Jimin. What do you expect.I didn't hear them but I bet any money it wouldn't have even been on if Louth weren't involved. Well done Bert hope you had a few quid on, game

royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 19449 - 17/01/2016 16:10:23    1817133

Donal Lenihan was impressive in the first half. Hope his foot is OK and it is nothing serious. Meath should have put the game to bed early in the second half. Too much over-elaboration at times and bad shooting. When Paddy gave away that point I was looking out for you RD (hopping mad)! We were lucky enough in the end as Louth kicked some very poor wides late on. Having said that the team is very workmanlike, they just have to be more productive in the final third and stop teams running at us. With 14 men they all got behind the ball and with the narrow enough pitch just held on.

GlasagusOr (Meath) - Posts: 1348 - 17/01/2016 16:25:30    1817140

Glas I was hopping mad, but not surprised. Same basic errors from paddy. But also some others. Look its still very early but this is a chance for some silverware albeit just O'Byrne cup, so I want to see a bit more drive and less of the over playing of ball, Louth never looked like winning on their own merit, but we virtually handed it to them, Louth are not as bad as some might think and we should have known they would have a purple patch, but we didn't make as much as we should have during our period of dominance. But same mistakes are there, and we could nearly say them before any game what errors we will make and paddy is a prime example of this.

royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 19449 - 17/01/2016 16:56:12    1817153

Alot of positives to take from the game..

First of all we won and get another game,,the new players look hungry and are working hard to be involved come the league.I thought we defended well when we had too and were by far the best team.The sending off for Tormey was very harsh.
I was very impressed with Cathal Finn,Douglas did well as did Burke at chb.
In all honesty though,we should have been out of sight by the time Tormey was sent off and that would be a little concern as we looked way ahead of Louth but just about won.Also the full forward line need to score more.Lenihan was very good coming deeper and worked his socks off.Newman Showed well for the ball and was a good target.Thought McDonagh was out of sink with the rest of the forwards though,also Graham Reilly is lost in midfield,was always losing his man or was lazy marking him.Great to have another game,and good to see Donncha Tobin on the bench,

ziggy32001 (Meath) - Posts: 8354 - 17/01/2016 16:59:28    1817154

Disappointing performance again today, very sluggish in our forward play

TheNotorious (USA) - Posts: 14 - 17/01/2016 17:01:35    1817155

Scrappy win by the sounds of it. We'll take it especially in a semi-final! Stayed at home today with the soccer on the telly but after sitting through 90 minutes of rubbish I think I would've been better off in the cold at the Gaelic Grounds. We should all make the effort to attend next Sunday especially with the chance of beating Longford for some silverware

JohnJoeRoyal (Meath) - Posts: 56 - 17/01/2016 17:10:02    1817159

I think the issue was,that we dominated most of the game,but I think when Tormey was put off we led by 2 points.We should have been at least 6 points up by that point.

ziggy32001 (Meath) - Posts: 8354 - 17/01/2016 17:13:26    1817160

Well biggy was back in backline dispossessing Louth player near end, got to say I think this is foolish, Imo he was best player we had again today, and should not venture further than our 45, thought keoghan was a bit off his game today despite making a few very good tackles , just seemed quiter. McDonagh seemed to be all over pitch, maybe we expecting too much from our forwards, back defending then expecting big scores. I don't know maybe that's what's wrong.
Look we get another game and maybe even a little silverware, so they are the positive

royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 19449 - 17/01/2016 17:18:05    1817166

Ah Ziggy you can't be harshly sent off when you hit a fella a punch in the stomach. A foolish act from a fella who has had a good O'Byrne Cup up to that moment of madness.

jackhackett (Meath) - Posts: 773 - 17/01/2016 17:51:39    1817177

Jack

The lad was standing on his toes,and in fairness Tormey barely touched him,the guy goes down in very embarrassing fashion.

ziggy32001 (Meath) - Posts: 8354 - 17/01/2016 18:00:42    1817182

RD

I'm sorry but Biggy was not our best player today.He was playing midfield and struggled there.

ziggy32001 (Meath) - Posts: 8354 - 17/01/2016 18:01:29    1817183

The rule book is clear that striking is a red card offence. The chap struck the Louth player a punch and deserved to walk. He's going to have to rise above antics like that if he's to go on to be a county footballer.

The way the game is going it's more and more of a factor that players seek to antagonise their opponents and look for a reaction.

And to be fair we had a forward who got away with a punch to the stomach in the first half too.

jackhackett (Meath) - Posts: 773 - 17/01/2016 18:08:48    1817186

Oh ziggu I agree he is not a midfielder that been said everytime he went forward he was been fouled. Spent too much time defending Imo, and should be told not to venture in backs unless its dying seconds and we holding onto a lead. For me he was excellent playmaker today, pulling all the strings and doing the dirty wprk, he is been played out of position no doubt but still our best player.
As for tomeys sending off? Petulant reaction and while may have been harshly done and over reaction on Louth players behalf it was a striking motion so by letter of law ref had no choice

royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 19449 - 17/01/2016 18:14:05    1817189

RD

He was defending because he was a midfielder.I'm not slagging him,but he doesn't understand the position,and therefore was lost at times,he makes it difficult for Rooney too.
I thought Cathal Finn was our best player today..

ziggy32001 (Meath) - Posts: 8354 - 17/01/2016 18:25:26    1817196

Exciting game. Very impressed with Finn so far. Lenihan made himself a nuiscance and worked hard. Some great running and interplay with Meath working the ball into the scoring zone with ease. Very disappointed with shooting. Again our free taking let's us down. It's critical we get our free taking/45 scoring average up. More than anything I'm delighted with the grit, fight, and teamwork. Nice to see us able to take a red card and still win. I wouldn't have any concerns re. Tormeys red...he was well up for the game. Lads will have a nice buzz after that battle today.

bert09 (Meath) - Posts: 1839 - 17/01/2016 18:39:45    1817199

Well ziggy I agree he shouldn't be in midfield, also I was impressed with Finn too

royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 19449 - 17/01/2016 18:47:07    1817204

Ok these are my ratings for todays game...

1.POR - He had a solid game didn't have too much to do.His distribution was very good actually in the first half.However one awful kick-out in the second half lead to a Louth point.Solid under the highball. 6

2.Barry Tormey - Tough tackling from him and doesn't stray from his corner back slot in which I like.Ok perhaps petulant for the red,up to that point he did a good job 6

3.Donal Keoghan - I thought Donal did a good job at full back today.Made some key tackles and read the game well.Played a captains role 7

4.Darragh Smyth - Was marking Louths captain Adrian Reid who tended to drift out the field.I think this suited Darragh.Got close to Reid,made some good tackles,including one that lead to our best score of the game in the first half.7

5.Alan Douglas - Solid from Alan seemed in touch with the rest of the halfback line which communicated well throughout the game.He has a good engine,he did get forward and miss a score he would feel he should have got.6

6.Michael Burke - I thought Burke showed some leadership qualities today and marshalled the half back line well.Also protected Keoghan too when needed.Played with heart and made some hefty challenges 7

7.Cathal Finn - For a smallish guy Finn is stronger than you would think.His marker didn't seem to get an inch.What I liked about him today was his coolness on the ball and off the ball.Made support runs at the right times.Very good display 8

8.Harry Rooney - Very very strong and very hard to stop when he runs at people.Made some fine catches and worked very hard.Could have been helped more from his midfield partner 6

9.Graham Reilly - Was at the end of the best score of the game.Made some expected trademark runs,but made some mistakes too.Gave his man far too much space at kickouts.He did show some leadership when we went down a man,I would be surprised if he starts at midfield v Armagh.6

10.Conor Downey - He wore the 25 shirt,but the wing forward had a useful game.Very small but tough,doesn't fear a battle and managed a very good score.Made him himself available at overlapping runs.

11.Michael Newman - He moved into full forward,scored a nice point from play,and was a good target all game.Frees a little bit iffy though,and you expect more scores from play from him.But showed good signs 7

12.Cillian O'Sullivan - Pretty much got 70mins which will help him.Wasn't as involved this week,scored a nice point,more to come from him.6

13.Sean Tobin - Worked very hard,operated in the half forward line.Scored a great score from the left in the first half,unlucky not to score another in the second half.Tends to drift in and out of games though.6

14.Dalton McDonagh - Played most of the game on the edge of the square,worked hard,but lacked some composure.Did not seem to be on the same wave as the other forwards and should have scored a goal.A little disappointed with him today 5

15.Donal Lenihan - Played a bit deeper today and was hungry to get onto the ball.Was involved in some good moves and was a good ball winner.Hobbled off injured,hopefully he is ok.7

ziggy32001 (Meath) - Posts: 8354 - 17/01/2016 18:51:12    1817205

Will the final be played Saturday?? Rumour is circulating to that affect, could be a busy weekend what with Ratoath out in Limerick on Sunday, God bless football.....

Richieq (Meath) - Posts: 3763 - 17/01/2016 18:54:35    1817209

Important win today as it means we get another competitive match next week ( Longford will be well up for it) before the serious business begins a week later against Armagh. A chance to start his best 15 and get game time together.

seadog54 (Meath) - Posts: 2227 - 17/01/2016 19:04:16    1817212

Ziggy all about opinions but while I agree with a lot of your review I felt Graham Reilly worked very hard both on and off the ball and was our best player ...... By a distance ! Still very unsure about Paddy in the goals . Doesn't seem to have the ability to restart play quickly by finding a Meath jersey . And at the risk of upsetting a lot of people don't see a future for Mickey Newman . Lack of urgency , struggling to win the hard ball and very inconsistent with frees . Overall a hard fought win and great to see the lads holding on and grinding out a win when the momentum was with Louth . Next week against a buoyant Longford should be informative but badly need to unearth a few more Big men as we look very light and with 5 Northern teams in Div 2 I would gladly accept staying up at this stage .

royalpad (Meath) - Posts: 46 - 17/01/2016 19:33:47    1817227