly frees but in saying that I thought the ref was whistle happy .
It was great to see OSullivan play well he wasn't carrying the ball into the tackle as often as before another positive for the new management.
Onwards and upwards it's going to take time but I'm more hopeful than I was for the last few years.
looking forward to next Sunday in Navan already another big game it won't be easy but I'd like to think we will be enjoying a pint or two in Ryan's after the game .

mmc (Meath) - Posts: 280 - 30/01/2023 17:23:50    2455352

latouche25 (Meath) - Posts: 532 - 30/01/2023 17:36:24    2455357

It was a good result in cork, but I think some posters are getting a little carried away, cork are an enigma, never show to much form in the league but well capable of making all Ireland quarter final or semis, their fullback line were a bit naive yesterday, anyway we have Dublin, Derry and Kildare, these teams will be more competitive , need to win one of these games, Clare won't rollover as easy but should win at home , Louth would love to put one over on us, they never let 2010 go a win here is a must, limerick should be a banker, a lot of football to be played yet ,I'm not being negative but one swallow doesn't make a summer, stay positive and realistic

royler (Meath) - Posts: 278 - 30/01/2023 18:14:04    2455366

I give up sometimes. People harping back to previous manager. Honestly I think if we had lost yesterday some on here would have found a way to blame mcentee :). And then when we finally have a ff line click (first time in years) we have others calling for them to be moved. For me if players are still injured we start with 13 of same team as yesterday. The 2 unlucky players to miss out would be o"hare and campion.

royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 19449 - 30/01/2023 18:54:29    2455392

southmeathgael (Meath) - Posts: 937 - 30/01/2023 19:13:09    2455397

nobull456 (Meath) - Posts: 1266 - 30/01/2023 19:48:21    2455402

Finally watched the game back. That a second half performance was probably the best half of football we played in the last 10 years. We blew Cork out of the water at times.

Plenty to work on though and

1.) Hogan - Solid between the posts, pulled off a couple of decent saves but needs to work on kickouts as they are predictable

2.) O Hare - Bit of nerves, gave a way a couple of soft frees and let his man have a couple of meters. Needs to keep goal side of his man

3.) Flood - Solid but would like to see more of him. Didn't really get on the ball much in the first half but neither did his man

4.) Hickey - Caught wrong side of his man a couple of times, looked good going forward. He'll get better in corner back the more he plays there.

5.) Harkin - Good going forward as well but needs to tighten up and remember his first job is to defend.

6.) Keoghan - Solid but needs to watch his tackling, difference between him and other lads that gave away frees is what he does to make it up

7.) O Neill - Thought was harsh to be brought off a half time, got forward well. Needs to get react to danger sooner instead of waiting to see what will happen

8.) Jones - Poor tackling and kicked away ball aimlessly but tracked runners and showed for the ball. Needs to improve his ability to compete with the better midfielders given he's now 24/25.

9.) McGowan - Was anonymous in the first half but improved as the game went on. Similar to Jones, needs to improve on the basics of being a midfielder

10.) O Sullivan - Brilliant, got back supported the fullback line at times and took his goal well.

11.) Scully - Worked hard but similar to Jones, kicked the ball for the sake of it.

12.) Campion - Worked hard but needs to get on the ball more, he's coming to that age where he can no longer be a passenger.

13.) Morris - Lively inside, lived off scraps in the first half. Needs to track a runner or hand them off to someone else

14.) Costello - Played well at times but was out of the game for large parts. Between club and college he has been kept going and should be given a few weeks off if possible

15.) Walsh - MOTM needs to start backing that performance up. Worked really hard and set the tempo from the off with tracking his man

UsernameInvalid (Meath) - Posts: 403 - 31/01/2023 08:10:52    2455425

mmc (Meath) - Posts: 280 - 31/01/2023 09:10:50    2455429

Richieq (Meath) - Posts: 3743 - 31/01/2023 09:41:57    2455432

UsernameInvalid (Meath) - Posts: 403 - 31/01/2023 11:27:06    2455463

royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 19449 - 31/01/2023 14:14:01    2455549

ratlag (Meath) - Posts: 582 - 31/01/2023 14:41:15    2455568