Looking back on 2003 is anything but a pleasant task for Meath supporters ... the senior team, the county's flagship, played five games, won two, drew one and lost two. It could have been worse ... the marvellous record of never having been beaten by Westmeath in the championship was almost snatched away ... while Monaghan's dreadful first half display in Clones was partly responsible for one of Meath's wins. But it could also have been better ... with a bit of luck. Nigel Crawford was missing for the first three games ... Ollie Murphy's championship was comprised of less than half an hour's football ... Daithi Regan and Shane McKeigue both missed the decisive game against Fermanagh, having shown substantial promise in the previous games. Mark O'Reilly was troubled with a back injury and his championship was also curtailed. Donal Curtis was suspended after the first game and missed the remainder of the campaign. Darren Fay and Nigel Nestor were others to have injury problems at various times. And there was Graham Geraghty's absence for the entire league campaign. The above amounts to clear evidence that Sean Boylan had more problems this year than in most of his previous campaigns and it's also possible that the departure of Colm Coyle as selector was the biggest blow of all to the Dunboyneman. Shrewd supporters will point to the game against Kildare as the point at which Meath's year took an irreversible turn for the worst. Completely in control in the opening stages, Sean Boylan's team failed to kill off the Lilywhites, who appeared to be there for the taking. Instead, a number of squandered chances allowed them to get back into the game and Meath were totally outplayed in the second quarter. Had Meath won that game, and they should have done so, they would have had a badly needed five-week break prior to the Leinster final against Laois ... and then, who knows? So what exactly were the expectations of Meath supporters at the outset? In truth, they were particularly high. The defeats by Dublin and Donegal in the previous year, plus the extremely lucky win over Louth had generated a sense of caution and in some cases, downright pessimism. However, there was still widespread belief that there was only a kick of the ball between the major contenders and that, with a bit of luck, the campaign could got all the way to the autumn. It was not to be and deep analysis shows that the team suffered from substantial and ultimately fatal fade-outs after promising starts. There was the perfect start against Westmeath with Hank Traynor's early goal ... in the replayed Meath were under the cosh when their opponents missed a penalty. Against Kildare Meath failed to take full advantage of their early superiority and paid the penalty and against Monaghan they were outscored by eight points in the second half. It got worse against Fermanagh when the display after the break was arguably the worse of the Boylan era. So what went wrong? Why the second half fade-outs? What was different about the preparations this year? Meath had, over a long number of years, established a reputation as comeback kings. Teams could never relax against them ... not even with substantial leads. It was all so different in 2003 when early leads were surrendered and there was nothing in the tank when the pressure came on in the closing stages. Where was the traditional Meath hunger? Are there too many miles on the clock of too many players? Has the appetite gone? How much damage was caused by the victory over Kerry in 2001? It's hard to believe that Meath have played five games in Croke Park since that occasion and have won none. Is it possible that Meath have a psychological problem with the back-door system, that they are unable to recover once defeated in the Leinster championship? Has the playing of the entire National League in the spring upset their training schedule? The national league saw Sean Boylan and his selectors, Eamonn O'Brien and Colm Brady, attempting to unearth some new talent and a trawl through the various lineouts shows that they certainly experimented. Taking the team that was knocked out of the championship by Donegal in the previous July and the team that faced Laois in the first round of the League in February, there was a serious re-building attempt. Graham Geraghty and Trevor Giles were unavailable ... and included in the starting fifteen were Christopher Reynolds, Niall and Shane McKeigue, Charles McCarthy, Adrian Kelly, Tadhg Brosnan and Daithi Regan. David Gallagher and Paddy Nugent were among the substitutes introduced. Two of the previous year's minors, Thomas O'Connor and Joe Sheridan were introduced against Cavan. O'Connor starting and Sheridan coming on as a substitute. Niall Kelly was included from the start against Sligo. Stephen McGabhann was handed the No. 3 jersey for the game against Mayo with David Crimmins featuring in attack. Nigel Nestor was back for the last game against Down ... Trevor Giles, Evan Kelly, Richie Kealy and Ollie Murphy had also returned to action at various stages of the campaign. In total, about a dozen new players were tried out during the league and wins over Kildare, Sligo and Mayo were enough to ensure preservation of Division 1 status. And so the championship. Westmeath were the first round opponents and there was a feeling in the county that maroons had missed out of their best chance of registering a win over Meath in the 2001 championship. In that campaign, the teams had met three times ... Meath snatched a late one point win in the Leinster before renewing acquaintances in the All-Ireland quarter-final. Sean Boylan's team were lucky to earn a replay but won with a bit to spare at the second time of asking. In 2002, Meath were comfortable winners when the teams met in Portlaoise. That was the background to the meeting of the teams at Croke Park on the June bank holiday weekend. There was intense speculation about the team selection prior to the game against Westmeath ... with Ollie Murphy ruled out because of injury and a number of regulars having failed to impress in the league, Sean Boylan, Eamonn O'Brien and Colm Brady decided to give championship starts to five newcomers. Thomas O'Connor from St. Peter's Dunboyne, a star of the previous year's minor team that was beaten in the All-Ireland final, was drafted into the half back line. Niall McKeigue, a panelist since 2001 was named at corner back, Charles McCarthy from Walterstown was given the big opportunity at centre field and there were first starts for Daithi Regan, Shane McKeigue and David Crimmins in the attack. In the absence of Nigel Crawford, Trevor Giles was chosen to partner McCarthy at centre field with Graham Geraghty returning to action on the '40. Meath could not possibly have dreamt of a better start to their championship campaign. Within a minute of the throw-in, Hank Traynor buried the ball in the Westmeath net after taking a clever pass from Evan Kelly. Traynor's goal was a huge boost to the Meathmen, who briefly threatened to overwhelm their opponents in the same manner as Dublin had beaten Louth in the curtain-raiser. Shane McKeigue, Daithi Regan and Charles McCarthy were playing as if they were in their own back yards and memories of the new look team against Carlow in 1996 were recalled as Meath went on to lead by 1-10 to 0-8 at half time. Unfortunately for Meath, they lost their way in the second half ... a trait that was to be repeated throughout their entire campaign, and Westmeath began to dominate. The loss of Darren Fay through injury was an immense blow. Two horrific defensive errors saw Westmeath grab two goals and as the game entered the last quarter the maroons led by five points, having trailed by a similar margin at the break. Substitute Cormac Murphy, who replaced an out-of-touch Mark O'Reilly with only six minutes remaining, created a goal for Graham Geraghty and, unbelievably Meath went a point ahead in the dying minutes. Dessie Dolan, who had tortured the Meath defence throughout the second half, equalised with a fantastic point from a sideline kick but he then missed out on giving his county a first ever championship win over their neighbours when he inexplicably missed a 20 metre free with the last kick of the game. Meath had survived, but only just! The final score was 2-13 apiece and it was on to O'Moore Park in Portlaoise on the following Saturday for the replay. Anthony Moyles was named at full back in place of the injured Darren Fay with Cormac Murphy at corner back in place of Mark O'Reilly who had a back injury. John Cullinane was brought into partner Charles McCarthy at centre field with Trevor Giles going into attack instead of Nigel Nestor. Pre-match speculation centred on Westmeath's state of mind after the huge disappointment of the previous week and it certainly looked as if they were struggling with he demons of self doubt. Meath led by 0-6 to 0-3 at half time but Westmeath were winning more and more possession as the game progressed. There was still three points separating the teams when Westmeath were awarded a penalty as the game entered the last quarter. Dessie Dolan had the opportunity to reprieve himself after the drawn game ... Cormac Sullivan likewise. It wasn't the best of efforts by the Westmeath star ... the ball was cleared and Charles McCarthy delivered it into space behind the Westmeath defence ... David Crimmins bravely won the race and the ball rolled into the net. Game over. Westmeath had suffered cruel experiences at Meath's hands in 2001 but it was worse in this campaign and it was entirely understandable that their heads dropped following the Crimmins' goal. Meath supporters left Portlaoise in optimist mood ... their 100% championship record against their neighbours was intact ... and there had been terrific performances from Paddy Reynolds, Daithi Regan, John Cullinane, Cormac Murphy, Charles McCarthy, Trevor Giles and Graham Geraghty. With both Nigel Crawford and Ollie Murphy progressing well in their injury struggles, a long and exciting summer beckoned. Kildare, now under the management of Padraig Nolan, were perceived to be in transition and had been far from impressive in their first round game against Longford. And they were also without the services of star midfielder Dermot Earley. The optimism of Meath supporters seemed well-founded as they bombarded the Kildare defence in the opening ten minutes. Trevor Giles netted a penalty for a foul on Graham Geraghty and Meath's lead was soon 1-03 to 0-1. Kildare were at sea and even when John Cullinane and Evan Kelly had excellent goal chances cleared, there appeared to be no grounds for panic. But those misses were to haunt Sean Boylan's team as Kildare suddenly found a new momentum and Meath were soon on the back food as 10 unanswered points were registered on the Lilywhite side of the scoreboard. Having been let off the hook, Kildare led by an amazing five points at half time, 0-11 to 1-3, but subsequently struggled to regain their momentum. With Graham Geraghty and Daithi Regan to the fore, Meath eventually drew level in the exciting closing stages. Kildare regained the lead with a pointed free and Daithi Regan was just off target with a last gasp chance of an equaliser. In hindsight, this was the defeat that led to such a disappointing year. The opposition was not killed off when it was offering only token resistance and it will always remain a mystery why Nigel Crawford was not introduced. The team had played on three successive weekends and there was a feeling that had they qualified for the Leinster final, which was five weeks away, they would have been a much fresher, and stronger, team taking the field against Laois. The hectic schedule got even more hectic as Sean Boylan and his team headed for Clones on the following Saturday to take on Monaghan in a second-round qualifier. Colm Coyle was now the Monaghan manager and had masterminded their shock win over All-Ireland champions Armagh in the first round of the Ulster championship.They had subsequently been narrowly beaten by Down but recovered well to beat Westmeath. Nigel Nestor returned to the half back line in place of Tommy O'Connor ... Nigel Crawford was back for his first start of the championship to partner Charles McCarthy at centre field with John Cullinane moving to the half forward line at the expense of Evan Kelly. Despite the schedule of games and the resultant aching limbs, Meath played superbly in the early stages. Shane McKeigue and Trevor Giles scored early points before Graham Geraghty fisted to the Monaghan net from an improbable angle. With Nigel Crawford excelling on his return and Charles McCarthy providing effective support, the Royal County went on to establish a 2-8 to 0-2 half time lead ... the second goal coming from David Crimmins after a typically decisive delivery from an in-form Trevor Giles. Substitute Rory Woods caused Meath plenty of problems in the second half but Monaghan rarely looked like getting the goal they needed to get back into the game. They certainly outplayed Meath in most sectors throughout the second half and there was a touch of desperation about Meath's play as the game entered the closing stages. They scored only two points in the entire second half and their fade-aways after the break were becoming an increasing worry to Sean Boylan and his selectors. And although Ollie Murphy made a welcome return after injury, this was counteracted by the injury sustained by Daithi Regan ... a more ominous occurrence than it first appeared. The final score was Meath 2-10 Monaghan 0-12. A fifth game in six weekends arrived on the agenda with a clash against Fermanagh ... again at Clones. It will always remain a mystery to Meath and Fermanagh supporters why the game was not played in Breffni Park ... it is difficult to comprehend the machinations of the relevant authority. On the upside there was the return of Ollie Murphy but the absence of both Shane McKeigue and Daithi Regan was a worry. Evan Kelly replaced the unlucky McKeigue. The first half produced little in the way of quality football, but Meath managed to quarry out a two point interval lead, 0-5 to 0-3. Few could have predicted that Fermanagh would win the second half, and the game, by outscoring their opponents by 1-9 to 0-4 after the break. Raymond Gallagher's goal two minutes after the resumption was a huge boost to Dominic Corrigan's team but Meath equalised immediately through Trevor Giles and they still had every chance. But they played second fiddle to the Fermanaghmen for the remainder of the game and went out of the championship without a trademark rally ... and that was the most disappointing aspect of championship 2003. The new look senior championship in Meath which involves a total of seven round prior to the knockout stages is scarcely conducive to success at All-Ireland level. The local championship started in mid April ... by the time Meath made their exit, the players had been involved in four championship games with their clubs and five with the county team ... nine championship games in thirteen weeks! This is not an attempt to look for excuses, but the schedule places fierce demands on the players and the appetite was certainly missing in the game against Fermanagh. The line out on that occasion was as follows: Cormac Sullivan, Niall McKeigue, Darren Fay, Cormac Murphy, Paddy Reynolds, Nigel Nestor, Hank Traynor 0-1, Nigel Crawford 0-1, Charles McCarthy 0-1, Trevor Giles 0-2, John Cullinane, Graham Geraghty 0-1, Ollie Murphy, David Crimmins, Evan Kelly. Subs: Ray Magee 0-2 for Richie Kealy 0-1, Barry Callaghan, Adrian Kenny, Anthony Moyles. Tweet

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