Meath Forum

Cavan Vs Meath. Rd 5.

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Do people think Cavan's comeback in second half was more down to Cavan upping their performance or did we go out in second half too much with mindset of holding on to our lead?

bdbuddah (Meath) - Posts: 1400 - 03/03/2024 09:58:58    2529370

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Positives defensive work has improved massively. Brennan kicking from 45 is much better and hopefully will continue. His kick outs were better last night than previous so again fair play to those involved. Mcbride had his best game for us and campion is improving every game. Keoghan and O'Neill very good again.

Negatives. We left the game behind us. That happens sometimes but we were by far the better team and didn't win which is annoying. Substitutes I feel were a bit late coming and when they did happen wrong players were taken off.
Promotion and relegation now off the table barring a very strange set of results. (Fingers crossed for the promotion ones).
Our goal scoring record is terrible. We left 2 certs and one half chance behind us That needs to be worked on. Morris in warmup is a positive.

royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 19449 - 03/03/2024 10:01:51    2529372

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Replying To LowerHogan:  "1st half was the best bit of football we've played all year albeit with some poor execution in front of goal, 2nd half we couldn't get firing and Cavan stepped it up, left 2 glorious goal chances out on the pitch and interestingly in the warm up we drilled 1v1s and didn't hit the net too much so a big area to work on, 1 goal in 5 games is not good enough so that needs a lot of work. A result v Cork keeps us in Div2 and a free shot at Donegal then in the final round"
Without looking through remaining fixtures and permutations considering each team has 14 points to play for I doubt that even if we stay on 6 points we would finish in the bottom 2 of the division.

bdbuddah (Meath) - Posts: 1400 - 03/03/2024 10:04:29    2529373

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Replying To bdbuddah:  "Do people think Cavan's comeback in second half was more down to Cavan upping their performance or did we go out in second half too much with mindset of holding on to our lead?"
6 of one half dozen of the other

royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 19449 - 03/03/2024 10:21:27    2529379

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Replying To bdbuddah:  "Do people think Cavan's comeback in second half was more down to Cavan upping their performance or did we go out in second half too much with mindset of holding on to our lead?"
Think Cavan upped it in the second half and started winning more ball around the middle and also started to run at us more compared to the first half.I dont think we went out to hold the lead in the second half if we had taken the two guilt edge goal chances the game was put to bed or even one of them.They got a run on us and the home crowd got behind them but was impressed with the way we never gave up especially when we went behind near the end and were unlucky with hitting the post at the end.

Proudroyal (Meath) - Posts: 294 - 03/03/2024 10:54:13    2529387

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Replying To bdbuddah:  "Do people think Cavan's comeback in second half was more down to Cavan upping their performance or did we go out in second half too much with mindset of holding on to our lead?"
Went along last night as a neutral and enjoyed the game overall.

Perspective as a neutral is that Meath 100% left the game behind them. Shane Walsh had the winning of the game 3 times but his clear-through goal miss in particular seemed to turn momentum in Cavan's favour. That hits the net and its game over.

Cavan used their bench much better than Meath who lost control on Madden GerrySmith and Ciaran Brady once the changes were made. That turned momentum.

Also O'Rourke made the cardinal sin of waiting until a healthy lead was lost before changing anything substantial. He should have been ruthless when 4 or 5 points up and pushed on with fresh players.

Thought Jones went missing at the crucial 3rd quarter stage and for all the quality in Costello, Meath didn't get enough damage out of him. I thought Cavan had no answer to those two had they imposed themselves on the game more.

Finally, Keegan is still some player, a masterclass in defence last night.

All in all the prevailing thought about Meath is a simple lack of ruthlessness and a necessary nasty streak to get the job done.

Eddie the Exile (Monaghan) - Posts: 1121 - 03/03/2024 11:17:53    2529390

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Lads, long time forum users know Im here since 2017 and have never been a hopeless optimist. Dont get me wrong, Im at most matches, but its rare ive been overtly optimistic here.

On reflection of the five rounds, youd have to be optimistic. This team are missing 3/4 regulars who would add real value, they are missing real ball winners in the middle and one of their main goal threats, and yet they are grinding out results. Consider the youth and general lack of experience in the team. Whatever about struggling for goals and relying on a keeper to kick frees etc, look at the defensive record. In five rounds we have conceded only 3/4 goals, and in or around 10 points v. everyone bar Armagh. That is seriously dogged, impressive statistics. Should have beaten Fermanagh and should have beaten Cavan. They can absolutely beat Cork next up as well.
This is shaping up to be the best league campaign since the 2019 super 8's year.

And you know what? they are physically hitting teams. That game v. Cavan was another dogfight, but under this management Meath are going out and nailing opposition players and making themselves very hard to be individually beaten. No dirt, just tough tackling and close marking. Black cards etc be damned. We havent seen that in a long time. Keep this up and no one will want to come to Navan for a third seed in the all Ireland series. Great stuff. Celebrate the little things guys.

Young_gael (Meath) - Posts: 596 - 03/03/2024 12:14:24    2529398

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Replying To royaldunne:  "Positives defensive work has improved massively. Brennan kicking from 45 is much better and hopefully will continue. His kick outs were better last night than previous so again fair play to those involved. Mcbride had his best game for us and campion is improving every game. Keoghan and O'Neill very good again.

Negatives. We left the game behind us. That happens sometimes but we were by far the better team and didn't win which is annoying. Substitutes I feel were a bit late coming and when they did happen wrong players were taken off.
Promotion and relegation now off the table barring a very strange set of results. (Fingers crossed for the promotion ones).
Our goal scoring record is terrible. We left 2 certs and one half chance behind us That needs to be worked on. Morris in warmup is a positive."
Are we looking at the genesis of one of the great Meath sides?

bert09 (Meath) - Posts: 1807 - 03/03/2024 12:15:42    2529399

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Still waiting for a consistent display over 70 mins from Meath.
Between this year and last year we've Consistently played in PATCHES against teams our own standard and below. I think the wexford and maybe the first Down game we could say we played well throughout. It's a bit worrying

2023
Cork...terrible first half
Clare...terrible second half
Derry...shocking display for whole game
Louth... We Played well in patches
Dublin...let's not talk about this one
Limerick...played poor for whole game
Kildare... played poor for whole game
Offaly... Terrible first half & rallied in the 2nd
Waterford...Div 4 team. Took us ages to pull away
Tipperary...Div 4 team. Took us ages to pull away
Down...played reasonably well that day
Wexford...played consistently well over the 70mins
Antrim...couldn't see the game out & let them back
Down...Poor first half disaply. Great 2nd half

2024
Fermanagh...poor for whole game
Armagh...played for 15 mins and capitulated
Louth...Played well some of 2nd half
Kildare...had a 7/8 min spell at end that was good
Cavan...Terrible 2nd half & couldn't put them away

Selwyn (Meath) - Posts: 383 - 03/03/2024 12:23:12    2529401

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Replying To mmc:  "Good result but we need to be more clinical when on top and that's the difference between the top teams and the teams trying to get there .
Our defence apart from the Armagh game have played really well in the league the young players have improved in every game and seem to be learning what they have to do at this level .
Our scoring needs to improve we have averaged just 12 points a game in the league Morris is a huge loss upfront especially with Costello and Walsh dropping deep . We are just lacking that top class inside forward at the moment but hopefully that will change when we have a full panel to pick from .
Grey is a massive loss around the middle of the pitch but I doubt we'll see him back this year after his recent illness and for what ever reason Flynn left the panel he needs to be coaxed back onto it .
We have played great football in all our league matches for periods of time so it's just a matter of putting that together for 70 minutes and hopefully that will come
Let's hope by the time the All Ireland series starts ORourke will have a full panel to pick from and we'll see exactly where we stand when we take on the top teams .
Looking at Dublin they are still miles ahead of most teams so I'd just hope we can be competitive against them if we get over Longford which I expect us to do .
Until then let's hope we can relegate Cork in Navan !! never forgot the war !! and the last game against Donegal could be a nothing game for both teams ."
Still a huge game for Meath. League is now done and dusted as far as we are concerned with regards to promotion or relegation bad an unbelievable set of events. it's as you are for past over decade with exception of 19.
However. There is the matter of the championship. We really don't want to be 4th seed (which we are cause of tv win) we should be aiming for our place in it as right been a league finish. One of Donegal or Armagh won't reach final so they will take up one position. I think it's imperative that we achieve a 3rd seed ranking rather than the 4th we now have. So the top seeds are the provincial winners. 2nd seeds are provincial finalists. Then the 3rd seeds are league. And so are 4th seeds along with previous years tc winner. We can take it that Kerry Dublin probably mayo and Derry are the winners. Runners up hard to tell. So 3rd in div 2. May give us seed 3. If we can get that. Then a scenario of say mayo clare us and louth are in one group. Now of course there is other nightmare scenarios such as Kerry Armagh Galway us.

royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 19449 - 03/03/2024 12:30:55    2529403

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And open to correction, but as long as Louth or Fermanagh don't pull off a shock today think we're mathematically safe

MeathAbroad (Meath) - Posts: 94 - 03/03/2024 12:32:37    2529404

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Replying To MeathAbroad:  "And open to correction, but as long as Louth or Fermanagh don't pull off a shock today think we're mathematically safe"
It'll depend on how the points tally up at the end, if for example we don't win the next 2 and stay on 6pts and a combination of 2 others of Louth, Cork, Fermanagh end up on 6pts aswell (assume Kildare don't win all last 3 games and go down) then it'll come down to score difference.

LowerHogan (Meath) - Posts: 45 - 03/03/2024 13:06:52    2529409

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Quiet happy with how yesterday went despite not getting the victory. First half was definetly the best we've played this year. Brilliant defending as a team, loads of tackles, blocks, good workrate. And then quick transition with a lot of heads up footpassing. Just not finsihing our chances. Second half we made some key mistakes and errors in decision , missed our two goal chances and started to give them momentum. I am happy that when we had 14 we went behind twice and levelled it both times, clutch scores by Costello and Brennan. There are negatives, namely our conversion rate, Walsh will be really dissapointed leaving 1-3 behind him. But overall the performance was much better and we were getting the balance of attack and defense. Players need to make individual improvements on parts of their game but they are at an age where you'd expect them to make improvements. Was happy with McBride, Coffey, Keoghan especially but Adam O'Neill MOTM for me. He has been absolutely outstanding in the league making the 3 jersey his own.

LeitrimRoyal99 (Meath) - Posts: 1523 - 03/03/2024 13:11:55    2529411

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Could have won should have won is the storyline of last night , but I am not going to lie i am happy the way things are going , I see improvement especially in defence , that's the only thing I am ever interested in is a good defence because forwards and scoring and attacking always sorts itself out .

A good defence is the most important thing for me , a bad defence will lose you the game a good defence will always keep you in a game and it's up to the forwards to win it .

Also as a collective unit we make things untidy and messy for the opposition , any game plan worked on against this Meath team doesn't work , we turn everything into a absolute dog fight .

The key is just make ourselves difficult to beat and play against and the rest will work itself out.

WhyTheLongFace (Meath) - Posts: 934 - 03/03/2024 13:44:57    2529416

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Replying To Selwyn:  "Still waiting for a consistent display over 70 mins from Meath.
Between this year and last year we've Consistently played in PATCHES against teams our own standard and below. I think the wexford and maybe the first Down game we could say we played well throughout. It's a bit worrying

2023
Cork...terrible first half
Clare...terrible second half
Derry...shocking display for whole game
Louth... We Played well in patches
Dublin...let's not talk about this one
Limerick...played poor for whole game
Kildare... played poor for whole game
Offaly... Terrible first half & rallied in the 2nd
Waterford...Div 4 team. Took us ages to pull away
Tipperary...Div 4 team. Took us ages to pull away
Down...played reasonably well that day
Wexford...played consistently well over the 70mins
Antrim...couldn't see the game out & let them back
Down...Poor first half disaply. Great 2nd half

2024
Fermanagh...poor for whole game
Armagh...played for 15 mins and capitulated
Louth...Played well some of 2nd half
Kildare...had a 7/8 min spell at end that was good
Cavan...Terrible 2nd half & couldn't put them away"
Jeepers is there any joy in your football life or do you just look for the most negative and critical angle all the time

49erroyal (Meath) - Posts: 66 - 03/03/2024 14:08:21    2529419

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Replying To LowerHogan:  "It'll depend on how the points tally up at the end, if for example we don't win the next 2 and stay on 6pts and a combination of 2 others of Louth, Cork, Fermanagh end up on 6pts aswell (assume Kildare don't win all last 3 games and go down) then it'll come down to score difference."
Cork can end up on 6 points along with us, both fermanagh and louth can't as they play eachother in week 6 (assuming both lose to Armagh and donegal today of course). So it'll be kildare and either fermanagh or louth...... unless kildare beat cork today, in which case it'll be cork that get dragged back into it, not us.

southmeathgael (Meath) - Posts: 937 - 03/03/2024 14:10:52    2529420

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A very enjoyable if maybe helter skelter type of game. First half was really impressive stuff and as many have said we left a huge amount of scores behind us. However, we are creating chances and that's the crucial element. It will come if the improvement shown in other areas is anything to go by.
One thing that stuck me coming away from Breffni was the enjoyment people are getting watching this group of footballers. It's probably the first time since Andy's side won promotion in 2019 that it's been that way. There is a real connection there with the genuine supporters and the team.
Also last night really hammered home how much we have missed floodlights in Pairc Tailteann since 2015.

Roger (Meath) - Posts: 478 - 03/03/2024 14:16:12    2529421

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Majority of posts sum up last night quite well. Brilliant in the first half, with the speed of transition being the best we have seen for a while. Despite Shane walsh missing 1-3 in the first half he never stopped showing and didn't hide.

Adam O' Neill was absolutely imperious and as ever so was keoghan. We had the beating of cavan but to be fair they were always going to have a purple patch.

Mcbride jones costello and coffy all really good with Brennan having his best game in a meath jersey. Hope we attack these next two games, Donegal are not all what people say they are and cork is always a good test. We are slowly getting players back and if we finish the league strong there will be a real sense of optimism going into the summer.

contributingtoamelee (Meath) - Posts: 55 - 03/03/2024 15:05:07    2529428

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Replying To 49erroyal:  "Jeepers is there any joy in your football life or do you just look for the most negative and critical angle all the time"
Very little joy when it comes to Meath football buck

Selwyn (Meath) - Posts: 383 - 03/03/2024 15:27:27    2529429

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A Jekyll and Hyde performance of sorts.

Defence continues to improve and I would say if the way Keoghan, O Neill and O Halloren are going they will be on par with Lavin, McGill and Gallagher of 2019.

Campion continues to improve and could be an answer to Skrynes woes at center back.

Jones faded badly in the third quarter and Dixon didn't have the impact like the last two games. McGowan played well in patches but needs to deliver consistency.

Costello, Walsh and Franye need to go to a pitch by themselves and work on their shooting because that was terrible. There's no point putting in a defensive display like that only to leave about 2-6 out there. The hard work was done getting into space and giving themselves the opportunity for a score but the poor execution is a worry.

UsernameInvalid (Meath) - Posts: 403 - 03/03/2024 16:36:47    2529456

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