Dudley Farrell remembers how it felt coming away from Wexford Park last spring. Meath's National League campaign had been extended into the knockout stages, but they had been well beaten and the performance was anything but encouraging. Wexford won by seven points, but when the calculators were produced and the mathematics sorted out; there was some consolation for Meath. They had still done enough to secure their place in Div. 2 for 2008 and were through to the semi-finals - but how the display on that early April day produced groans of disapproval from the travelling supporters. The clock was steadily ticking down to the new management team's first Leinster Championship outing against Kildare and at a time when the side would have been expected to start showing real signs of progress there was a feeling of dejection among the followers. Surely, they couldn't be that bad. Push that same clock forward a few months and Meath were being talked up as potential All-Ireland champions after they had beaten Tyrone at the quarter-final stage. Funny old game and all that. "The performance against Wexford was the lowest point of the year," acknowledged selector Farrell. "I remember coming off the pitch that day and a fellow said to me: 'Don't bring any of them lads to Croke Park to play Kildare'. Those words stuck with me. "I remember we pulled up for a drink on the way home. It was the only time we did it. Nobody wanted to be there. The players and everybody else got a lot of stick after that game and rightly so. We had a long, hard meeting after that and asked ourselves which way did we want to go from there? Did we want to have a year like the year before? Yes, that was the lowest point of the year and a defining moment." But how Meath turned it around from there, as if stung by the criticism, as if they felt they had let themselves down. Sometimes, it takes an experience as painful as that one to kick-start things, to awaken a sense of urgency. Farrell pointed out that he later saw positive signs when Meath travelled to play Sligo at Markievicz Park. "That was the turning point," he said. "We were beginning to improve and the players were starting to believe in themselves at that stage. Self-belief is so important." Of course, Meath ended up winning Div. 2 of the National League, beating Monaghan at the semi-final stage in Croke Park and Roscommon in the final at Breffni Park, but the biggest and most searching challenges lay ahead in the championship where the intensity is so much greater and the stakes so much higher. Farrell recognised that beating Kildare was a huge boost for all concerned, but lying in wait was a hardened Dublin team, with expectations far greater than just another provincial title. The same will apply for them going into 2008 after they fell short of the ultimate prize again this year - only an All-Ireland title will suffice. Meath matched Dublin in the intensity stakes, brought them to two games and but from some dodgy refereeing decisions who knows what might have happened. A victory over Dublin might well have been the big stepping-stone to Leinster glory. Perhaps not. We will never know and it is now a case of consigning it all to history and getting on with it. "We were the only team to run Dublin close in Leinster and they were very relieved to get over us," said Farrell. "The refereeing decisions the first day were crucial to the outcome - Graham's goal being disallowed and the Alan Brogan goal that was allowed. There was absolutely no consistency." Losing to Dublin in the replay was, quite naturally, bitterly disappointing, but manager Colm Coyle and selectors Tommy Dowd and Farrell had surely seen enough in those two tough games to realise that they were heading in the right direction. It was now a matter of refocusing for the challenge presented by the All-Ireland qualifier series - starting with Down. Of course, before that assignment there was the much publicised training ground incident involving Graham Geraghty and his subsequent removal from the county panel until things were successfully patched up and he returned to the delight of his adoring fans. Meath had also been weakened by the decision of Joe Sheridan to withdraw from the panel, so it certainly wasn't the ideal preparation for the back door journey. "After the shenanigans with Graham we were on a hiding to nothing against Down," Farrell added. "It was so important for us to win in Newry and, thankfully, we did. "Fermanagh have been a bogey team for Meath and beating them in Navan got a monkey off our back, though we didn't play well in that match." The heat was turned up considerably next time out as Galway stood in the way of an All-Ireland quarter-final place. This always had the makings of a game that would provide a more accurate indication of where Meath stood at that stage, of how much progress they had made under the guidance of the new management team. The hard-earned victory proved just how far they had come and that man Geraghty was back, coming on as a substitute and scoring a point in the 2-14 to 1-14 win. "We were moving up a notch when we played Galway in Portlaoise, but the belief was really there in the lads," Farrell said. "We knew that after we had lost to Dublin. I remember we went to the beach the night after that game against Dublin. I wondered how many players would turn up, but they were there to a man. "It was very encouraging to hear experienced players like Darren and Graham saying there was a lot more in this team. The Galway game was the first time that we were really tested in the qualifiers. The character in the team really came through in that game and that was very encouraging to see. "They had given us a drubbing in the league the year before, so this was a really good win. The feeling in the camp after the Galway game was that we could match any of them. There was no fear and you need that." Then came the performance that really made people all over the country stand up and take note. Meath were being talked of as possible champions after beating Tyrone in the quarter-final and expectations got out of hand among many supporters. "Against Tyrone we played some of the best football produced by a Meath team in many a year," Farrell added. "That was a really good performance. Everybody was jumping on the bandwagon after that win, but we just never came out of the traps in the semi-final against Cork. "It was like a virus running through the team that day. I thought Caoimhin King's block that ended up in a goal for Cork just about summed it all up. But overall it was a fantastic year." Fantastic it was and the progress made was far greater than the vast majority of people would have expected. But Farrell wasn't so surprised by how well the championship campaign worked out. "I wasn't surprised by the level of progress we showed this year," he commented. "I always believed that the players were there. It was just a matter of getting it out of them. It was a new management set-up and players can feel nervous when there is a new regime in place. We gave a lot of lads a chance and that was important." Looking to the challenges that lie ahead, strengthening the panel is obviously going to be a priority. The vast majority of this year's panel will still be there, including old stagers like Geraghty and Fay, but a few additions are always welcome. "There are still a few of the under-21s and some of the minor team that won the Leinster Championship last year who could come in," Farrell said. "We will have to sit down and look at that. My firm belief is that you should keep the panel open at both ends. That's important." After the improvement demonstrated in 2007 and despite the heavy loss to Cork, expectations will be considerably higher next year than they have been in more recent years. Young players like Shane O'Rourke and Chris O'Connor showed this year that they represent the future of Meath football - a very bright future hopefully. But what is a realistic target for next year? "We want to get promoted in the National League again and have one hell of a crack at the Leinster Championship," added Farrell. "This team is not the finished article yet. We are still building. It takes time." Tweet

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