Finn and Rooney were very good. Good to see o Sullivan back. Would have been better to play Carlow with 14 men to make it a decent contest.

bert09 (Meath) - Posts: 1839 - 04/01/2016 12:19:34    1814406

why does biggy start and play every obyrne cup/challenge game, while i admire how he wants to play, he has nothing to prove and these games are about giving the lesser experienced lads a chance

redser123 (Meath) - Posts: 418 - 04/01/2016 12:56:54    1814418

Thought Battersby did quite well at corner forward. Scored 1-2 (if I remember correctly) and turned his man brilliantly in the second half and was unlucky not to set up a goal.
All the best to McKeever. Looked like a nasty injury.
All in all, an OK performance given that there have been at least a couple of challenge games cancelled because of the weather. But two much stiffer tests to come over the next week.

Ratoath Royal (Meath) - Posts: 1412 - 04/01/2016 13:34:52    1814430

Redser
re Biggy, he sometimes takes a few matches to get up to speed and consistent but you're right we could give a few fresh faces a shout as he has nothing to prove in these matches.
But I understand O'Dowd playing him as you need some experience. We'd four debutants in the backs so keoghan was needed as a wise head (Donnacha tobin might do similar on wedensday) and biggy was the wise head in the forwards
Playing 15 new lads is not going to give you much of an idea if they're better than what's there if they're not playing with guys of biggys talent.

brian (Meath) - Posts: 1994 - 04/01/2016 13:41:23    1814432

Agree with Brian.People have to remember we have 3 games in a week.There needs to be heavy rotation and of course we are missing the Ratoath boys.

ziggy32001 (Meath) - Posts: 8354 - 04/01/2016 14:16:08    1814441

we're also missing some U21's (James McEntee, Ruairi O'Coileain) and lads with colleges etc so the likes of Biggy and keoghan do play in these matches.

Anyone know why the likes of Donnacha Tobin and Padraig Harnan weren't involved yesterday?? Or maybe they're being held back for Wednesday and Sunday. Or is Padraig still with college team..

brian (Meath) - Posts: 1994 - 04/01/2016 14:28:37    1814448

Padraic is with UCD, Brian,I would imagine we will see Tobin for one of the next two games.

ziggy32001 (Meath) - Posts: 8354 - 04/01/2016 14:43:06    1814453

I see that Ben Duggan played an U-21 Hastings Cup match for Meath on Saturday, and an O'Byrne Cup match for Maynooth on Sunday. 2 games in 24hrs in heavy conditions? Neither of them were hugely important, unmissable games in the overall scheme of things.

Do people in charge of teams actually genuinely care about player burn-out or injury?

anfearbeag (Meath) - Posts: 1134 - 04/01/2016 16:18:44    1814475

anfearbeag- It appears not unfortunately. At match yesterday but reading through the posts I thought I was at different match judging by who did play well and who did not. Ziggy you are a bit harsh on S Tobin re playing- the guys beside me though he was the best forward in first half by all the possession he won, so different opinions from different supporters . Most contributors appear to be only able to see a guy scoring and judge the performance of a defender on the number of times he goes forward rather than how he defends and stops his opposing player. The panel/team is quite young and apart from 2 to 3 players (excluding injured players) all other positions are up for grabs. On a positive note there was some good movement in very difficult conditions with accurate passes, however some players take too long to move the ball to a fellow player in a good moving position.

browncows (Meath) - Posts: 2342 - 04/01/2016 18:27:17    1814521

Red while I somewhat agree with you re biggy, it is the management who select him. And I would be more worried about him or keoghan picking up a injury, but like has been said you cant benchmark new lads against each other if they don't have the top class lads along with them. I know judge has been in gym since October and really trying to build up strength, bigg was getting a fair bit of physio on his back as it began to niggle again after club games. But thankfully all is good now. This I think on ground like we have at moment is risky in this type of comp. The game im really looking forward to is Laois game

royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 19449 - 04/01/2016 19:44:38    1814533

I'm told donnacha tobin is recovering from a arm operation and is only just back running.hes out til the middle of February at least I hear

bobjaffacake (Meath) - Posts: 1400 - 04/01/2016 19:47:24    1814534

That's unfortunate about Tobin. We could do with him in the half back line especially with Menton unavailable for the near future. Does anyone know if Davy Dalton is still on the panel?

MarkMyWords (Meath) - Posts: 526 - 04/01/2016 20:54:49    1814542

Browncows

I wasn't at the game,it was a general comment from me regarding Sean Tobin.With some of the talent we have in the forwards to come back etc,I cannot see him getting into the team.Maybe he will prove me wrong though.

ziggy32001 (Meath) - Posts: 8354 - 04/01/2016 21:08:09    1814545

Thats a huge loss if we don't have Donncha Tobin till at least mid feb.Losing Menton,I though D Tobin could move into that slot.We had problems in the backline,but not sure we will find anyone as good as he,or Menton.

ziggy32001 (Meath) - Posts: 8354 - 04/01/2016 21:10:25    1814547

Where did ya hear about menton leaving the panel....I spoke too an ashbourne player before Christmas and he said he will be back for the league and all that stuff are rumours. Donnacha is training away but yes....he's out after an arm op

southmeathgael (Meath) - Posts: 1025 - 05/01/2016 10:29:27    1814581

I was at the game on Sunday. A few things I noticed
Kick outs were a bit off, I'm not sure if McHugh was told to go short often but it didn't look like there was any communication there. Made a good save though.
Judge is a tough tackler and is tight most of the time, B Tormey was solid and both should get a chance to prove themselves against better players.
C Finn is very quick and from looking at the Carlow team number 11 was one of their better players. Finn made a name for himself last year driving forward with his pace. If you are going to do that from centre back at county level you need to have a very good reading of the game. I am glad he is getting a chance though.
D Smith is full of running and will look good when he is on the better team, I would like to see him play a game where he has to be more focused on his defending job than attacking. He could be well able for it, I just don't think it is a test he has faced yet.
A Tormey annoyed me a bit on Sunday. He seemed to look very complacent on the ball and was there to admire the kick passes he made (many of which he gave away). I know its January and he is a squad regular but it seemed to me that he was lacking a bit of interest.
Rooney is a lot more mobile than I thought and played well.
S Tobin I thought was poor too. I think if he misses a shot or 2 early his head drops and he tried to force things which saw him miss one or two more. When he is confident though is can get good scores.
G Reilly is different class when it comes to scoring.
D McDonagh I think will play a big part this year. He is well able to will his own ball will get scores. Blazed one shot wide, won a penalty, gave a (poor) pass to Mark B where he could have shot for goal and fisted a point. He created 4 goal chances, now he has to take some.
Mark B got 2 scores from 5 yards out. The time he turned his man towards the end was very good but seemed to be in two minds on what to do with the ball when coming down on the goal. You may get 1 chance like that in a tight game and they have to count.

UpAndComing (Meath) - Posts: 43 - 05/01/2016 12:00:08    1814611

SouthMeathGael

I'm not sure what Menton wants to do at the moment,but we have to plan without him for now.Be great if he is back for the league,but I have had mixed messages from some lads in Ashbourne.

ziggy32001 (Meath) - Posts: 8354 - 05/01/2016 14:40:47    1814657

Finn may be suited to wing back? Power is the guy we should be looking at centre back.

ziggy32001 (Meath) - Posts: 8354 - 05/01/2016 14:42:39    1814659

I think Tormey has to step it up again to get into this team.Hasn't the mobility for midfield,but he can be very sloppy.

ziggy32001 (Meath) - Posts: 8354 - 05/01/2016 14:44:46    1814660

I think Andy whole attitude needs readjusting. Maybe he thinks that he is untouchable, but at times Las year he just didn't seem to be interested, now there is no doubting his ability particularly in a few league games last year. But he just seems uninterested at other times. I put that down to complacency. Consistency is the key Imo.

royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 19449 - 05/01/2016 16:04:19    1814692