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'Yous just got lucky wait till Louth get a hold of yous in Croke Park'- some Louth fan getting annoyed at Meath beating Derry a team Louth will likely be bet well against
Dunshaughlin4keegan (Meath) - Posts: 23 - 24/01/2026 22:50:51
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Replying To southmeathgael: "There is a serious gameplan there, and i hope you arent saying off the cuff is a negative. Its our off the cuff players that have us back heading towards where we want to be. Derry had 1, we had about 5. Derrys over powering gameplan was the reason they looked so overcoached and couldn't score unless right in front of goal bar a couple of shots. Meath have a clear ganeplan and then im quiet happy to let Morris costello kinsella conlon play the way they want when they get the ball, if they make a mistake so be it" I am generally positive about meath but also pragmatic and fair. You are twisting my words about the intention of the team vs abilities of our flair players.
A game plan for me would be more along the lines of Jordan Morris is our most dangerous player Matthew Costello is our most intuitive goal manufacturing threat how do we get them on the ball more. Off the cuff players are class they have magic but Game plans aren't let's hope they do some magic, it is more the intention of the team as a unit to get those guys on the ball. I'm sure there is one there but it's just not obvious to me now, we have have very good half backs and half forwards who are good transition players and they can now hold their with the top teams for possession ball around the middle but at the end of the day all their hard work has to be ultimately to get the full forward line into shooting positions.
royalcounty1 (Meath) - Posts: 40 - 24/01/2026 22:52:46
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Replying To southmeathgael: "There is a serious gameplan there, and i hope you arent saying off the cuff is a negative. Its our off the cuff players that have us back heading towards where we want to be. Derry had 1, we had about 5. Derrys over powering gameplan was the reason they looked so overcoached and couldn't score unless right in front of goal bar a couple of shots. Meath have a clear ganeplan and then im quiet happy to let Morris costello kinsella conlon play the way they want when they get the ball, if they make a mistake so be it" 100%. And it fills the creative players with massive belief. Two quotes that sum it up.
"Well, I think it's going to take several years to build a team here, so I think it might take five years. So I think I'll go to the county board and ask them to give me five years as a minimum thing,"
"It's okay to have expectations if you're in a Meath jersey. There should be expectation on you to perform and meet the high standards"
One is our manager 18 months ago, one is our current manager post Derry game. Which one would fill you with more belief as a player?
I am extremely positive about the direction we are going. We gave away 22 turnovers, won less than 50% of our own kickout, threw in a goal and beat a team full of double Ulster and national league winners.
Onto Cavan, let's take care of business
LeitrimRoyal99 (Meath) - Posts: 1575 - 25/01/2026 01:00:29
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Really good performance today i thought our full back line were exceptional when derry had somewhat of a grip on the game .. coffey had another great performance covered serious ground and turned over important balls.. caulfield had a slow start but worked his way into the game and probably had one of our best performances … jack flynn was different class and really showed that we missed him last year…same as conlon when he came on showed that he is probably the best forward in the county when fit…. Will come down to a shootout between us and Tyrone in league final
Royal0809 (Meath) - Posts: 1 - 25/01/2026 02:42:14
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I thought our subs played a huge part in yesterdays win. In particular Cian McBride who looked a real presence in Midfield fielding a couple of kickouts at vital times. Our forwards didnt really fire so it makes the win even more impressive. I Liked the way we ran it out of defence at speed on a few occasions. More of this and a Jordan Morris, Eoin Frayne & Mathew Costelloe in full flow we will be a match any team in the country.
Northroyal55 (Meath) - Posts: 14 - 25/01/2026 11:39:29
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Replying To royalcounty1: "I am generally positive about meath but also pragmatic and fair. You are twisting my words about the intention of the team vs abilities of our flair players.
A game plan for me would be more along the lines of Jordan Morris is our most dangerous player Matthew Costello is our most intuitive goal manufacturing threat how do we get them on the ball more. Off the cuff players are class they have magic but Game plans aren't let's hope they do some magic, it is more the intention of the team as a unit to get those guys on the ball. I'm sure there is one there but it's just not obvious to me now, we have have very good half backs and half forwards who are good transition players and they can now hold their with the top teams for possession ball around the middle but at the end of the day all their hard work has to be ultimately to get the full forward line into shooting positions." Fair points . Its all good problems to have compared to 2 years ago I suppose
southmeathgael (Meath) - Posts: 1047 - 25/01/2026 14:20:50
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Replying To southmeathgael: "Fair points . Its all good problems to have compared to 2 years ago I suppose" Exactly...........So far have to admire Robbie &Co for the atmoshere in the camp,and the renewed optimism within the county. Imazing what an atmoshere of encouragement can bring .
He has work still to do of course...How can Mathew Costello and Jordan Morris be more involved in play and prevent fading in and out. Both men are top players with more in the tank in each case . I do believe Costello will prove a lond term answer to midfield because of his fielding ability,speed of attack . I expect to see us develop the quick change to attack from defence with further confidence building. Our defence coach will insist on closer marking in defence .Yesterday 1st half worth looking at the video for improvement .Nothing new of course stating the obvious highlighting shortcomings to help structure training sessions All in all refreshing to again see light at the end of a long tunnel and blaming someone else seems almost redundant .Players need and deserve encouragement to reach their potential. Well done to all so far. Great to begin to see again that Meath can be a team to make things happen as opposed to what looked like a team to whom things happened i.e. the victims. No doubt tougher times ahead, but you get the feeling we will be ready for that.
nobull456 (Meath) - Posts: 1293 - 25/01/2026 17:26:39
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Replying To winatallcost: "Very important win and some excellant performances with Flynn the obvious one but O'Halloran, Coffey and Caulfield were excellant in defence and McBride had a huge impact off the bench. Thought Morris and Frayne were lively with limited ball while Conlon was buzzing around when he came in. Conditions were tough for our silky skillful players like Costello and Kinsella and both will be better. Kinsella just back and good he got through most of game. The really good thing is that the squad is building nicely and this will be crucial with games coming thick and fast. On to Breffni park next weekend for another winter football battle so all the squad and management will have to be ready for another fight." Thought O'Halloran was exceptional in the FB line on a day where Lavin & Raff were off the mark to a degree. I still feel we are very exposed back there and some of our body language was poor/getting side stepped too easy by falling for dummies/diving in. All fixable problems though.
Royalroyal97 (Meath) - Posts: 18 - 25/01/2026 22:25:52
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Does anyone know the full panel list apart from the 26 who played on Saturday and then Conor Gray, Cathal Hickey, Keith Curtis and Finn Moore?
Dunshaughlin4keegan (Meath) - Posts: 23 - 27/01/2026 16:43:03
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Replying To Royalroyal97: "Thought O'Halloran was exceptional in the FB line on a day where Lavin & Raff were off the mark to a degree. I still feel we are very exposed back there and some of our body language was poor/getting side stepped too easy by falling for dummies/diving in. All fixable problems though." I tried to post something yesterday but for some reason it didn't go through! I agree with you O'Halloran was very good and the pick of the full back line in my opinion! I thought the half back line performed well too! Mixed performances up front with none of the forwards really standing out but they did perform well as a collective! Matthew Costello will get better as the season goes on an Morris's class was there to see and will probably get better as the season progresses!
But mid field - up against Glass and Rogers - I thought Mento and Flynn really came out on top! Flynn was outstanding - seven points in a game like this is a great return for a midfielder!
Last thing I'd say - I thought Brennan did really well in goal! Despite the fumble for the goal, he made two great finger tip saves and he scored an absolute gem of a two pointer from miles out! His kick outs were good too!!
Cavan will be stung by losing a big lead to Cork -s o expecting a tough game at the weekend - but we are 100% on the right track!!
Royalblufill (Meath) - Posts: 540 - 27/01/2026 17:05:33
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I am looking forward to the game this weekend. We did very well to keep the composure against Derry when they were on top at the start of both halves.
I felt we had quite a lot of cohesion across the park at certain times but there was some of the very off the cuff stuff as mentioned by other posters. Given that it was terrible conditions and first day out I would expect us to be a bit more refined as the league continues.
It is probably hard to gauge how good/bad Derry are at the moment and only time will tell. They certainly have the players but are just in desperate need of a win. Still, we have struggled so badly with Ulster opposition for 25 years and it's good to get a scalp like that under the belt.
This is a very tight division and conditions on the day will probably be a deciding factor. I would be hopeful that the forwards have more to offer and can go up another gear and share scoring a bit more amongst themselves.
Fair play to Sean Brennan for keeping his cool. It was a howler of a goal to concede but that could have happened to anyone in those conditions. He did well with his saves which came at important periods of the match and he took his 2 pointer well. I also thought his kickouts were on the money in what was a very competitive midfield.
The focus for Cavan must be to keep plugging away amd keep the momentum going. They will be a tricky side but hopefully we can kill the game as soon as possible (tough now with the 2pters). Every single game is going to be a difficult dogfight and Cavan will be up for it as always. From recollection, they were extremely competitive with us last year but we managed a couple of goals and ended up winning by a bigger margin than what was reflected in match itself.
Keep it going lads.
Royalio11 (Meath) - Posts: 814 - 27/01/2026 17:50:11
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On the Derry match, Brennan was excellent, kicked a great point and pulled off a couple of good saves but the goal was criminal, we can't do that in an All Ireland quarter final or semi final. I feel like Brennan will jump between his name sake and Hogan for the league.
Fullback line was solid without being spectacular. Bit loose on McGuigan and again you might only get away with that in early league rounds.
Great performance from all the half backs, drove at Derry when they turned them over and Coffey was all over the pitch.
Flynn was exceptional, it brings a new dimension to our attack, his ability to drive at teams and kick 2 pointers will mean teams have to go an mark him a little more. I think Glass and Rogers underestimated him and but Menton and O Neill done a lot of donkey work that probably goes unnoticed.
Costello was good and kicked his fress well. Kinsella was quiet but that is to be expected with his first match in a number of weeks. Duke worked hard and was good in position and never gave the ball away.
We played with virtually a 2 man full forward line for most of the match, Derry had set up getting back players to cut off the supply line to Morris in particular. This allowed us to use our running game and kick two pointers, we nailed 5 but hit another 3 or 4 wide.
I don't know much about this Cavan side, they will be very familiar with Morris and how good he is. They will also know they can't sit off us and allow us to kick two pointers. I still don't think teams will have fully clicked into our running game, last year we were far more direct but at the minute we're a lot more structured especially if a team sits back. We have a lot of big powerful men around the middle which will cause problems for teams. It is great that we can go direct and play off the cuff with kick pass after kick pass and then score but that will only get us so far as teams will start to snuff that out so being able to switch it up will allow us be less predictable.
I reckon the team will come down to how lads get on this week in Sigerson, hopefully all our lads progress and come through with no injuries.
UsernameInvalid (Meath) - Posts: 463 - 27/01/2026 19:07:26
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Replying To UsernameInvalid: "On the Derry match, Brennan was excellent, kicked a great point and pulled off a couple of good saves but the goal was criminal, we can't do that in an All Ireland quarter final or semi final. I feel like Brennan will jump between his name sake and Hogan for the league.
Fullback line was solid without being spectacular. Bit loose on McGuigan and again you might only get away with that in early league rounds.
Great performance from all the half backs, drove at Derry when they turned them over and Coffey was all over the pitch.
Flynn was exceptional, it brings a new dimension to our attack, his ability to drive at teams and kick 2 pointers will mean teams have to go an mark him a little more. I think Glass and Rogers underestimated him and but Menton and O Neill done a lot of donkey work that probably goes unnoticed.
Costello was good and kicked his fress well. Kinsella was quiet but that is to be expected with his first match in a number of weeks. Duke worked hard and was good in position and never gave the ball away.
We played with virtually a 2 man full forward line for most of the match, Derry had set up getting back players to cut off the supply line to Morris in particular. This allowed us to use our running game and kick two pointers, we nailed 5 but hit another 3 or 4 wide.
I don't know much about this Cavan side, they will be very familiar with Morris and how good he is. They will also know they can't sit off us and allow us to kick two pointers. I still don't think teams will have fully clicked into our running game, last year we were far more direct but at the minute we're a lot more structured especially if a team sits back. We have a lot of big powerful men around the middle which will cause problems for teams. It is great that we can go direct and play off the cuff with kick pass after kick pass and then score but that will only get us so far as teams will start to snuff that out so being able to switch it up will allow us be less predictable.
I reckon the team will come down to how lads get on this week in Sigerson, hopefully all our lads progress and come through with no injuries." I agree. The engines we have in the middle 8 in particular and the ones coming off the bench is second to none. A huge positive for us. I disagree about our FB being solid. I still think we get side stepped a bit too easy. O'Halloran made some vital interceptions when Raf or Lavin were bet. I can see changes being made in there but still early days. We need to be tighter and more compacted across there in my opinion & plenty of practice marking some of the best forwards at training every week
Royalroyal97 (Meath) - Posts: 18 - 27/01/2026 22:40:32
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A few days out from Saturday, and a great start. Hard to know where Derry are at, but they've been operating at a good level for the last few years. We were fairly comfortable, outside of the goal and the slow start, we were miles the better team.
Sean Brennan was very solid, howler for the goal, but let's give him the benefit of the doubt because of the weather. Made at least 2 good saves. Billy Hogan let in a couple of goals last year he really shouldn't have, particularly against Louth, so maybe Brennan will be an improvement on that.
Conditions were tough Saturday and we were guilty of overplaying it a bit at times, and were turned over. Jack Flynn was excellent, but took too much out of the ball a few times - he beat his bad, did all the hard work and gave it away poorly. But that been said, his frees were outstanding and general play earned him a deserved MOTM.
McBride mad a massive difference coming on, colossal presence. Went toe to toe with Conor Glass and finally we saw glimpses of the athlete we thought he could be. Morris' 2 pointer at the start of the 2nd was sublime too. Frayne and Costello were quiet and Kinsella looked assured on the ball. Conditions made it tough for any bit of flair to come out.
We go to Cavan as probably favourites but they should have beaten Cork, and clearly are a good team on their day. Hopefully we can carry the form through.
Squad depth is probably the biggest thing for me that we've improved on over the last few years, our bench is really strong and we have genuine impact players coming off the bench. A win Sunday and we are truly pushing for promotion
Cabbagepatch1667 (Meath) - Posts: 114 - 28/01/2026 13:37:06
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Great day out last saturday and great to see them backing up last years performances against a strong team like Derry.
This year will be seriously interesting to see how teams come out to play us as i think some teams last year we had a bit of the element of surprise.
But on their day this group have the ability to rattle anyone and the great thing about it is there is real competition for places across the board.
Irish_downunder (Meath) - Posts: 666 - 28/01/2026 16:13:46
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Anyone know if Conor Gray is injured?
Not playing or even togged for Maynooth tonight
Dunshaughlin4keegan (Meath) - Posts: 23 - 28/01/2026 20:39:52
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Replying To Dunshaughlin4keegan: "Anyone know if Conor Gray is injured?
Not playing or even togged for Maynooth tonight" The official match report says he started the game and was subbed in extra time https://www.gaa.ie/article/electric-ireland-sigerson-cup-ul-edge-out-maynooth
jetser (Meath) - Posts: 86 - 29/01/2026 10:57:18
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Replying To Cabbagepatch1667: "A few days out from Saturday, and a great start. Hard to know where Derry are at, but they've been operating at a good level for the last few years. We were fairly comfortable, outside of the goal and the slow start, we were miles the better team.
Sean Brennan was very solid, howler for the goal, but let's give him the benefit of the doubt because of the weather. Made at least 2 good saves. Billy Hogan let in a couple of goals last year he really shouldn't have, particularly against Louth, so maybe Brennan will be an improvement on that.
Conditions were tough Saturday and we were guilty of overplaying it a bit at times, and were turned over. Jack Flynn was excellent, but took too much out of the ball a few times - he beat his bad, did all the hard work and gave it away poorly. But that been said, his frees were outstanding and general play earned him a deserved MOTM.
McBride mad a massive difference coming on, colossal presence. Went toe to toe with Conor Glass and finally we saw glimpses of the athlete we thought he could be. Morris' 2 pointer at the start of the 2nd was sublime too. Frayne and Costello were quiet and Kinsella looked assured on the ball. Conditions made it tough for any bit of flair to come out.
We go to Cavan as probably favourites but they should have beaten Cork, and clearly are a good team on their day. Hopefully we can carry the form through.
Squad depth is probably the biggest thing for me that we've improved on over the last few years, our bench is really strong and we have genuine impact players coming off the bench. A win Sunday and we are truly pushing for promotion" To be fair, i agree totally and the bench is in good nick, but we're still crying out for that one fella you can unleash on a danger man and tell him, "don't let him breathe." The proper glue-type marker. At the minute, Rafferty is probably our best bet, but he's busy minding the house at the back. Hard to be a shadow and hold the fort at the same time
Holymoly#6 (Meath) - Posts: 39 - 29/01/2026 11:40:11
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Ronan Jones is still a big loss, even with the improvement in squad depth.
I really hope we see him back soon and the current injury isn't too bad. Without him, there would have been no big days out last year. We would not have beaten the Dubs without him, and everything followed from there.
Spoofer (Meath) - Posts: 60 - 29/01/2026 12:33:30
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Replying To Spoofer: "Ronan Jones is still a big loss, even with the improvement in squad depth.
I really hope we see him back soon and the current injury isn't too bad. Without him, there would have been no big days out last year. We would not have beaten the Dubs without him, and everything followed from there." Had a set back with his hamstring, probably won't see him for the rest of the league.
contributingtoamelee (Meath) - Posts: 81 - 29/01/2026 13:50:30
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