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For a bit of perspective, in the league last year we beat Cork by 8 points.
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Meath team last year in that game was
Harry Hogan;
Robin Clarke, Jordan Muldoon, Eoin Harkin;
Donal Keogan, Padraic Harnan, Cathal Hickey;
Bryan Menton, Ronan Jones;
Jason Scully, Thomas O'Reilly, Mathew Costello;
Jordan Morris, Shane Walsh, Cillian O'Sullivan.
Subs: James McEntee for Hickey h/t, Eamon Wallace for Scully 60, Bryan McMahon for O'Sullivan 65, Joey Wallace for Walsh 65, Ronan Ryan for Harkin 71.
Meath team on Sunday
Harry Hogan;
Cathal Hickey, Michael Flood, James O'Hare;
Eoin Harkin, Donal Keogan (capt), Daniel O'Neill;
Ronan Jones, Daithí McGowan;
Darragh Campion, Jason Scully, Cillian O'Sullivan;
Jordan Morris, Matthew Costello, Shane Walsh.
Subs: Shane Crosby for McGowan (12-14, blood), Adam O'Neill for D O'Neill (h-t), Harry O'Higgins for O'Hare (49), Jack O'Connor for Harkin (49), Diarmuid Moriarty for McGowan (53), Shane Crosby for O'Sullivan (66).
LoyalRoyal (None) - Posts: 452 - 31/01/2023 15:56:37
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Replying To royler: "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" I dont think most posters are getting carried away.You are right one Swallow never made a summer but there are 2 ways of looking at it.1 is sure it's only Cork and we beat them last year and have a decent record against them and Cork are in as much trouble as we are(maybe more)so it's no big deal.Cant argue with that.2 is we went away to Cork(our away record is pretty poor)who have a new manager gave a Kerry team a walloping (I know they were missing players)and won with us also under a new manager who trying to put his stamp on the team.I think the thing that stood out for me was the character.We clawed back level at the start of the second half and then Cork scores 3 in a row but heads never dropped and we managed to kick on. The line made switches and in fairness most subs came in and made a difference.I suppose it depends on on which one you look at 1 or 2.You may well be right and for me the Clare game(wont be easy) becomes even more important win that and we have alot more confidence which this team has not had much over the last few years.It looks line lads are refreshed again(not having a pop at Andy)as any team would under a new manage would..As Colm himself said there will be bumps in the road ahead and we as fans have to expect that.He was asked after the game is promotion the dream?he said we need to focus on Clare game but we of course want to play in Division 1 and the lads are good enough to do it but alot of hard games ahead..As another poster said he told at half time to go and play football and enjoy it.That for me is the key believing in themselves and see were it takes us. I am inclined to go with option 2 even though it's very early days the football at times was very enjoyable to watch and hopefully will get better and more consistent in time.As you rightly say Derry,Kildare away and Dublin at home will let us know were we are.Louth at home will be another tough one and Limerick away on paper should win but you just never know.I think Colm coming in has lifted the county and with the minor team coming through hopefully they can start to push us on a bit in the next few years.
Proudroyal (Meath) - Posts: 254 - 31/01/2023 16:34:05
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Replying To royaldunne: "Might not face bigger. But will face better. Ie Fenton. Best midfielder in country" Of course they will face better players but at this early stage do you compare all our players to the top players in the game ??
Fenton is around a while now Sunday was McGowans first league start and first competitive start with Jones they didn't beat Cork without them doing something right give them time .
I know you don't like to hear any criticism of our previous manager but Sunday was a big step forward for this team and especially the players that were involved over the last few years .
mmc (Meath) - Posts: 266 - 31/01/2023 16:42:25
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Replying To UsernameInvalid: "Mightn't come up against a bigger pairing but Fenton and Glass are really good operator's so we need to be able to adapt to that" Give them time it was McGowans first league start very unfair to be expecting him to be at Fentons level at this stage .
It's going to take until next year to know if some of these players will make it at this level .
I remember when John McDermott started with Meath he was average at best at the start and he turned out to be one of our best ever midfielders.
So time and patience is the key to this team .
mmc (Meath) - Posts: 266 - 31/01/2023 16:56:27
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Replying To ratlag: "Well I will eat my words on Walsh, he was excellent and showed what he is capable of.............however one swallow doesn't make a summer and he will not only have to reproduce that performance against Clare this weekend, but he needs to show it against the big teams like Derry, Dublin and even Kildare for me to be convinced that he has made the step up.
Over all the forwards played much better as a unit than I expected and kicking 3-14 away from home in Division 2 is as good a score as any team will put up this year. The only down side really is that we concede 19 scores over 70 minutes of football against what is lets be fair, a poor cork side. Yes getting McGill back in will be a huge boost and will help shore things up but we need to be a lot tighter in the next few games and limit the number of scorable frees given away.
Overall a much better showing than I had expected and I hope we can continue to improve over the next few weeks, but as for now I'm still sticking with my original season expectations of a 3rd/4th place league finish and a potential Leinster final again." Yeah would agree conceding 19 points is alot and I think 10/11 of them were free's so would definitely need to tighten up.I also agree 3 13 away is a big score and Cork probably should have had 2 goals but we could easily have scored 2 more ourselves.Derry away is going to be really tough,Dublin we all know and Kildare for me look very strong physically and that might be a key factor in that game.3rd or 4th would probably keep you in the all Ireland but hopefully as you say we might make the leinster final anyway.
Proudroyal (Meath) - Posts: 254 - 31/01/2023 16:56:59
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Didnt meath beat donegal recently? And donegal bate kerry...
bert09 (Meath) - Posts: 1790 - 31/01/2023 20:01:42
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Replying To mmc: "Of course they will face better players but at this early stage do you compare all our players to the top players in the game ??
Fenton is around a while now Sunday was McGowans first league start and first competitive start with Jones they didn't beat Cork without them doing something right give them time .
I know you don't like to hear any criticism of our previous manager but Sunday was a big step forward for this team and especially the players that were involved over the last few years ." Again where was any talk of previous manager??
Secondly you stated that they have faced the two biggest midfielders in first game so things can only get better. I guarantee you Dublin and Kildare will test them he'll lot more than cork did. Btw I have continued to state since Sunday (and previously to the game) that the players would take another step forward. So please if you gonna come at me at least make it factual
royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 19449 - 31/01/2023 20:18:25
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Replying To LoyalRoyal: "For a bit of perspective, in the league last year we beat Cork by 8 points. linkMeath team last year in that game was Harry Hogan; Robin Clarke, Jordan Muldoon, Eoin Harkin; Donal Keogan, Padraic Harnan, Cathal Hickey; Bryan Menton, Ronan Jones; Jason Scully, Thomas O'Reilly, Mathew Costello; Jordan Morris, Shane Walsh, Cillian O'Sullivan. Subs: James McEntee for Hickey h/t, Eamon Wallace for Scully 60, Bryan McMahon for O'Sullivan 65, Joey Wallace for Walsh 65, Ronan Ryan for Harkin 71. Meath team on SundayHarry Hogan; Cathal Hickey, Michael Flood, James O'Hare; Eoin Harkin, Donal Keogan (capt), Daniel O'Neill; Ronan Jones, Daithí McGowan; Darragh Campion, Jason Scully, Cillian O'Sullivan; Jordan Morris, Matthew Costello, Shane Walsh. Subs: Shane Crosby for McGowan (12-14, blood), Adam O'Neill for D O'Neill (h-t), Harry O'Higgins for O'Hare (49), Jack O'Connor for Harkin (49), Diarmuid Moriarty for McGowan (53), Shane Crosby for O'Sullivan (66)."
That been said I thought we played more coherently than we did against cork last year even though we had a bigger winning margin. If that makes sense
(Although some posters will say I won't hear a word said about previous management) maybe they will read this and open their eyes. Doubtful but sure
royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 19449 - 31/01/2023 20:23:20
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Great to get the win, our forwards looked dangerous for the first time in a while. No point in going overboard but, it's not a hugely surprising result, Meath and Cork at similar level for many years.
Would be great to beat Clare and get 4 points on the board early, league more important now than ever.
bdbuddah (Meath) - Posts: 1337 - 31/01/2023 21:32:26
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Replying To GlasgowRoyal: "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." A few years ago Rooney looked the part all right, what age is Harry Rooney now?
bdbuddah (Meath) - Posts: 1337 - 31/01/2023 21:40:52
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Replying To bdbuddah: "A few years ago Rooney looked the part all right, what age is Harry Rooney now?" 28/29. He was on the minor team in 2012 from what I remember.
Rooney is a good club midfielder but struggles against more athletic players like Byrne and Flanagan from Summerhil (They aren't even the most athletic). At inter county level he would compete for kickouts but could cost you 4 or 5 points against a Dublin or Derry. Also he is very lateral with his play and we are trying to move away from that
UsernameInvalid (Meath) - Posts: 354 - 01/02/2023 10:11:47
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I've taken a few days and a rewatch of the match to consider things before saying anything out of raw emotion.
Sundays result was a great starting point for the reign of Colm O'Rourke and his team. With most of what I'll say hereafter I'll qualify that this is just one match and flopping against Clare on Sunday would set things back, and it might happen. What we need to see is that continuous improvements from minute to minute in game, game to game, season to season, not a cycle of boom and bust.
There was a lot of great things to see on Sunday and also plenty of areas to improve. These will hopefully be addressed in training and game situations over the coming weeks and months.
Those lads looked very fit, fresh, lean and strong. Credit to Eugene Eivers for that. Let's hope that keeps going all the way through the season. Look at how he had the ladies team peak for the all Ireland final last summer and they over ran Kerry. Getting things to a T like that with this team will take time, patience a few false dawns and more time.
I've no idea of what's going on behind closed doors at training, but players looked a bit freer and happier in their play. I'm not going to take any shots at a prior manager, I'm unbiased, Andy has departed and this is now Colm's team.
Putting up 3-14 was a great result but they left about 2-6/7 behind them too with goal chances, balls ballooned side and balls dropped short, which is a double edged sword. We're creating chances and need to up the conversion rates.
As the game went on things improved, and got better so that's always a help. There looked to be multiple game plans in place which is what we hoped to see. They kicked ball in but moved it through the hands too which was good to see. We need game plans a,b,c,d,e,f,g and so on so let's hope to see that develops over the season. Paul Garrigan won't have that all straight out of the gate, it takes time, effort and minutes on the pitch to work on them.
Lots of new players got game time. We need to allow them a chance to show their wears and if they can do it. A few established players looked revitalised, and let's hope that continues.
Unfortunately plenty of points to brush up on.
1) 19 points/ scores conceded needs to be dealt with. A few soft frees that referee who was whistle happy could've let go.
2) kick outs still a huge issue. Need to be quicker getting balls off and a primary fetcher at midfield. Cork have a decent midfield but you're facing Glass,Fenton and Feely and we'll be just as well tested and more by them.
3) large periods where we didn't score, we scored in bursts which is good, but we need to get the board ticking over regularly.
4) kicked a lot of balls away aimlessly. Multiple players were guilty of this and we need to improve this. It's a new style so will take time to fix fully.
5) a few passengers who didn't contribute a lot, but they need to be given the chance too
Lots done more to do on the whole but encouraging green shoots. Hopefully the positives can be accentuated and the bad points improved on the next day v Clare.
brian (Meath) - Posts: 1954 - 01/02/2023 15:33:38
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Great result all the same…. Too open vs Clare, see what happens in Derry !
Royalman11 (Meath) - Posts: 29 - 08/02/2023 18:24:34
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Replying To royaldunne: "Can't agree with this. Tailteann cup would be a disaster. And I'd expect none of the current management would be there next year if that were to happen. From what I've heard Colm and co have been given pretty much a free reign. With only one specific instruction, we play in the all ire series. Be that by league position or a run to Leinster final. That is all the co board have asked. Failure to achieve that could be very disruptive." Just going to bump this post up from January for everyone's consumption :)
Crinigan (Meath) - Posts: 1316 - 18/07/2023 16:48:09
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Replying To Crinigan: "Agreed. Avoiding relegation would be a fine achievement. I'd be very happy with us competing for a Tailteann Cup this year and getting to final of that maybe and building from there. We've a good setup in place so I'm hopeful they can get as much out of current talent in the county as anyone could.
Best of luck to the team and management." For context, the post the above is in response to…
Crinigan (Meath) - Posts: 1316 - 18/07/2023 17:19:04
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Replying To Crinigan: "Just going to bump this post up from January for everyone's consumption :)" Ah sure you're a great lad altogether.
Selwyn (Meath) - Posts: 349 - 18/07/2023 18:25:05
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What would we all do without royaldunne in our lives?
Tinchy1 (Meath) - Posts: 60 - 19/07/2023 09:44:48
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Replying To Crinigan: "Just going to bump this post up from January for everyone's consumption :)" It was a disaster. I love how I get into ur head. We had the worst year I can remember from a Meath perspective. But we got a ticket to improve next year. If you think it was good. Then that says lot more about you than me.
royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 19449 - 21/07/2023 08:57:13
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Replying To royaldunne: "It was a disaster. I love how I get into ur head. We had the worst year I can remember from a Meath perspective. But we got a ticket to improve next year. If you think it was good. Then that says lot more about you than me." Don't take the bait royaldunne
royler (Meath) - Posts: 259 - 21/07/2023 10:03:00
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Replying To royler: "Don't take the bait royaldunne" I know I shouldn't. But it's soo easy to get into them.
royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 19449 - 21/07/2023 13:28:22
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