Dissapointing loss. Would have been nice to keep a bit of momentum going with another Leinster Final appearance at least.

Jinxie (Meath) - Posts: 6348 - 08/07/2013 09:51:55    1426252

Very disappointing loss alright, I fail to see why a short hand passing game was persisted with, Meath players were frequently passing themselves into trouble and running into cul de sacs made of Westmeath men. Even when Westmeath had a man sent off you would think it was they who had the extra man as we certainly didn't utilise the numbers, that style of play didn't work for the minors last year and this year was worse

Richieq (Meath) - Posts: 3772 - 08/07/2013 14:03:52    1426556

Made no difference to westmeath when they went a man down. they had 13 behind the ball in the first half with 2 men in the full forward line. after the full back was sent off they just brought another forward back, leaving still 13 men were behind the ball. very hard to breakdown

JohnnyD85 (Meath) - Posts: 39 - 08/07/2013 16:14:35    1426786

The whole structure of our underage system needs reforming and its not conditioning we need. We need to go back and concentrate on the basics, like being able to kick the ball accurately to a collague. It takes little skill to handpass a ball 2 m running around a cone. You need wider representation on our underage county developmenmt squads including minor. As in Dublin the county needs to be divided into divisional teams with many matches before a squad is finalised. The divisional teams should have separate management, be competitive with many matches (many contributors to the Hogan Satand have already said same). The present team (with most of the players from the clubs around the slectors) started training in November'12 last year when they would have been better off playing among themselves bringing more players from around the county into the system. Young players develop at different rates so many players who would be quite impressive at 14,15 & 16 would be overtaken by other players who would not be considered for 'the panel' in the present set-up.

browncows (Meath) - Posts: 2342 - 08/07/2013 17:18:21    1426874

08/07/2013 17:18:21
browncows
County: Meath
Posts: 407

1426874
The whole structure of our underage system needs reforming


It most certainly does. 20 years and counting since Meath have won underage All Ireland. 2008 since Meath won minor Leinster title and have to go back to 2001 for U-21 Leinster title.

For a county that class themselves as top 8 that's simply not good enough.

Gaa_lover (USA) - Posts: 3996 - 08/07/2013 17:53:49    1426907

There's a hell of an Elephant in this room...

bradysleftfoot (Mayo) - Posts: 30 - 08/07/2013 18:11:26    1426927

if there is a case that a meath player racially abused ure man from westmeath on saturday, well shame on them, a lengthy ban should suffice if convicted!

loyal82royal (Meath) - Posts: 260 - 08/07/2013 18:16:39    1426935

Agreed if that's proven to be true then a substantial penalty should be invoked.

Richieq (Meath) - Posts: 3772 - 08/07/2013 21:33:31    1427117

bradysleftfoot- I assume you are referring to the article on the main page about the alleged racial abuse on the Westmeath player. I think that in the interest of fairness, we should refrain from comment until the matter has been properly investigated, and the allegation either proven or not. Every player, and every group of players, is innocent until proven guilty and the same should apply here. In addition there is nothing to be gained from posters using this, or other similar incidents as a stick to beat players/supporters from rival counties.
I would say though that if any Meath player were ever to be found guilty of racial abuse, they deserve the strongest punishment that can be awarded, and you will not find any right thinking Meath fans defending them.

anfearbeag (Meath) - Posts: 1134 - 08/07/2013 21:42:53    1427131

In the online report, I saw that Westmeath have video evidence that the full back was racially abused prior to his sending off. As a Meath man, I'm hoping the allegations are not true.

DowdtoFoleyGoal (Meath) - Posts: 292 - 08/07/2013 21:44:59    1427134

Look any county using this as a stick to beat a rival is blind to the problem that this is a problem in every county.
If this allegation is proved then I hope a lengthy is handed down. There will be no tolerance of racial abuse. Ever.

royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 19449 - 09/07/2013 08:26:28    1427159

anfearbeag - I agree 100%. At this stage many clubs around Meath have players from a diverse background. We must protect them for the future of our games and our society at large.

The real Árd Rí (Meath) - Posts: 990 - 09/07/2013 08:48:02    1427165

I agree if any meath player is found guilty of racially abusing anyone he should face a lengthy ban but if a player is proven to have made a false claim of been abused they should face the same ban

bobjaffacake (Meath) - Posts: 1400 - 09/07/2013 09:30:02    1427187

This is my first post to the site and am only making it as the issue has been raised. I attended the Meath vrs Westmeath game on Saturday as I do dozens of games at all levels around the country and county annually. The GAA is a very special organisation that has worked hard to be as inclusive as possible. This was further evidenced by Westmeath fielding 3 coloured players on Saturday. I would openly admit to being a little taken aback by the sight at first but quickly realised they were certainly there on merit. What a wonderful development for the GAA I thought.

I cannot comment on the incident that occurred on the field in the second half and I wouldn't think anyone else here can either unless they were within earshot. I can comment though on the reaction of a middle aged man beside me and it was sickening. The language and abuse, with a lot of use of the "n" word, was beyond anything I had ever heard at a game before. I am no prude but the targeting of the abuse at the young lad solely because of his race left me with a sick feeling in my stomach and still does. I challenged the man and told him to shut up. Only for my young daughter was with my reaction would have been more in line with what I was feeling.

This brings me to the point of my post. This is relatively new ground for the GAA and they must be proactive in dealing with it. There should be a rule added specifically for players engaging in racial abuse on the field with instant dismissal and a substantial suspension if heard by an official. Any supporter who uses racist language should be immediately removed from the ground and a process to suspend them from attending games for a period. Difficult to police I know but the publication of name, club etc would be a punishment in itself. Finally, it is imperative that all of us who have decency and manners do not in any way tolerate any such talk and abuse from our fellow supporters. Self-policing will be key if the GAA are to prevent this becoming an issue. I certainly won't be bringing my kids anywhere near a GAA match if I thought they were going to hear the kind of vitriol I heard on Saturday.

As a by the way I have heard since that the young lad that was sent off for Westmeath actually grew up in Meath. Totally irrelevant I know...

RealSupporter13 (Meath) - Posts: 1 - 09/07/2013 10:10:44    1427221

Ashrules what has the players birth cert got to do with this............Are you tryin to open a new can of worms here?

DABLACKSPOT (Westmeath) - Posts: 551 - 09/07/2013 10:51:30    1427257

A bang out of order comment regarding birth certificates. I'm shocked that this post was allowed by the administrator.

Very good post by 'Real Supporter13' by the way.

Matthew (None) - Posts: 1122 - 09/07/2013 11:05:24    1427281

i was at the match i was close to the incident, i didnt hear anything but i did notice that the referee was always in the middle of the clashes and if something was said i would find it very hard to believe he didnt hear it, he would have surely took action if something was said

JohnnyD85 (Meath) - Posts: 39 - 09/07/2013 11:17:47    1427296

Verbal abuse has been a problem in the GAA for a very long time and very little was done about it. It happened in club games and in county games as anyone who has played at that level will know. The only difference now is that if colour is involved it is termed racial-any abuse is wrong. People on the field of play (especially some younger ones get carried away). To me the real problem is when adults shout such hate from the sideline racial or otherwise and this is an area that needs some policing). On the issue of the alleged culprit I think that it is wise to give the guy a fair trial and people posting to this board should be careful when making comments from the luxury of a chair in front of a PC. In life most things are not what they appear at first. I say that any verbal abuse can be equally as bad as racial abuse and if someone clips you across the face many different responses can occur depending on the individual. Personnally I would always rather get verbal abuse then a tooth knocked out or indeed a broken jaw- how many occassions have we seen broken jaws and not even a free?

browncows (Meath) - Posts: 2342 - 09/07/2013 12:41:44    1427376

RealSupporter13, just for your own sake and I know you didn't mean any offense by it, but it is OK to call people "black", "white" or whatever ethnicity they are. It isn't appropriate nowadays (even in Ireland) to call them "coloured" which in itself has rascist connotations.

GlasagusOr (Meath) - Posts: 1348 - 09/07/2013 13:08:28    1427406

The best team won no question. Westmeath were physically stronger and well organised. Meath could still have stolen the game in the finish but hardly would have deserved it. Too many key players didn't perform for whatever reason. Wouldn't be rushing to change anything though as a lot of work has gone into this group over the past 2 years and progress has been made.Not sure if the management team will want to continue but if they do they should in my opinion be supported.

noneutrals (Dublin) - Posts: 316 - 09/07/2013 16:25:12    1427634