Galway struggled to cope with the pace of Meath's Eamonn Wallace and Cillian O'Sullivan at Pairc Tailteann yesterday and, afterwards, manager Mick O'Dowd spoke of the importance of speed in the modern game.

"You just need pace in the modern game," he outlined to the Irish Independent.

"I know the traditional Meath style is to get the ball in quick to the full-forward line and I'd like to think we do that on occasion as well.

"So you're just trying to create an adaptable team."

The concession of four goals is a statistic that will concern the Royal management but O'Dowd was pleased with how his players responded to those set-backs.

The Kevin Reilly captained outfit fought back from a five point deficit early in the second half.

"It showed a lot of calmness on behalf of the players to turn that into a seven-point lead at one stage. But when you sit down to watch the DVD I'm sure you will be asking questions of the goals, particularly at the end." Tweet

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