by John Lynch

It is imperative that all and sundry associated with the Meath team kick memories of Sunday's game into oblivion. Learn from our shooting mistakes and lack of proper decision making by all means but this clash with the Dubs was never a 16 point beating. Concentrate fully on the next game coming which will of much greater importance.

Ironically and no doubt I will be shot down on this but probably more blood, sweat and toil was offered up on Sunday than in any other clash since And McEntee took over. Unfortunately the big things i.e. free taking, refereeing decisions, the woodwork etc. did not go our way. The Gods were not on our side.

Do not get me wrong. Dublin were the superior team, the greatest ever and for me such observations go back to looking at teams into the mid-sixties. But 16 points. Not a bit of it.

The Meath team and Andy McEntee have nothing to be ashamed of. McEntee has put the pride back into the Meath jersey. He may not have some of our most talented players on hand but he certainly has the most committed.

And his idea of adding to the panel each year a contingent of our best under 20 talent from the previous summer is to be complimented. He could have chosen to dip into that pool again in 2019 but choose not, thus allowing Barry Callaghan a stronger hand to play around with. Not to mention that the younger players will progress much quicker in such an environment. The Dubs of this decade will not be around for ever and we have some exciting talent coming through the ranks.

Sean Boylan was in his fourth year before he gained Leinster honours in 1986. And for those old enough to remember, Meath were rated rank outsiders before that provincial clash with Dublin. Goodness knows how many managers patrolled our touchline since the Dunboyne man moved to pastures different. Solid continuity has to be the name of the Meath game. Andy's job for the next couple of years should he wish.

And hark back to the minor campaign of 2012. McEntee was also the Meath manager then and again maybe came up against the greatest minor team ever. A good number of that Dublin side back bone Jim Gavin’s squad of recent times. Dublin literally kicked Meath out the gate in the Leinster final but Andy McEntee regrouped his forces to beat Ulster winners Tyrone and Western kingpins Mayo in the semi before putting up a very respectable performance in the final. A repeat act can be very possible.

Anyway and in the cold light of day a few points about Sunday’s affair. Do not be misled by what is basically a Dublin based media. If they are not native then they spend a considerable amount of time there.

The RTE bunch looked none too happy at the interval when Dublin had only scored five times, had nothing dramatic or spectacular to push before the cameras. At the games end they were drooling over the brilliant Dubs who had once again put the country bumpkins to bed. And of course Dublin ''were only in second gear''. Second gear my ass. They got their fill of it.

We witnessed the Cluxton congratulations job before the Kildare game. Blared out over the tannoys and big screens. How do you think the Kildare players felt five minutes from throw in with such shenanigans blasting away in the background?

Half-time in @CrokePark! A low scoring first half but plenty of fire in the bellies of the Royals who are trailing by 4! 🔥@DubGAAOfficial 0-05@MeathGAA 0-01#TheToughest pic.twitter.com/pbpwtFcZul

— AIB_GAA (@AIB_GAA) June 23, 2019

Opening minutes of the game: Mickey Newman gets that little shove in the back from Philly McMahon while Cillian O'Sullivan is going nowhere.

At a supposedly neutral venue and hosted by the Leinster Council, of which Kildare are a member. No disrespect to Stephen, the greatest keeper on the greatest team. But another time and another place. I am sure he himself was mortified. But more worryingly we are told by a prominent Leinster Council official that the directive to honour Cluxton came from Croke Park itself.

On Sunday we had RTE commentator Darragh Moloney describing a John Small effort into the Hill end goals as ''a thing of beauty''. Hell the ball went wide.

And a warning to other counties. Dublin will bring home Sam again on the first day of September. The Top Brass themselves want that Drive for Five to succeed. Sure it will be good for the GAA. There will be no Seamus Darby pushes on the back of Tommy Doyle this summer, no matter who the outsider may be. And the ''gas thing'' as they say in the city, the Dubs do not need this patronage, they are fully equipped to carry it out themselves.

Handshakes as Ethan Devine attempts to break away from Con O'Callaghan.

Matters Meath again. I felt Andy McEntee's pain. You cannot bring up things about the referee after suffering a 16 point hammering, Sour grapes, Dublin media and all that. He would have been crucified. But he had many refereeing questions to query.

Could match official Mr. Hurson explain why he handed Meath 22 free kicks and 18 to Dublin and yet saw fit to punish Meath with five yellow and one black card while handing out zero of same to the opposition? Nobody wants to see a player dismissed but Brian Fenton's deliberate foul on Ronan Ryan as he shot for goal was the nearest thing I have seen to Black in this year’s championship

Hurson was quick to present the Black to Donal Keogan in the game’s dying stages and although a hundred yards away was able to see that Conor McGill was fouling his opponent when if anything the Dublin attacker was more the aggressor. The same Donal Keogan, Meath’s real warrior over the last few campaigns, was practically knocked unconscious in front of the Dublin posts during the opening half and looked out of sorts thereafter. The result of this clash was the predictable free out.

Cillian O Sullivan could have gained a penalty in the opening half, Kevin McStay, an honourable mention for one of those not getting caught up in this Dublin hype, said '' I saw them given''. McGill's original foul for the Dublin penalty was well outside the area.

Then we had two deplorable decisions made on each sideline during the time Dublin were really starting to pull away in the second half. When two Dublin players collide does that mean a Dublin free? And when a Dublin player carries the ball out over the sideline does this mean another type of free? Both ended up in Dublin points.

Again we are not knocking Dublin. They will achieve that dream. And yes it is good, in many ways to see the GAA thriving in our national city. But it was never the 16 point drubbing that many of the media are attempting to ram down our throats. The Meath players have nothing to be ashamed of.

Cian O'Sullivan takes a measurement of James McEntee's jersey.

However it is so important to make the Super 8s. The four provincial winners of 2019 all competed at this stage last summer. We are not going to win the All Ireland this year or the next but it is so vital to compete and to maintain our progression. To play against the best
and learn. To learn further tricks of the trade and dare I say it how to foul and when and where to do it. And we will not mention a small number of teams who have perfected this art.

We had a great year to date, it can be greater. Meath have nothing to fear from any of the counties vying for those eight places. Let’s get our mind-set back to where it was last week, dust down those Dublin cobwebs and achieve our aim. To make a good year into an outstanding one, get into the Super 8s.

Those Dublin media people are still at it. Writing Meath off. Looking at the stats that no provincial loser in Leinster has made any kind of future progress, that Dublin have killed any hopes we had of further advancement. We are a stubborn lot in Meath. Let’s prove those feckers wrong.

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