Meath Forum

Meath Vs Westmeath - Leinster SFC Quarter Final

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Replying To gwanyagudthing:  "I wouldn't mind seeing a full back line of Keogan, Rafferty & Ryan. Half back line of Smyth, Coffey & Caulfield."
Id take Rafferty out of full back and play him at center back play Ronan Ryan at full back put Coffey on the wing and Keoghan in the corner instead of OHalloran .
Westmeath walked through the center of us on numerous times today same as louth did last year we need someone at center back that has a bit more physical presence.

Royalmc (Meath) - Posts: 28 - 19/04/2026 23:10:33    2667383

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Adminlove deleting posts from here least meath lads be able to play few club games keep them sharp

Lolou37 (Louth) - Posts: 20 - 19/04/2026 23:11:33    2667384

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Replying To gwanyagudthing:  "I wouldn't mind seeing a full back line of Keogan, Rafferty & Ryan. Half back line of Smyth, Coffey & Caulfield."
From watching today's game, I'd move Keogie back to FB. Didn't think Lavin was as bad as the other two on the FB line. Rafferty may aswell been standing beside Robbie Brennan for some of the 'pressure' he put on the Westmeath lads. A good footballer but he's just not in form and he's getting exposed. Coffeeys legs are needed up and down the pitch so putting him at wing back might suit us better and close off the middle more.

Royalroyal97 (Meath) - Posts: 39 - 19/04/2026 23:32:58    2667392

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Replying To winatallcost:  "Really disappointing on the day and unfortunately huge learnings required and even more frustratingly, failings that were there last year and throughout the league this year unaddressed. To start with Meath took too many pop shots early on when dominating Westmeath kickout. At 2 pts to 1 ahead, McBride had half a goal chance which was saved. Their keeper got badly injured and there was a prolonged stoppage. Brennan who came up for 45 took it from wrong place and much further right than it should have been taken and fluffed it. Westmeath went down the field, got the next score and Brennan's kickouts were either won by Westmeath or taken short, putting the team under serious pressure. Jack Flynn and McBride were dominant at midfield but for some reason our kickouts continued to go short.
Westmeath were continually outworking Meath players around the field with the goals really messy. For both goals the ball hit the ground and a Westmeath player was allowed to pick it up and go again. Fullbackline getting alot of flack but halfbackline just a culpable individually and collectively. Not one of bsck 6 or keeper could be happy today at all.
The first 10 mins of 2nd half was even more disappointing with not the expected fire needed after a poor first half. Changes should have been made at the break.
Anytime Westmeath had possession, we had no hope of overturning them or having pressure on their shots.
We contiuned to make handling errors or taking wrong options. Meath even got it back to 2 pts with a couple of minutes left but again an overcarrying error from Caulfield cost us.
The only positives that can be taken I suppose was the impact of bench while Jack Flynn was by far Meath's best player. Kinsella had a good last 10 minutes and again Banty proved he should start or at least play more than he is currently. Its certainly back to the drawing board and expect a different team and panel being picked for All-Ireland series. Too many good players not having enough involvement while team selection was too consistant throughout league. In the long haul it may be a good thing but a huge bump in the road."
We got it back to two with less than 2 minute left, and they got the kickout off, and we fouled in the corner. If we won today and went on a run, people would cite how the team has been consistent and help us build rather than chopping and changing. What players do you think deserve to come in, and who deserves to come out?

Westmeath should be in Division 2, and Meath are a borderline Division 1/2 side, so I think as disappointing as it is theirs no need for any drastic changes or chops. However, defensively, we need to solve the issues.

Faithfulmeath (Meath) - Posts: 60 - 19/04/2026 23:49:59    2667394

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Replying To gwanyagudthing:  "I wouldn't mind seeing a full back line of Keogan, Rafferty & Ryan. Half back line of Smyth, Coffey & Caulfield."
Changes needed, Jones played for Dunboyne on Friday against Moynalvey and was moving well. While I'm not his biggest fan maybe his physicality could be used at 6. Not sure he has the discipline to be a good 6 but he'd certainly have the physicality and tackling to stop runners coming through. Coffey and Caulfield as wing backs? Agree with your full back line, for as long as I've watched Ronan Ryan play I've never once seen him get roasted by a forward, I think he has some lingering ankle issue which isn't ideal.

Sheridan2010louth (Meath) - Posts: 325 - 20/04/2026 10:01:02    2667428

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Pity we hadn't peader Byrne yd

Borderroyal (Meath) - Posts: 502 - 20/04/2026 10:04:01    2667431

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Replying To Faithfulmeath:  "We got it back to two with less than 2 minute left, and they got the kickout off, and we fouled in the corner. If we won today and went on a run, people would cite how the team has been consistent and help us build rather than chopping and changing. What players do you think deserve to come in, and who deserves to come out?

Westmeath should be in Division 2, and Meath are a borderline Division 1/2 side, so I think as disappointing as it is theirs no need for any drastic changes or chops. However, defensively, we need to solve the issues."
You could change half the team. There was no hunger for the dirty ball, and defensively we were appalling. How could Loughman who is a super footballer be afforded so much space is hard to fathom. What is wrong with being touch tight. Morris was marked out of the game yesterday by and large. How can we not do that to other quality forwards. Banty is simply a better footballer than lynch. Costello should be fit, Ronan Jones has the heart of a lion, he was driving the team forward last year until he got injured against Cavan. After he got injured we struggled badly for the rest of the league. Cathal Hickey is a great worker. There are plenty of good players there. The lads that came in albeit when Westmeath were tiring nearly won it for us. Team bus arrived at 1pm as well. Maybe that's a bit tight. Lads should be down at the grounds and have a walk on the pitch an hour beforehand. Morris gave an interview in the independent talking about Robbie coming in and how they were going to do special things. Save the talking for the pitch. They have loads of ability but they need to focus

atta (Meath) - Posts: 712 - 20/04/2026 11:42:12    2667459

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Defense is a massive issue, thought Aaron Kernan coming in might help plug some of the gaps we saw at times last year, but it's getting worse.

Full Back Line not up to standard this year, Rafferty is not playing at the level he was last year, caught in no-mans land a lot of the time, Lavin has had a tough time over the last few games, BOH is still young too but exposed at times.

I'd be more than happy with Ronan Ryan coming into the full back line, or Keoghan dropping back and someone like Killian Smyth starting at 5. Ryan came on a few times in the league and he solidified things a bit. He's not flashy, but he's a solid player that probably gets undervalued.

Robbie has to figure it out, because you'd be naive to think other teams haven't figured out how you play against Meath. The problem is we're going straight into round 1 of the All Ireland championship, and have to figure it out pretty fast. A semi against Kildare and potential final against Dublin or Louth would have given us more game time to figure it out.

Could Jones and Costello have played yesterday? Resting them for a Leinster semi or final looks pretty foolish now. Jones could play at 6 and move Coffey to 5, dropping Keoghan back to 2. Seems the logical step

Cabbagepatch1667 (Meath) - Posts: 136 - 20/04/2026 12:28:11    2667471

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Meath looked dead yesterday even the first 10 minutes when they had plenty of the ball they weren't moving well .
Westmeath were first to a lot of breaking ball and just seemed hungrier and still if we won the last kick out anything could have happened after playing second fiddle for a lot of the game
Meath had a hard league with very few players rested the majority of players played the 9 games i Wonder did this tell on them yesterday .
Cavan Cork twice Tyrone Louth Derry all them games went to the wire hard on Menton and Keoghan who both played nearly every minute of the league and I though both looked tired yesterday .
Its a young team and they will learn from yesterday and Brennan needs to learn from the problems that were there again yesterday and wont go away without some change .
We'll have to go again in 5 weeks wont be easy playing a provincial finalised at home but most teams wont fancy playing us either .

Royalmc (Meath) - Posts: 28 - 20/04/2026 12:44:11    2667475

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Huge deflation for me, 20 years of being obsessed with this team. That is the worst defeat iv felt as a meath supporter.god it felt like someone died yesterday. Maybe wexford all those years ago is similar.

I genuinely did feel like the writing was on the wall at half time. WM tore in them and were hopping off them. Dunting and hitting every chance they got.

No individual blame on any of these lads they're great representatives. I do genuinely believe the media from other counties hyped them up something serious. I was really nervous going into this game.

Ultimately our physicality in contact, kick out execution and attitude cost us. We were very toothless in attack, no cut or trust. Morris, lynch just could not hold onto it.

I was surprised ohalloran wasn't taken off at half time, Ryan should have been brought on and it did look like menton ran out of puff.

Iv no issue with the short kickout tactic it worked so far for them but WM contested and read many of them and we did look like a one trick pony when it didn't work.

As a whole they done everything they normally do and have done. The corner forwards didn't retain the long balls, short kickouts didn't turn into slick counter attacks, our midfielders didn't get a squeeze on, the 2s didn't go over.

I know it's not the case but it does feel like where do we go from here. Leinster was realistic goal, a run in the all Ireland is arguably harder to do and lucky draws are needed.

royalcounty1 (Meath) - Posts: 77 - 20/04/2026 13:04:09    2667481

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Replying To Lolou37:  "Adminlove deleting posts from here least meath lads be able to play few club games keep them sharp"
Good to see Meath live rent free in your brains, Maybe its time to switch your focus to beating Dublin for the first time since 1973.

Sheridan2010louth (Meath) - Posts: 325 - 20/04/2026 13:22:07    2667485

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You would've said 3 weeks was a perfect break but our lads just seemed tired and leggy. Was it the pressure of expectation or what? But I guess that's the difference to the top, top teams.

We got going in the last 10 minutes but can't believe this run didn't start right at the start of the second half with a bit of fire in the bellies as we were in trouble since end of the first half. Or did they just not have it in the legs?

It's definitely very deflating today to see where we go from here with Leinster gone and facing down the barrel of a provincial winner on the road. If it's Kerry/ Donegal/Armagh we're completely cooked.

NYRoyal (USA) - Posts: 105 - 20/04/2026 13:35:42    2667487

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Let's be honest, the players and management underestimated the opposition - they referenced a "lack of intensity" in interviews after the game. Would there have been a lack of intensity if we were playing Dublin or Louth? No way. The penny only dropped when there was 20 minutes left and we were 10 points behind. Players and management have to put that down as poor preparation. Was also baffled at why O'Neill wasn't brought on - Westmeath were winning a lot of dirty ball and he is one our best at that. Bench made an impact but I think O'Neill was the man for that scenario.

gwanyagudthing (Meath) - Posts: 149 - 20/04/2026 13:38:55    2667489

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Relax Meath, it's only the championship - there's always next year… maybe

Walter_White (Louth) - Posts: 23 - 20/04/2026 13:42:57    2667490

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Agreed with a lot of what was said above. Westmeath seemed to want it more. They definitely had their homework and had an intensity and structure in defence that made it difficult to get shots away when we were dominating possession. They certainly deserved the win and had a few players that we just couldn't handle.

Defensively, we were exposed just as we were against Cork and in the second half against Louth and Westmeath had the players and game plan to do it again. I thought that we did have some poor decision making in attack - even in the last 10 minutes Kinsella broke free after a Westmeath error and we were 3 on 2 (I think) and he just blasted over the bar - we really needed a goal at that time.

The management team do have a lot of thinking to do regarding the team structure. Will they experiment now with a view to next season. We do need to make some changes as the same will happen again if we dont.

Regarding the Leinster, I hope that Westmeath win it now. It would not be good for the provine for a mediocre Dublin team to win it. I don't think Kildare are at the level at the moment and I would prefer Westmeath over Louth to win it.

stillaroyal (Meath) - Posts: 228 - 20/04/2026 13:55:59    2667498

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Replying To Walter_White:  "Relax Meath, it's only the championship - there's always next year… maybe"
This lad just proving the point that Louth's entire season revolves around that Meath do. They're more concerned about Meath than their own team. Wee mentality for the wee county.

Cabbagepatch1667 (Meath) - Posts: 136 - 20/04/2026 14:02:34    2667501

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Replying To NYRoyal:  "You would've said 3 weeks was a perfect break but our lads just seemed tired and leggy. Was it the pressure of expectation or what? But I guess that's the difference to the top, top teams.

We got going in the last 10 minutes but can't believe this run didn't start right at the start of the second half with a bit of fire in the bellies as we were in trouble since end of the first half. Or did they just not have it in the legs?

It's definitely very deflating today to see where we go from here with Leinster gone and facing down the barrel of a provincial winner on the road. If it's Kerry/ Donegal/Armagh we're completely cooked."
We're guaranteed at least two games in the all-Ireland series. All going to depend on the attitude in the camp - messed up yesterday but they have 5/6 weeks now to rest, re-set and then knuckle down to put in a huge performance. If I was Brennan, I'd be gathering up the leadership group in the squad and getting buy-in for a few weeks of murderball in training, Armagh-style. Let's see then who within the squad has the appetite and aptitude for high-intensity championship. I'd pick the team accordingly.

gwanyagudthing (Meath) - Posts: 149 - 20/04/2026 14:05:36    2667505

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Replying To gwanyagudthing:  "Let's be honest, the players and management underestimated the opposition - they referenced a "lack of intensity" in interviews after the game. Would there have been a lack of intensity if we were playing Dublin or Louth? No way. The penny only dropped when there was 20 minutes left and we were 10 points behind. Players and management have to put that down as poor preparation. Was also baffled at why O'Neill wasn't brought on - Westmeath were winning a lot of dirty ball and he is one our best at that. Bench made an impact but I think O'Neill was the man for that scenario."
Would tend to agree that the buck stops with the management but just don't understand how with all the supposed professional preparation done with teams that we would take Westmeath for granted.

I think where we're left scratching our head is that we have gotten promoted after a great league campaign, have beaten Dublin, Kerry, Galway, Derry, Tyrone and Cork in the space of 12 months but we've lost to Louth and Westmeath so what does that tell us? Can we deal with the expectation? Doesn't seem like it.

NYRoyal (USA) - Posts: 105 - 20/04/2026 14:26:59    2667512

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As a casual observer yesterday I felt Meath had no stomach for being behind; after 10 mins I couldn't believe how sharp Morris looked but then nothing actually came from him and he just drifted out of the game; Flynn in the middle looked your best player followed by Kinsella in spells, Westmeath are known for their midfield issues this year so why ye didn't target them is strange, keeper seemed vulnerable going short on a few occasions. Make no mistake Drumm, Whittaker, Connellan, Wallace, McCartan and Loughlin would make many teams in the country so there's no doubt they had performances like this in them, the biggest surprise is how well the other players raised their game and nullified many Meath players. I think what summed up the game was Drumm beating Frayne to a ball near the dugouts, Westmeath seemed on top almost all over the pitch and it could have been a greater margin as we hit the crossbar also, I genuinely thought the referee was good. I just felt the team didn't have the appetite for the battle and probably weren't ready for it. Westmeath lads were battering each other in the warm up and seemed up for it. The goalkeeper issued probably took some steam out of Meath at a time they were looking dangerous.

OverTheHill85 (Westmeath) - Posts: 280 - 20/04/2026 15:12:51    2667529

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Replying To Faithfulmeath:  "We got it back to two with less than 2 minute left, and they got the kickout off, and we fouled in the corner. If we won today and went on a run, people would cite how the team has been consistent and help us build rather than chopping and changing. What players do you think deserve to come in, and who deserves to come out?

Westmeath should be in Division 2, and Meath are a borderline Division 1/2 side, so I think as disappointing as it is theirs no need for any drastic changes or chops. However, defensively, we need to solve the issues."
Yes there were 2 mistakes in the last few minutes. One was when Caulfield fouled the ball and the other one was the foul in the corner by I think Rafferty. Earlier Morris had a bad wide from play in the closing stages too. On personnel, Conlon is our sharpest inside forward at the moment and should start. Killian Smyth and Cathal Hickey have shown good energy two in past two matches too. As good a servant as Menton has been, its a big ask for him to be started in these high intensity games in middle sector. Also if Keoghan is to play a major role, his energy may be best saved for one of the corner back spots. Conor Gray, Charlie O'Connor and Jones if fit hopefully should be getting more minutes hopefully to support Flynn and McBride. Further down, would have expected to see Jamie Murphy, Adam McDonnel and Ciaran McCarrick based off club form last few years. Billy Hogan probably deserves another crack on goals as his standards were decent last year and was unlucky to miss out. Brennan has not been going well recently.

winatallcost (Meath) - Posts: 981 - 20/04/2026 18:20:55    2667571

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