Meath Forum

So It'S Clare

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All 3 goals achieved. How good does that feel. Felt like wishful thinking as we always seem to just come up short but we did it. Fantastic league campaign and we've backed that up by making the super 8's. The added bonus being we are in a different group to Dublin so no dark blue cloud looming over us.

Now we can finally enjoy the latter stages of the championship against 3 top 6 teams. Perfect preparation for next year's league. Good times ahead against the big boys. Long may it last.

Bonus territory now and if we made an all Ireland semi final it would be one our biggest achievement in 10 years.

Jack_Goff (Meath) - Posts: 2920 - 08/07/2019 00:31:10    2207533

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Finally got to watch the game now. Rather than repeat what's already been said by others, here is a few things I want to add. We seemed to continually overplay the ball around the "D" and got caught out. Too often it seems the lads getting on the penultimate pass should be taking the score but instead are on their bad foot or lack confidence to shoot and so pass it off to someone coming up the middle close to goal where Clare had plenty of defenders back to cover and turnover the ball. We should have lads with the ability to kick points from further out.

Have to say without Keoghan, Menton, Harnan and Newman we'd win nothing. They really seem to know what the right thing to do is. I don't get that sense from many others on the team. Conlon needs a bit of coaching on shot selection but he's a nice forward.

LoyalRoyal (None) - Posts: 452 - 08/07/2019 01:51:49    2207541

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Replying To royaldunne:  "Reilly brilliant link man. And Brennan only player to keep the show on the road in last 10 mins. Delighted for him after the abuse he received. Thrilled, delighted."
Rubbish ! Couldnt be bothered trying to argue !

grahamc9897 (Meath) - Posts: 1174 - 08/07/2019 04:26:07    2207545

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Replying To Marara:  "Completely missed the point, O'Sullivan I would agree is a far bigger scoring threat. Point I was making is that for all his talent and threat he has contributed nothing over the last 2 games and yet the majority of Meath fans seem to be completely blind to it. Against Dublin, all 6 of the starting forwards had an off day and the 4 that came on did nothing either. Yet it was Brennan that was torn apart on here all week, some of the comments where a disgrace to be honest."
Not a big fan of Brennan to be Honest ! If we going to move up to the next level he wont get us there ! O'Sullivan has proved over and over he can cut It at this Level !

grahamc9897 (Meath) - Posts: 1174 - 08/07/2019 04:36:19    2207546

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Replying To David:  "God the RTE coverage of the Meath Clare match and particularly the analysis was worse than poor. It was like they couldn't be bothered. Brilliant for us going on. Pat Spillane stating "Meath wont win any match so move on" speaks volumes...."
If the GAA want to promote the so called 'weaker counties' then it should look at RTE at that rubbish they speak. For players who have trained since before xmas to get to this point, get promoted and reach the super 8s and to be dismissed on national TV is a disgrace. In the last 2 years Meath have been barely beaten by Donegal despite looking like winning on each occasion, had Tyrone beaten, went down to Roscommon and came away with an unlucky draw. Limited the dubs to 5 points in 35 mins and beaten Armagh, Cork.

I am not saying they will win any of the next 3 games but to be so blatently dismissive is outrageous.

Kevin McStay's reaction at full time was 'this is the advertisement for a tier 2 championship'. Meath have just qualified for the super 8s and gotten promoted, if we are 'tier 2' then there is a problem. RTE are driving this narrative as they would love Mayo, Dublin, Kerry, Donegal, Tyrone to play each other non stop so ratings go up. Appalling

Thejoeshow (Meath) - Posts: 687 - 08/07/2019 08:41:16    2207566

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Replying To royaldunne:  "Excellent excellent post on Brennan. Some of the stuff said about Ben on social media has been totally ott. I'm not going into the cos debate, as I don't want any negatives, I'll only say I'm not going to disagree.
But Ben. Fantastic, he rammed it down the throats of the keyboard warriors.
Winning point to get us into super 8s scored by..... BEN BRENNAN."
I was delighted when Ben came on and got a excellent much needed point. Fair play to him. I think Ben Brennan is a prefect example of player and the reason why I the main reason why we are in Div 1 and super 8s. Is the most talented ? No is he the most skillful ? No Is he the quickest ? No. Dose he give 100% ? Yes. Has he been consistent ? Yes. ( take out the Dublin performance ) he has been. But allot of his best work was done in the league. And Championship is different its way faster. His lack pace hasn't gone away. Its still a issue. So we will have watch this space to see how he gets on.

bobkarlgees (Meath) - Posts: 1263 - 08/07/2019 09:04:51    2207580

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Have a lot less hair after that yesterday. Thought we left a serious number of scores behind due to bad option taking, poor passes, running into trouble etc. Congrats to the lads and all involved but we should have won that a lot easier. It's been said already, but what a player Keoghan is, joy to watch and pure class. Well supported by Harnan and Menton, although I felt Menton didn't really get into it as much as he could. Thought COS was very patchy yesterday, gave some howlers of passes, he wasn't the only one but he seemed to do it more often than others. As others have said, goalkeeper is a major issue. Kickouts were all over the place yesterday, one in the 2nd half went out over the sideline without getting within 20yards of anyone from either ourselves or Clare. Newman will be a big loss for the next day at least, hope he's not too badly injured.

Lots to work on and have the games to do it in. No pressure or expectations so hopefully the lads can give it a right go and see where it takes them. Would be exceptional if Kerry were to come come to Navan and we were still in with a shout of a semi! Would make for a hell of a spectacle.

moylagh (Meath) - Posts: 484 - 08/07/2019 09:07:15    2207582

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Replying To Foreveraroyal:  "Great win not best performance but we are in the Super 8s and I would have taken that at the start of the year now we will be playing 3 High Quality teams not sure how will get on in them but it can only improve us as team playing the top teams. Up the Royal and bring on the super 8s

1.A.Colgan
2.S.Lavin
3.C.McGill
4.S. Gallagher
5.D.Keogan
6.P.Haran
7.G.McCoy/R.Ryan (if fit)
8.B.Menton
9.E.Devine
10.C.O'Sulivan
11.B.McMahon
12.B.Brennan
13.J.Conlan
14.M.Newman
15.S.Walsh."
Like the look of that team. Have 2 mcentee to come on biggie, Curran etc. my only worry is O'Sullivan, he gives the ball away too cheaply too often. Can't do that against donegal.

royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 19449 - 08/07/2019 09:14:50    2207590

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Replying To royaldunne:  "Totally agree, it was beyond criticism. And extremely classless by some so called Meath supporters.
But he answered them in the best fashion today."
So you "totally agree" that O'Sullivan, out on his feet with the exhaustion of effort at final whistle yesterday, has "contributed nothing" in past two matches (he scored a vital point yesterday and set up a couple) but it was "extremely classless" to say that Brennan's three very poor missed frees in a row were a reflection of a player that maybe isn't up to the required standard of where we want to be? (did anyone post anything more critical than that?)

Again, you fully agree that O'Sullivan contributed nothing without any statistics or examples of proof to back up the statement yet its extremely classless to have reservations about Ben Brennan backed up by concrete examples???

Are you a Meath supporter or are you just supporting your club men and that's why you support Meath? Nothing wrong with that but you can't be so blatantly biased towards your club men to the detriment of having an objective view about what the best team is. And you can't call objective criticisms "extremely classless" while "totally agreeing" with a comment that says one player ""contributed nothing" when the evidence points that he did at least contribute something.

Crinigan (Meath) - Posts: 1319 - 08/07/2019 09:16:02    2207591

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Replying To David:  "Yes he was... #23 as selected. Were you there?"
I was replying to fact that Shane Walsh never played with Meath this Year......

bobkarlgees (Meath) - Posts: 1263 - 08/07/2019 09:26:23    2207597

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Replying To Marara:  "Brennan came on and ran like a dog to close it up as that was all that all the 15 where doing at that stage of the game. Also took the winning point of the game well considering the abuse and bullsh*t that's been written about him over the last week. Cillian O'Sullivan has contributed absolutely nothing the last 2games and not a word said. Against Dublin, all 6 forwards where useless to what all 6 are capable off yet Brennan has been singled out on this all week for criticism. Delighted it was his score that was the difference today"
Well done to Andy McEntee and his team on achieving the ultimate goal, reaching the Super 8s. It was a battling performance and the pressure off now. Nobody will expect anything of us.

Marara, I'll admit I've been critical of Brennan's performance against Dublin and called for him to be dropped on Saturday. Watch the Dublin game back it was justified. His point yesterday was effectively the winning of the game so fair dues to him. But to say Cillian O'Sullivan "contributed absolutely nothing" against Clare is bullsh*t. He also scored a crucial point and worked his socks off for the 77 minutes.

summerof09 (Meath) - Posts: 315 - 08/07/2019 10:20:10    2207638

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Delighted with the win yesterday. By god we made things difficult for ourselves but I was impressed with how we dug deep and battled on at the end when the going got tough. Huge congratulations to the players and management on reaching the Super 8s. You can argue all you want about having an easy draw. At the end of the day Meath are into the last 8 of the competition on merit and deserve their place. The fact that Galway, Monaghan and whoever else are not there is irrelevant.

The game itself was hugely entertaining (for neutrals - I like most Meath supporters endured a nerve-wracking 80+ minutes!). Yes it was scrappy and laden with mistakes, some of which related to the basic skills of the game, but I have to stress how pleasing it is to see Meath come out the right side of a game like this. How often since the Boylan era ended have we complained about Meath teams lacking fight in tight games and sent home beaten with our tails between our legs.

The individual performances, both good and bad, have been well-aired here. What I would add is that our forwards continue to be a concern. When Newman went off we looked a bit lost for a 10 minute spell where we needed some of the experienced lads like McMahon or O'Sullivan to step up. Reilly added nothing when he came on and struggled with the pace of a hectic game. Walsh got plenty of touches and kicked a nice score and his presence seemed to settle the forwards which is remarkable for such a young man.

Was there any word on Newman after the game? It's vital that he is fit and well for Donegal.

men_of_49 (Meath) - Posts: 1989 - 08/07/2019 10:30:26    2207648

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Replying To royaldunne:  "All 3 goals achieved. Thank you Andy McEntee.
On the game itself a bit nervy to say the least. Keoghan had perhaps his best game of the year today, immense, harnan little rusty in first half but grew as game went on, Newman was excellent thought the full back line was fantastic, mid field hit and miss, Conlon what a player, Newman back to his best, thought Reilly while not scoring acted as a good link man. Also a special word for Ben Brennan the man has taken dogs abuse for the last 2 weeks, he was fantastic when he came on and got a point. Delighted for him. All and all we can sit back and relax, the super 8s , hopefully micky is alright for next week, posts should be padded. That looked very nasty , but his bravery was fantastic, McMahon worked all day long, and took one for the team.
Walsh looked good when he came on. Not going to mention any negatives. Brilliant score line.
Onwards and upward.
Hon the royal"
I knew you would find a positive spin for Graham Reilly, you have a great imagination

Analyst (Meath) - Posts: 1467 - 08/07/2019 10:34:16    2207652

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End to End game and one we would have probably lost a few years ago. Keoghan was excellent yesterday him and Harnan did an unreal amount of work . It has been a very good year for Meath footballers with Division 2 promotion and reaching the Super 8s which they deserve with all the hard work they have put in. We have 3 very tough games now but we do seem to play better vs the bigger teams so we have a chance for an upset, ok we were not right at all vs Dublin but Tyrone last year and Donegal the year before were tight games we could have won. Fair play to Clare they played some good football and pushed us to the last second.

SheridansTry (Meath) - Posts: 180 - 08/07/2019 10:46:01    2207662

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any update on Mickey Newman ?

thelutch (Meath) - Posts: 1048 - 08/07/2019 11:00:03    2207671

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Replying To summerof09:  "Well done to Andy McEntee and his team on achieving the ultimate goal, reaching the Super 8s. It was a battling performance and the pressure off now. Nobody will expect anything of us.

Marara, I'll admit I've been critical of Brennan's performance against Dublin and called for him to be dropped on Saturday. Watch the Dublin game back it was justified. His point yesterday was effectively the winning of the game so fair dues to him. But to say Cillian O'Sullivan "contributed absolutely nothing" against Clare is bullsh*t. He also scored a crucial point and worked his socks off for the 77 minutes."
Fair enough, reading back on the wording i actually come across very harsh on COS. I really like him as a player and he has that xfactor on his day that not a lot of players have.

The point I was making is that all forwards has an off day against Dublin and that it was pretty much Brennan that took the majority of criticism for it. I see someone posted that his 3 missed frees that day shows he's not at inter county level (or something along those lines) which is complete waffle!

I've also just read that COS is proven at the highest level, how exactly is that proven considering Meath have not played a game in Div 1 in over a decade and I think this is the first quarter final stage appearance in 8 or 9 years?

Marara (Meath) - Posts: 18 - 08/07/2019 11:12:57    2207684

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Replying To Crinigan:  "So you "totally agree" that O'Sullivan, out on his feet with the exhaustion of effort at final whistle yesterday, has "contributed nothing" in past two matches (he scored a vital point yesterday and set up a couple) but it was "extremely classless" to say that Brennan's three very poor missed frees in a row were a reflection of a player that maybe isn't up to the required standard of where we want to be? (did anyone post anything more critical than that?)

Again, you fully agree that O'Sullivan contributed nothing without any statistics or examples of proof to back up the statement yet its extremely classless to have reservations about Ben Brennan backed up by concrete examples???

Are you a Meath supporter or are you just supporting your club men and that's why you support Meath? Nothing wrong with that but you can't be so blatantly biased towards your club men to the detriment of having an objective view about what the best team is. And you can't call objective criticisms "extremely classless" while "totally agreeing" with a comment that says one player ""contributed nothing" when the evidence points that he did at least contribute something."
Just to be clear, I live in north Meath and have zero to do with St.Colmcilles or Ben Brennan for that matter so please understand that this isn't club bias on my part.

The standard that you mentioned above there, what exactly is this standard? Back in division 2 where we have been toiling for the last 12/13 years? Getting knocked out of championship before quarter final stage? This year is the first year in many that Meath have upped the standard in my opinion and credit must go to the lads that have put us there. Seems that after every match we have people wanting this lad or that lad brought back on to the panel cos what we have is worse (Lenihan, McKeever, O'Rourke etc.) they all have played and did not succeed in what this bunch of lads has achieved this year. Why not actually give credit to the 30 odd players that have put us where we are now instead of criticizing and lining up the 10 replacements in the county that are far better than them when they have an off day!

Finally, missing 3 frees is no indication that a player is of inter county standard, scoring them would have been no indication either. Free takers have off days at all levels, unfortunately for Brennan his came on a crucial day for the county which I believe shone the spotlight on him for a day I think most Meath fans would like to forget in a hurry!

Marara (Meath) - Posts: 18 - 08/07/2019 11:29:31    2207692

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Replying To Marara:  "Fair enough, reading back on the wording i actually come across very harsh on COS. I really like him as a player and he has that xfactor on his day that not a lot of players have.

The point I was making is that all forwards has an off day against Dublin and that it was pretty much Brennan that took the majority of criticism for it. I see someone posted that his 3 missed frees that day shows he's not at inter county level (or something along those lines) which is complete waffle!

I've also just read that COS is proven at the highest level, how exactly is that proven considering Meath have not played a game in Div 1 in over a decade and I think this is the first quarter final stage appearance in 8 or 9 years?"
The missed frees and failed attempts to track Jack McCaffrey is why maybe Brennan stood out badly from the rest of the forwards against Dublin. It was mismanagement that probably failed Brennan in the Leinster final. His confidence was obviously shot after missing two scoreable frees in the first half. Then to leave him on the field for the second half to take another free and to take him off straight after was a nightmare for him. But fair play to the lad he answered his critics yesterday with a crucial point.

If you're going to use that logic on Cillian OS, then we have no players that are proven at the highest level? Rubbish

summerof09 (Meath) - Posts: 315 - 08/07/2019 12:01:39    2207727

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Replying To summerof09:  "The missed frees and failed attempts to track Jack McCaffrey is why maybe Brennan stood out badly from the rest of the forwards against Dublin. It was mismanagement that probably failed Brennan in the Leinster final. His confidence was obviously shot after missing two scoreable frees in the first half. Then to leave him on the field for the second half to take another free and to take him off straight after was a nightmare for him. But fair play to the lad he answered his critics yesterday with a crucial point.

If you're going to use that logic on Cillian OS, then we have no players that are proven at the highest level? Rubbish"
I'm not saying we do not have players capable of playing at the highest level, in fact I believe Keoghan would walk on to any 15 in the country including Dublin. But to say we are proven at the highest level when we haven't contested a quarter final in years is rubbish. Dublin's championship essentially starts at that stage!

Marara (Meath) - Posts: 18 - 08/07/2019 12:34:49    2207748

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Replying To Thejoeshow:  "If the GAA want to promote the so called 'weaker counties' then it should look at RTE at that rubbish they speak. For players who have trained since before xmas to get to this point, get promoted and reach the super 8s and to be dismissed on national TV is a disgrace. In the last 2 years Meath have been barely beaten by Donegal despite looking like winning on each occasion, had Tyrone beaten, went down to Roscommon and came away with an unlucky draw. Limited the dubs to 5 points in 35 mins and beaten Armagh, Cork.

I am not saying they will win any of the next 3 games but to be so blatently dismissive is outrageous.

Kevin McStay's reaction at full time was 'this is the advertisement for a tier 2 championship'. Meath have just qualified for the super 8s and gotten promoted, if we are 'tier 2' then there is a problem. RTE are driving this narrative as they would love Mayo, Dublin, Kerry, Donegal, Tyrone to play each other non stop so ratings go up. Appalling"
Wouldn't worry what Mcstay would say Tier 2 manager he is at best complete bullsh*ter

mmc (Meath) - Posts: 267 - 08/07/2019 12:38:42    2207750

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