Robbie Brennan was delighted with Meath’s response to their Leinster SFC final loss to Louth.

The Royals put that disappointment firmly behind them with a 1-13 to 0-12 victory over Cork in their All-Ireland SFC opener at Páirc Tailteann on Saturday.

“I think you're never sure coming off a defeat, the occasion and Croke Park and all that kind of stuff. It was, apart from the result, it was brilliant and a great experience, but you're never sure,” the Meath manager told the assembled media.

"If you'd been honest, training mightn't have been as good as we would have liked. There was a little bit of sloppiness and stuff like that, so the first half probably wasn't a surprise maybe, because there were definitely some signs of that in training.

"However, we were creating the chances, which was still also encouraging, and then the end of the first half, that bit of magic from Jordie (Morris’s goal) I think just gave us that bit of confidence again to go at it again and reset.”

Brennan also praised forward James Conlon who missed his grandfather’s funeral in order to play the match.

“For James Conlon, obviously to miss his grandfather's funeral today to play the match, I don't know how he did it, but I was so proud of him, and I know his family are a big footballing family and they really wanted him to play, and they should all be very, very proud of him today,” he added.

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