Meath Forum

Meath under 21s

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Where were the Ryan twins, Podge McGowan, Iarla Hughes, Caolach Hallligan, Thomas McGuinness, Jordan Browne, Daire Rowe, Ethan Devine, Kevin Traynor (not sure if he's still underage) Eanna O Kelly lynch Eamon O'Donnchadha Charlie Bird, Kyle Dixon, Brian Harnan Shane Cumiskey ?

Maybe some where injured but they all couldn't have been.

Kepak10 (Meath) - Posts: 162 - 23/02/2017 13:27:40    1959871

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Replying To Meath4Sam2020:  "I think the management team were actually more focused on next year's team than this year. The amount of players from Barry's minor team last year that played yesterday was to high in my opinion and he is getting them ready to compete next year."
Do you know roughly how many of the players from last nights starting 15 are eligible for the 21s next year? I was thinking it was a young enough team.

Barney123 (Meath) - Posts: 676 - 23/02/2017 14:07:41    1959883

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Replying To Barney123:  "Do you know roughly how many of the players from last nights starting 15 are eligible for the 21s next year? I was thinking it was a young enough team."
No u 21 next year. U 20 from here on in

Analyst (Meath) - Posts: 1467 - 23/02/2017 14:29:38    1959890

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rubbish talk about management.they were missing a lot of the older u21's,probably 9 starters ffs.

ziggy32001 (Meath) - Posts: 8354 - 23/02/2017 14:35:27    1959892

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Replying To ziggy32001:  "rubbish talk about management.they were missing a lot of the older u21's,probably 9 starters ffs."
Exactly... I seen the U-21 team play in the Hastings Cup this year and they looked much better than previous years so I don't think its fair to judge 4/5 months of hard work on a bad display in horrendous conditions. Barry Callaghan, Paddy Reynolds, Brian Farrell etc. put in a lot of hard and I seen them at numerous matches last autumn scouting for players but sometimes luck goes against you and while I did expect Meath to win last night; I wouldn't have given them much of a chance of overturning Dublin in the next round considering the players who were injured and unavailable.

If you consider the absentees or players who were unable to start the match it is clear to see why we end up with only 4 or 5; 21 year old's on the team; I would have expected a serious tilt at a leinster title if all the players below were fully fit and available:

Daire Rowe
Ronan Jones
Gavin Mc Gowan
Caolach O' Hallagain
Brian Harnan
Sean Meade
Dan O' Neill
James Conlon
Jordan Brown

A lot of these lads started on the team last year.

Hopefully the co. board will give Callaghan and Co. full backing and they will have another crack at it with the U-20's next year; or maybe they should be even given the job of looking after the county junior team and a lot of the U-21 players can be kept in a top training environment so they will be in a better position to make the step up if they get called into the senior squad over the next couple of years.

On a different note...it seems as if Meath get an awful lot of away fixtures at U-21 level; we rarely ever seem to play a championship match on home soil, is it just the luck of the draw regarding who gets home venue? Would have been a massive advantage to have that match some where in around Navan or Ashbourne last night.

Thunderstruck (Meath) - Posts: 467 - 23/02/2017 16:56:46    1959958

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Didn't we have a home game against Dublin last year but it had to be moved to Parnell Park because we have no floodlights in Navan. I heard Ashbourne and Simonstown are deemed not suitable for these games despite one of the O'Byrne cup games being played in Ashbourne so I'm not sure whether that's true or not.

Barney123 (Meath) - Posts: 676 - 23/02/2017 17:22:43    1959967

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Replying To Thunderstruck:  "Exactly... I seen the U-21 team play in the Hastings Cup this year and they looked much better than previous years so I don't think its fair to judge 4/5 months of hard work on a bad display in horrendous conditions. Barry Callaghan, Paddy Reynolds, Brian Farrell etc. put in a lot of hard and I seen them at numerous matches last autumn scouting for players but sometimes luck goes against you and while I did expect Meath to win last night; I wouldn't have given them much of a chance of overturning Dublin in the next round considering the players who were injured and unavailable.

If you consider the absentees or players who were unable to start the match it is clear to see why we end up with only 4 or 5; 21 year old's on the team; I would have expected a serious tilt at a leinster title if all the players below were fully fit and available:

Daire Rowe
Ronan Jones
Gavin Mc Gowan
Caolach O' Hallagain
Brian Harnan
Sean Meade
Dan O' Neill
James Conlon
Jordan Brown

A lot of these lads started on the team last year.

Hopefully the co. board will give Callaghan and Co. full backing and they will have another crack at it with the U-20's next year; or maybe they should be even given the job of looking after the county junior team and a lot of the U-21 players can be kept in a top training environment so they will be in a better position to make the step up if they get called into the senior squad over the next couple of years.

On a different note...it seems as if Meath get an awful lot of away fixtures at U-21 level; we rarely ever seem to play a championship match on home soil, is it just the luck of the draw regarding who gets home venue? Would have been a massive advantage to have that match some where in around Navan or Ashbourne last night."
Be doing well to play it in Navan with no lights.

Meath conceded home advantage to Dublin last year because of the same thing

begining (UK) - Posts: 300 - 23/02/2017 17:23:18    1959968

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Replying To begining:  "Be doing well to play it in Navan with no lights.

Meath conceded home advantage to Dublin last year because of the same thing"
thats another problem...

ziggy32001 (Meath) - Posts: 8354 - 23/02/2017 18:10:04    1959979

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Having been at the game yesterday, there are many positives. We should have won it even tho we were missing some many quality players, not just numbers but players who will play for Snrs. There is a 'however', so here it is...However what worried me was our collapse when Conlon was carded. We retreated into a shell and made fundamental errors. These players looked physically in good shape but are they mentally prepared, are they mentally tough enough and if not why not. It's seems like a problem that Micko had, Andy has (i.e. Kildare match) & now u21s have it. Why is it not being addressed? Who's responsibility is it? What needs to be done?

kellsman (Meath) - Posts: 4 - 23/02/2017 20:44:20    1960042

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Replying To kellsman:  "Having been at the game yesterday, there are many positives. We should have won it even tho we were missing some many quality players, not just numbers but players who will play for Snrs. There is a 'however', so here it is...However what worried me was our collapse when Conlon was carded. We retreated into a shell and made fundamental errors. These players looked physically in good shape but are they mentally prepared, are they mentally tough enough and if not why not. It's seems like a problem that Micko had, Andy has (i.e. Kildare match) & now u21s have it. Why is it not being addressed? Who's responsibility is it? What needs to be done?"
Kellsman i think you hit the nail on the head with your" however" Indeed there can be no doubt that our football teams lack mental toughness for several years now. Teams prepared by Boylan had it in abundance,almost without exception. So that suggests the deficiency lies in coaching in my view. Will reserve judgement on Andy for now,as it is too early to judge. In political language the exit polls don;t look great,,however lets wait.
The county board would of course have ultimate responsibility for addressing any ongoing shortcomings. That would not mean changing the coach as being the only solution. Rather the coach is given the required assistance to meet a need ,just like in any other walk of life. I would think the end of this season would be the optimum time to take stock of this long standing vitally critical shortcoming.

nobull456 (Meath) - Posts: 1211 - 23/02/2017 22:10:02    1960070

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Is seems to me that the management can't do right with some people, no matter what they do.
If they play a load of the minors from three years ago, lads will accuse them of focussing on players already in the system, and ignoring the late developers who never played county minor. If they leave the county minors off, lads will slate them for ignoring proven county footballers who have come up through the development system.
Play a load of lads from the top club U-21 sides, and they will be accused of ignoring players from the weaker (north meath) teams. Play the lads from Moynalty and Moylagh and Meath Hill, and they will be slated for leaving off lads who are playing senior club football.
If they leave lads on the bench who have just come back from injury, they will get stick for not playing their best 15. If they play them, they get stick for leaving off lads who played well on the team earlier in the year, and never let them down.
They just can't win with some people.
The u-21 competition can be fairly harsh - no back door, so one sub-standard performance and you are gone, That is unfortunately what happened. But considering the players that were missing, they did ok, and are a little unlucky to be out at such an early stage.

I also don't understand why people think we have a divine right to beat the likes of Westmeath at any grade, but especially at minor or U-21. Some people seem to have the attitude that if we lose to teams like that, we must have done something seriously wrong. That if we have the right coaching in place, the natural ability of the Meath footballer will prevail. But these other counties can produce good players too. And the concepts of good coaching, and fitness, and tactics are not some great secret that only the traditional counties know about, The likes of Westmeath and others can, and usually do, coach their young players well. So there is no reason, apart from history, why we should expect to always beat these other counties.

anfearbeag (Meath) - Posts: 1134 - 23/02/2017 22:47:07    1960079

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Not Surprised at all with the result, the team reflects what kind of outcome we were likely to receive. I honestly believe that come championship any manager should be starting his best team regardless of age, if they have the ability they should be on the pitch. But the problem here is that Two age groups ( current under21s and under 20s) were clearly put to one side to make way for guys who were part of last years minor team. Barry and his management have been streets ahead of recent 21s managers with there preparations which started 5 months ago meticulous but honestly there selection process, was nothing short of insanity!

MEATHTECH1243 (Meath) - Posts: 5 - 24/02/2017 08:12:36    1960118

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Replying To AthboyCelt:  "Yeah totally agree - surprised that Conlon wasn't playing last night - maybe was tired from playing Sunday but why wouldn't Meath look for a deferral?. Ridiculous playing these matches in Feb anyway, Meath's record in this grade has been abysmal for a long while so maybe a blessing that this grade is going."
AthboyCelt, if you were at the game you would have seen Banty in with the team but on crutches due to an injury sustained in Croke Park on Sunday.

jackhackett (Meath) - Posts: 773 - 24/02/2017 08:36:57    1960125

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Well said an fear beag... A lot of people on here react way over the top to these things. We were missing some of our top players and lost to Westmeath away on a very wet night due to an unfortunate goal and people straight away blame management and player mentality and other things... on another night we would have won and all would be rosey..but now we are in crisis again from the top to bottom....very fickle on here

sam1996 (Meath) - Posts: 436 - 24/02/2017 08:37:37    1960126

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Although this result is disappointing I wouldn't be too downbeat or jumping to conclusions about this bunch of players and management team. The U21s has always been a fairly Mickey Mouse grade anyway and the GAA were right to scrap it and make it U20s. The idea of all this training being a grand waste of time is also nonsense. These guys are going back to their clubs in the shape of their lives and are now ready to hit the ground running. Also is good experience for the guys who had never played minor before who in fairness played their part in the Hastings and also against Westmeath. Having watched the games it's clear to see what Barry and the lads are trying to do, high pressing starting high up the pitch and trying to turnover the play. Can really see a few players making the step up in a few years, some sticky backs and dangerous forwards is what we need and I think this team possesses a few.

Vladputin (Meath) - Posts: 6 - 24/02/2017 09:35:11    1960142

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Replying To anfearbeag:  "Is seems to me that the management can't do right with some people, no matter what they do.
If they play a load of the minors from three years ago, lads will accuse them of focussing on players already in the system, and ignoring the late developers who never played county minor. If they leave the county minors off, lads will slate them for ignoring proven county footballers who have come up through the development system.
Play a load of lads from the top club U-21 sides, and they will be accused of ignoring players from the weaker (north meath) teams. Play the lads from Moynalty and Moylagh and Meath Hill, and they will be slated for leaving off lads who are playing senior club football.
If they leave lads on the bench who have just come back from injury, they will get stick for not playing their best 15. If they play them, they get stick for leaving off lads who played well on the team earlier in the year, and never let them down.
They just can't win with some people.
The u-21 competition can be fairly harsh - no back door, so one sub-standard performance and you are gone, That is unfortunately what happened. But considering the players that were missing, they did ok, and are a little unlucky to be out at such an early stage.

I also don't understand why people think we have a divine right to beat the likes of Westmeath at any grade, but especially at minor or U-21. Some people seem to have the attitude that if we lose to teams like that, we must have done something seriously wrong. That if we have the right coaching in place, the natural ability of the Meath footballer will prevail. But these other counties can produce good players too. And the concepts of good coaching, and fitness, and tactics are not some great secret that only the traditional counties know about, The likes of Westmeath and others can, and usually do, coach their young players well. So there is no reason, apart from history, why we should expect to always beat these other counties."
You sound just like me, have stated exactly what you have said many times. Agree 100 %

Analyst (Meath) - Posts: 1467 - 24/02/2017 11:22:25    1960179

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Replying To Vladputin:  "Although this result is disappointing I wouldn't be too downbeat or jumping to conclusions about this bunch of players and management team. The U21s has always been a fairly Mickey Mouse grade anyway and the GAA were right to scrap it and make it U20s. The idea of all this training being a grand waste of time is also nonsense. These guys are going back to their clubs in the shape of their lives and are now ready to hit the ground running. Also is good experience for the guys who had never played minor before who in fairness played their part in the Hastings and also against Westmeath. Having watched the games it's clear to see what Barry and the lads are trying to do, high pressing starting high up the pitch and trying to turnover the play. Can really see a few players making the step up in a few years, some sticky backs and dangerous forwards is what we need and I think this team possesses a few."
100% agree, time will tell, but I believe that it is a good group of players who have been very well coached and even the most critical analysis would agree that the manager was exceptionally unlucky with injuries to key players. I was at the game and in fairness everyone agreed, meath were the better team and unfortunately a moment of madness from one player was the turning point. the likes of Clarke, O'Neill, both Conlons , Rowe, Halligan, Jones, Moriarity, o'reilly and a couple more will hopefully have many good days in green in the future

Footnote (Meath) - Posts: 66 - 24/02/2017 12:29:17    1960200

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Replying To Vladputin:  "Although this result is disappointing I wouldn't be too downbeat or jumping to conclusions about this bunch of players and management team. The U21s has always been a fairly Mickey Mouse grade anyway and the GAA were right to scrap it and make it U20s. The idea of all this training being a grand waste of time is also nonsense. These guys are going back to their clubs in the shape of their lives and are now ready to hit the ground running. Also is good experience for the guys who had never played minor before who in fairness played their part in the Hastings and also against Westmeath. Having watched the games it's clear to see what Barry and the lads are trying to do, high pressing starting high up the pitch and trying to turnover the play. Can really see a few players making the step up in a few years, some sticky backs and dangerous forwards is what we need and I think this team possesses a few."
good post

ziggy32001 (Meath) - Posts: 8354 - 24/02/2017 13:00:29    1960206

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Replying To Footnote:  "100% agree, time will tell, but I believe that it is a good group of players who have been very well coached and even the most critical analysis would agree that the manager was exceptionally unlucky with injuries to key players. I was at the game and in fairness everyone agreed, meath were the better team and unfortunately a moment of madness from one player was the turning point. the likes of Clarke, O'Neill, both Conlons , Rowe, Halligan, Jones, Moriarity, o'reilly and a couple more will hopefully have many good days in green in the future"
agreed,look they were seriously dealt huge blows injury wise.Players would have still learned alot from the hastings win and despite all that,if they had 15 men on the field they would be playing next week too.

ziggy32001 (Meath) - Posts: 8354 - 24/02/2017 13:04:47    1960207

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Replying To Footnote:  "100% agree, time will tell, but I believe that it is a good group of players who have been very well coached and even the most critical analysis would agree that the manager was exceptionally unlucky with injuries to key players. I was at the game and in fairness everyone agreed, meath were the better team and unfortunately a moment of madness from one player was the turning point. the likes of Clarke, O'Neill, both Conlons , Rowe, Halligan, Jones, Moriarity, o'reilly and a couple more will hopefully have many good days in green in the future"
Would agree with that.

royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 19449 - 24/02/2017 17:19:38    1960289

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