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Meath Forum

Fear of Dublin

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We were just embarrassed by a Dublin team who played most of the match in second gear. They toyed with us. I don't want to slate any lads so I won't name names, I don't think it's right- BUT Apart from one or two of our forwards surely other people feel we need more pace? Full forward line was so slow. Surely lads like the two wallaces and McMahon should have played at least some part in the match to inject some pace up there. I know there's others just as capable as well. I don't like comparing Meath to Dublin, but there isn't a slow Dublin forward, not one. We need quicker players, end of. For most lads out there I would say they showed passion in the jersey, good tackles and blocks were made. The inexperience of the team showed though in the poor decision making. Even the continued system of having 3 or 4 sweepers when 8 points down showed our poor leadership. Someone should have stepped up and grabbed the game by the scruff and get us going. What we did tonight, That's not going out to win, that's trying to limit the damage. And yes it's partly down to O'Dowd but he still needs more match winners in his squad. Hurts to say but Meath are afraid of Dublin. No point in denying it. I know there's good work going on at underage and hopefully it will begin to show, we currently are strong at all ages with our development squads and I'd like to think they'll come up the rank with a bit more arrogance then our current group. This is Meath, we need to remind the rest of the country of that. BagglesMc (Meath) - Posts: 6 - 26/06/2016 22:59:35 1872490 Link
Management is a huge problem. Poor tactically,team nowhere fit enough,no belief from management to players and this is after 4 years.no structure either.How long do we continue with this farce? ziggy32001 (Meath) - Posts: 8354 - 26/06/2016 23:44:54 1872509 Link
No management team would have saved you from the inevitable battering you got in fairness. 10 points in it and for the final 20 minutes it was just a possession game with no real urgency to punish you on the scoreboard as the job was done. Reilly scored 3 good points, But he, and the rest of his team-mates lack a serious amount of balls when the going gets tough. Where are the leaders ? Look at the Reilly/Connolly incident. Derm gets a kick and gets up and shoves reilly to the ground. Now, I'm not saying Reilly should have got up and smashed Derms head in obviously, But when Derm stood up to him, He wimped away. And none of his team-mates stood up for him. It was gutless. Where was the passion ? No Meath man should be letting a Dub push them around like that. A Meath player up until 2012 or 13 even would have been straight in to stick up for one another in a situation like that leading to a few handbags but at least youd see they've got one anothers backs. Not today. You hadn't the stomach for it, And we weren't even close to the incredibly high standards we set ourselves. waynoI (Dublin) - Posts: 13650 - 27/06/2016 00:54:32 1872527 Link
Replying To waynoI: "No management team would have saved you from the inevitable battering you got in fairness. 10 points in it and for the final 20 minutes it was just a possession game with no real urgency to punish you on the scoreboard as the job was done. Reilly scored 3 good points, But he, and the rest of his team-mates lack a serious amount of balls when the going gets tough. Where are the leaders ? Look at the Reilly/Connolly incident. Derm gets a kick and gets up and shoves reilly to the ground. Now, I'm not saying Reilly should have got up and smashed Derms head in obviously, But when Derm stood up to him, He wimped away. And none of his team-mates stood up for him. It was gutless. Where was the passion ? No Meath man should be letting a Dub push them around like that. A Meath player up until 2012 or 13 even would have been straight in to stick up for one another in a situation like that leading to a few handbags but at least youd see they've got one anothers backs. Not today. You hadn't the stomach for it, And we weren't even close to the incredibly high standards we set ourselves." Waynol........I think you might be on a bit of a wind up......Dublin are a very good team,and the best around at present. This runs in cycles.Dublin could not touch us in the 80s and early 90s. Our players are not good enough to compete against Dublin at present as visa versa in our era. I dont know how much more you can get out of it. Enjoy your stay at the top. It wont last forever.As in the past most likely it will be the royals will bring ye back down.We are just not ready YET. nobull456 (Meath) - Posts: 1210 - 27/06/2016 11:43:07 1872664 Link
I understand its very easy saying it in a forum but the Biggy/Connolly incident was an opportunity to get down and dirty with them. Get a row going, the blood pumping and see what happens. I'm afraid that Dub on here is right. GoalsWinGames (Meath) - Posts: 303 - 27/06/2016 12:02:39 1872678 Link
Replying To nobull456: "Waynol........I think you might be on a bit of a wind up......Dublin are a very good team,and the best around at present. This runs in cycles.Dublin could not touch us in the 80s and early 90s. Our players are not good enough to compete against Dublin at present as visa versa in our era. I dont know how much more you can get out of it. Enjoy your stay at the top. It wont last forever.As in the past most likely it will be the royals will bring ye back down.We are just not ready YET." Only difference is that in the late 80's and early 90's dublin v meath was always competitive. We are getting to the stage now where a double digit defeat of meath is par for the course. Yes it goes in cycles but will it be meath that knocks dublin of it's perch. Looking at yesterday I have some doubts. A change of manager might work but it won't happen overnight. Saying the first half performance from meath was decent completely overlooks the difference in class that exists. Meath need a strategy which aims towards building through the underage structures. A win over dublin in the minor is a starting point but if it is only in isolation it means nothing. A proud footballing county with a huge tradition should be doing better. Simply not good enough and MOD is now 4 years into his term and he is still talking about building, the youth and inexperience of the panel etc. etc., which is ridiculous. Injuries have not helped but all counties have to deal with them. He decided early into his term that he was going a certain route with the make up of the panel and players like joe sheridan, cian ward, brian farrell were deemed surplus to the requirements but has it worked? Has the panel developed under his tenure? Are the players just of a standard that is not good enough when pitted against the top teams? Are there better players in the county? Meath have not managed to get into Div 1 of the league which was one of his objectives. They won 2 games in Div 2, their championship record over the last 4 years is modest to say the very least. In 2009/2010, dublin reached a point where the team could not go any further. PAt Gilroy came in and searched the county high up and low down for players and they were found. Allied to this the underage structures were starting to reap rewards and now is the fruition of this. Meath can return to the top table, when I don't know but surely to God a meath team has the fire in their belly to at least put 70 mins of football together under this management at some stage. Beating Derry is possible with a subsequent run in the qualifiers but as soon as a team of the stature of the DIV 1 teams is met then I fear that will be the end for this current management. Don't get me wrong the blame cannot be totally laid at their door. For instance when is the last time a meath team performed in the leinster senior club championship? Vincents and Ballybodeen have both won all-irelands in the last few years and they have Connolly and McCauley on the senior inter-county team. Adamski (Dublin) - Posts: 339 - 27/06/2016 12:31:37 1872696 Link
Not sure I agree with the teams going in cycles, true up to recently, but Dublin have all the structures (professional in all but name) in place to insure they stay at top table for foreseeable future. If we wait for cycle to turn we are in for a very long and barren spell. Division one is a must, if it means peaking early in year so be it, until we start playing top tier teams every game we cannot expect to suddenly raise our game once a year to play Dublin. Our lads must be exposed to a higher intensity and skill level on a regular basis. seadog54 (Meath) - Posts: 2135 - 27/06/2016 12:54:14 1872710 Link
Replying To seadog54: "Not sure I agree with the teams going in cycles, true up to recently, but Dublin have all the structures (professional in all but name) in place to insure they stay at top table for foreseeable future. If we wait for cycle to turn we are in for a very long and barren spell. Division one is a must, if it means peaking early in year so be it, until we start playing top tier teams every game we cannot expect to suddenly raise our game once a year to play Dublin. Our lads must be exposed to a higher intensity and skill level on a regular basis." We have a great chance of promotion next year with a new management setup ziggy32001 (Meath) - Posts: 8354 - 27/06/2016 13:18:05 1872739 Link
@BagglesMc - I dont think thats a fair statement to say we were afraid of Dublin. The lads filled the Jersey to the best of there ability. As you said some of the tackling and commitment was top class. The biggest difference is strength and fitness , You cant get away from it - they are miles ahead on that count. Im not even sure why they are so far ahead, perhaps the base level is much higher coming from there club game. I do also agree with you on our forwards or lack of them. We used to always have a steady stream of scoring forwards. A change in management or tactics might give us an extra 10% but in truth we are probably 30-40 percent off where Dublin are now. greenrow (Meath) - Posts: 44 - 27/06/2016 13:23:02 1872747 Link
Replying To greenrow: "@BagglesMc - I dont think thats a fair statement to say we were afraid of Dublin. The lads filled the Jersey to the best of there ability. As you said some of the tackling and commitment was top class. The biggest difference is strength and fitness , You cant get away from it - they are miles ahead on that count. Im not even sure why they are so far ahead, perhaps the base level is much higher coming from there club game. I do also agree with you on our forwards or lack of them. We used to always have a steady stream of scoring forwards. A change in management or tactics might give us an extra 10% but in truth we are probably 30-40 percent off where Dublin are now." Nobody is saying we are as good as Dublin but we have to do as good as we can,it is not happening under MOD. ziggy32001 (Meath) - Posts: 8354 - 27/06/2016 13:30:46 1872750 Link
I believe meath aren't that far off Dublin call me mad but I saw some positives. We've a young team that needs time to develop with the right management in place I can see us competing. Dublin went through the same problem's for years before they had their brake through and have since developed into a very consistent team and confident in there squads ability. I'd like to see a manager worry more about what his team can do as apposed the opposition. Mods game plan showed how little confidence he has in the team sure you beaten before you ever take the field. My point is we've to instill belief in our players and game plan and bring that our games. Our tradition is a kicking game and man for man why change that just because everyone else is doing it. Eventually the game will change and everyone will copy we've done that and are getting nowhere. How did boylan do it? With a plan and utter belief in his players. At the end of the day it's 15 v 15 username.if (Meath) - Posts: 67 - 27/06/2016 14:04:49 1872770 Link
greenrow -without change we are going nowhere fast even though some of the names mentioned recently may be no better. Adamski a good post but I do not agree with you on club comment. When we are at best late 80's early 90's we never won a Leinster club let alone AI club. Donegal the same. In Dublin any club who wins the club championship can win AI club- their club pick is greater than Leitrim or Fermanagh. And ye may not have won the AI club this year without the Donegal keeper and a bit of ref luck against the Tipperary team! Guys posting about 'passion' , getting a 'row going' and 'not fit enough' must be on magic mushrooms- could I have some please? browncows (Meath) - Posts: 2342 - 27/06/2016 14:45:12 1872797 Link
Replying To browncows: "greenrow -without change we are going nowhere fast even though some of the names mentioned recently may be no better. Adamski a good post but I do not agree with you on club comment. When we are at best late 80's early 90's we never won a Leinster club let alone AI club. Donegal the same. In Dublin any club who wins the club championship can win AI club- their club pick is greater than Leitrim or Fermanagh. And ye may not have won the AI club this year without the Donegal keeper and a bit of ref luck against the Tipperary team! Guys posting about 'passion' , getting a 'row going' and 'not fit enough' must be on magic mushrooms- could I have some please?" In fairness browncows if you think that Meath team is fit then you must be already onagic mushroom! Under MOD we've played 13 championship games and I think we've only outscored the opposition in the last 20 mins on 2 or 3 occasions, so something is wrong. Htaem (Meath) - Posts: 8657 - 27/06/2016 15:04:29 1872809 Link
Replying To browncows: "greenrow -without change we are going nowhere fast even though some of the names mentioned recently may be no better. Adamski a good post but I do not agree with you on club comment. When we are at best late 80's early 90's we never won a Leinster club let alone AI club. Donegal the same. In Dublin any club who wins the club championship can win AI club- their club pick is greater than Leitrim or Fermanagh. And ye may not have won the AI club this year without the Donegal keeper and a bit of ref luck against the Tipperary team! Guys posting about 'passion' , getting a 'row going' and 'not fit enough' must be on magic mushrooms- could I have some please?" My point is that meath are not preforming at either club or inter-county level. I am not arguing about whether a donegal goalie was the difference, The bigger picture is that meath are not competing at any level. The juniors were comprehensively beaten by kildare's U-23 team who couldn't even manage to win the leinster. The county champions year after year are not performing in the leinster club and ironically ratoath have provided numerous players to the panel and when they played in the all-ireland club semi-final they were totally outclassed. They haven't won a minor leinster since 2007, I am open to correction on that. Overall the structures have not produced anything like the class of a senior team that can compete at the top level. A very astute meath man told me yesterday that this is the worst meath team he has ever sign and what annoys him even more is the lack of bite /aggression or whatever you want to call it. Adamski (Dublin) - Posts: 339 - 27/06/2016 15:07:41 1872811 Link
Replying To browncows: "greenrow -without change we are going nowhere fast even though some of the names mentioned recently may be no better. Adamski a good post but I do not agree with you on club comment. When we are at best late 80's early 90's we never won a Leinster club let alone AI club. Donegal the same. In Dublin any club who wins the club championship can win AI club- their club pick is greater than Leitrim or Fermanagh. And ye may not have won the AI club this year without the Donegal keeper and a bit of ref luck against the Tipperary team! Guys posting about 'passion' , getting a 'row going' and 'not fit enough' must be on magic mushrooms- could I have some please?" @Browncows work away with the mushrooms plenty going around by the looks of it. I am not sure what you were watching you that led you to believe that the team that won at a canter by 10points was only the same level of fitness than the team that were out on there feet after 45mins. Not forgetting the 2nd half collapse to westmeath last year and Kildare the year before. I was only posing a question about club standards, in truth there are probably a few factors including there underage structures. I think we will have a new manager next year but I am not convinced it will give us that much of a bounce. Fitness, strength and speed are the key - Dublin have all 3. There was one moment yesterday where Ciaran Killkenny won a free in. The build up was interesting as it started with him been chased out by the Meath defense. Textbook stuff from our lads. Mickey Burke even chased him after the ball was gone. but instead of getting involved CK arced around and ran a good 40meters to receive the ball back. completely unmarked. He was duly fouled but the run off the ball was nothing short of amazing. He had the fitness to do the work. That was one of a hundred small pieces that showed there superior fitness. By the way I think we played with loads of passion, I wouldnt fault them in that respect. greenrow (Meath) - Posts: 44 - 27/06/2016 15:16:38 1872822 Link
Replying To greenrow: "@Browncows work away with the mushrooms plenty going around by the looks of it. I am not sure what you were watching you that led you to believe that the team that won at a canter by 10points was only the same level of fitness than the team that were out on there feet after 45mins. Not forgetting the 2nd half collapse to westmeath last year and Kildare the year before. I was only posing a question about club standards, in truth there are probably a few factors including there underage structures. I think we will have a new manager next year but I am not convinced it will give us that much of a bounce. Fitness, strength and speed are the key - Dublin have all 3. There was one moment yesterday where Ciaran Killkenny won a free in. The build up was interesting as it started with him been chased out by the Meath defense. Textbook stuff from our lads. Mickey Burke even chased him after the ball was gone. but instead of getting involved CK arced around and ran a good 40meters to receive the ball back. completely unmarked. He was duly fouled but the run off the ball was nothing short of amazing. He had the fitness to do the work. That was one of a hundred small pieces that showed there superior fitness. By the way I think we played with loads of passion, I wouldnt fault them in that respect." But our fitness doesn't even compare to some teams who are at our level or even worse! ziggy32001 (Meath) - Posts: 8354 - 27/06/2016 15:22:17 1872827 Link
It was a poor game yesterday, but the Meath defence did but in a good performance. Harnan had a good game and showed no fear of Dublin or any of their players. All the talk of Dublin been a super team was away off the mark yesterday. It was Connelly, Brogan and Flynn who played well for the ten minutes to put Meath away at the start of the second half. Once these guy hang up their boots Dublin will be in trouble. They have nice player just like Meath have but it is one of these 3 that consistently grab a game by the scruff when need and drag Dublin over the line. I thought the ref was atrocious yesterday, no advantage played, no allowance made for the slippy conditions on the pitch. Gave very soft frees when compared to David Goff in the Tyrone V Cavan game last week. Yesterdays ref got it hard to keep up with the play as slow as it was, on countless occasions Stephen Cluxton had the ball kicked out and maybe 3 or 4 passes made before the ref even turned around to look at the play as he made his way back to mid field. anto_meath (Meath) - Posts: 108 - 27/06/2016 15:23:19 1872828 Link
Tactics were all wrong and Meath were a beaten docket after the lead went out to 5 points. I for one was not expecting a victory - Dublin are the best. But we did not remain competitive.. gave up. First half Meath did put in some fantastic blocks and tracked back making intelligent interceptions However all that evaporated within 2-3 minutes of the restart which was very disheartening. Royalio11 (Meath) - Posts: 757 - 27/06/2016 18:07:28 1872961 Link
Absolutely clueless yesterday. Dublin scored at will and were miles ahead in every aspect of the game. They thought Meath a lesson and a 30 point win would be more in line with their dominance. With all Mickelson O'Dowds passion he is going nowhere with this team. as was pointed out in an earlier post the Reilly incident was the perfect opportunity to test Dublins metal, but they failed miserably.. From that moment on there was only one winner. As for the Referee it appears that the most important man on the field these days is the referee. The game is ruined by over fussy referee's. Just look at the referee in the first game. Gave a black card then immediately blew the final whistle. If this rubbish continues the GAA will be extinct in 50years. latouche25 (Meath) - Posts: 520 - 27/06/2016 19:22:51 1872995 Link
Replying To Htaem: "In fairness browncows if you think that Meath team is fit then you must be already onagic mushroom! Under MOD we've played 13 championship games and I think we've only outscored the opposition in the last 20 mins on 2 or 3 occasions, so something is wrong." Meath look overtrained to me. Significant injuries over the last few years are indicative of this. bert09 (Meath) - Posts: 1790 - 27/06/2016 20:44:58 1873022 Link