Ziggy quote: 'I was very impressed with Cathal Finn,Douglas did well as did Burke at chb' The chb will have problems on dry pitch and for a 10 minute (15-25 minute)period in the second half the Louth half forward (no.10 scored 2 points and was fouled for a third point)- who was supposed to be marking him?? I thought we played well early on and in beginning of second half but missed easy chances. We looked quite poor when they put pressure on in second half- a little bit too much like last year. I thought the sending off a bit harsh considering that the officials closest appears to have seen nothing. Though Tobin had a higher work rate than either Lenihan or Sullivan. Cannot understand why Lenihan is not taking the frees as he is a very good free taker.

browncows (Meath) - Posts: 2342 - 17/01/2016 19:44:30    1817230

Ziggy were we at the same match? :).
Couldn't agree with those ratings, darragh smith had a excellent game and to give biggy a 6? Nah. Now maybe I need a trip to spec savers, but Donal is in no way a fb. Looked uncomfortable today for majority of game.

royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 19449 - 17/01/2016 19:55:53    1817232

Ziggy, I'm glad you weren't marking my exam papers in school :)

GlasagusOr (Meath) - Posts: 1348 - 17/01/2016 20:03:15    1817235

Agree with a lot of comments Meath a lot better today than the last day. we where a lot tighter in defense. Although Louth very poor in the first half only 1 point from play and about 4 shots at goal in total. Midfield has major problem for us today we won very little kicks outs. We created very few goal chances even with all the possession. But all in all it was a decent run for this time of year. I suppose the extra game will be a help given we seem to be getting more players back.

bobkarlgees (Meath) - Posts: 1284 - 17/01/2016 20:03:56    1817236

Look we are all looking perhaps a bit too much for O'Byrne cup game . But I guess its the underline thing that we are all looking at.
But positive is we in final,

royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 19449 - 17/01/2016 20:38:36    1817247

RD

6 out of 10 is a decent performance and I am mainly looking at Graham Reilly in the primary function as a midfield player,because that was were he played today.Keoghan was fairly solid to be fair.Didn't do much wrong.

ziggy32001 (Meath) - Posts: 8354 - 17/01/2016 20:48:04    1817254

bob

You said midfield was a major problem today and I agree.Reilly isn't a suitable midfield partner for Rooney,feels like Rooney is there on his own.People are ignoring Reillys primary function today..

ziggy32001 (Meath) - Posts: 8354 - 17/01/2016 21:00:59    1817258

Ziggy I still think Meath only win when graham reilly plays well, everything seems to run through him, we are more reliant on him now that bray is gone and Wallace isn't available, and that's not good, eventually he will have a bad game at what he does best (playmaking) then Meath will get hammered. I just dont see a plan b. Where id like him to be named is 13, and give him a free roll, if the corner back wants to come with him great he will have him for speed everytime, if not he is a free man around the 45, it would stop the double marking etc. Now that is just my opinion but I think it would work come the league.

royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 19449 - 18/01/2016 09:04:06    1817273

Even though I would say that Biggy needs to tract back a bit more without fouling I do say that he is the best forward we have and he generates panic in defences when at full flight which nobody else does-maybe some of our slower players should keep out of the middle when he goes on a run Though Louth were poor for long periods and not as good as Laois. bobkarlgees - I though we were very loose in defence when the pressure came on in second half and one Louth forward was directly responsible for 3 points in second half scoring 2 of them and fouled for other- someone was not defending!. It appears some posters judge a defender purely by whether he scores or not. The pitch was not good and slowed down the play considerably and also made shooting very difficult. Great crowd though for this time of year.

browncows (Meath) - Posts: 2342 - 18/01/2016 10:13:49    1817288

I think the issue at the moment is we are just short a few midfielders through injury and hopefully Micko has deployed biggy there as he does have the strength and ability to fill that hole.

Irish_downunder (Meath) - Posts: 658 - 18/01/2016 10:36:22    1817296

Irish down under, I think that's it in a nutshell, I think when Gillespie Flanagan Tobin returns biggy will only be falling back into midfield to make runs, he is not a conventional midfielder and it would be crazy to play him as such, its fine for O'Byrne but nothing else.

royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 19449 - 18/01/2016 10:54:29    1817301

RD

I agree,I would like to see Reilly as a false corner forward.

ziggy32001 (Meath) - Posts: 8354 - 18/01/2016 11:04:00    1817304

Will Gillespie be back though???

He and Rooney would be fantastic. Otherwise Tobin,O'Brien and Tormey would all be options there.

ziggy32001 (Meath) - Posts: 8354 - 18/01/2016 11:05:15    1817307

Didn't go to the game or even listen to it because I had prior commitments, but it's good to get the win away to Louth and get another game under our belts before the league. Again these games are a good opportunity for fringe and new players to stake a claim, even though it's not ideal conditions for football this time of year. Longford will be tough though, no doubt about that and they have every chance of beating us next Sunday.

I also think that midfield is a problem at the minute, Rooney is a good player but without Gillespie or Flanagan he is a little isolated out there and godforbid if Rooney gets injured himself, we're screwed then altogether.

Htaem (Meath) - Posts: 8657 - 18/01/2016 11:31:47    1817312

I can't understand after the Westmeath debacle how POR is still in goals for Meath. Firstly when we dominated midfield in the first half he does a short kick out that goes out of play and Westmeath directly score a goal from, then in the 2nd half with Westmeath utterly dominant in midfield he continually kicks the ball out to the middle and he should have saved Westmeath's 2nd goal (it was almost straight at him). I would even mention the sending off. As for his twitter performance afterwards, the less said the better. Surely it's time to give McHugh a decent run in the team.

AthboyCelt (Meath) - Posts: 149 - 18/01/2016 11:33:27    1817315

Htaem

Your last paragraph is spot on.

ziggy32001 (Meath) - Posts: 8354 - 18/01/2016 11:44:57    1817319

Rooney is the real deal and will only get better with time. The buzz in the crowd when he takes on his man is something else because there'll only be one winner. Thought there was a good bite in the performance as well, something which I haven't seen in a while. The prospect of having a fully match-fit Cillian O'Sullivan in a couple of months time is also a cause for optimism. Looks to have done a lot of work in the gym and should be well able to take a few hits. Can anyone put a timeframe on when we can expect to see Gillespie, Flanagan, Menton and Shane O'Rourke (if he's still involved) back on the playing field? They would really strengthen up the panel.

Genuinely thought there were a couple of moments of brilliant link up play in the attacking third during the first half which will hopefully become more prevalent throughout the league. Really simple, yet smart play between the forwards. Thought Donal Lenihan was integral to this and after he went off, we lost our way a bit. It's something we've been crying out for though and with the Ratoath contingent and James McEntee to return, we should become even more fluid in this area. Newman put in a much better display from what I saw in Carlow. Looked more assured on the ball and while he did make mistakes and miss a few frees etc., he is hopefully on track to rediscovering his best form. I think we can all agree that when at the top of his game, he can be a real handful for any defence.

MarkMyWords (Meath) - Posts: 526 - 18/01/2016 12:17:09    1817333

Is there a possibility that Gillespie could be making a comeback? That would be great news for the lad himself and his club & the county team. Anyway, the league is the top priority and he probably wouldn't be considered for that.

Regarding yesterday, I was reasonably happy with the performance. For me we have 3 leaders on the team - Keoghan, Burke and Reilly. They are hugely important to the team at the moment though each probably made a few errors yesterday. People have pointed out that Reilly is not a midfielder and playing as a deep half forward getting on his trademark runs is probably best for him. I was happy with the physicality shown yesterday and, while we dont want to be losing players, how many times have we said that there is no bite to the Meath team in the traditional sense. Also, the intensity increased a bit from the players when Tormey was sent off.
Our 3 problems are still the kickouts, midfield and scoring up front. Andrew Tormey had been named at midfield but not sure if he is the answer there either. Pity about Linehan's injury as looked very lively and hopefully back next week. Conor Downey should great heart and bravery as did Newman & McDonagh but our forwards are just not at the level accuracy wise that will be required in the league. The return of the Ratoath players will definitely increase options and Daire Rowe needs to be brought in. I think our options will be much better then.
Defensively, I thought Daragh Smith showed up well while Cathal Finn started well but was a little loose at times. Alan Douglas was steady and and his distribution is quite good. There are certainly good options there especially as Tobin seems to be on the way back. Perhaps Tobin could be tried at midfield once he comes back to full fitness.

Overall, there are issues there but other teams also have their problems and I would be hoping for a solid consolidation of the league position if not to be pushing for promotion once we stay reasonably injury free. We do need the Ratoath lads back up front though.

oldsam_newsam (Meath) - Posts: 638 - 18/01/2016 12:23:21    1817336

I s Shane O'Rourke still alive?

begining (UK) - Posts: 323 - 18/01/2016 12:46:19    1817340

Will the Ratoath players be available for the Armagh game?

ziggy32001 (Meath) - Posts: 8354 - 18/01/2016 12:57:44    1817345