well offaly are terrible this year so i can see us beating them in june. laois arent too good either so theres still a bit of hope. i cant see us getting near dublin if we do play them.

donaldo (Meath) - Posts: 352 - 14/03/2010 20:03:07    587874

Yeah, O'Rourke coming off the bench to score a brace is obviously a boost for the team but if O'Brien wants to prove that getting to an All-Ireland semi-final was no fluke then securing promotion is an absolute must and please don't let anybody trot out that old cliche, that 'it's only the league'. The fact that the NFL practically runs into the championship means that the competition itself represents the ultimate preparation for any contender.

When was the last time a Division 2 side threatened to win an All-Ireland? There are some respected teams in Meath's division but no real threats to any of the top teams. Donegal got humiliated by Cork last year, Kildare puttered out against a Tyrone team going through the motions. Meath don't look any better and clearly aren't. Make no mistake we have made life very difficult for ourselves if promotion is to be achieved.

Has O'Brien lost faith in Macken? Harrington isn't good enough in the air to step into the full-back slot. Moyles wing-back and Mickey Burke is now a centre-back? Really? A lot of these positional switches are starting to look panicky.

Ollie99 (Meath) - Posts: 442 - 14/03/2010 20:23:11    587906

according to mattie kerrigan on LMFM he was impressed with shane o'rourke returning to the attack, that is a massive addition up front, He mentoned mc keigue and O'rourke in defence as good performers. was it a penalty, big call that could have serious implications on not just todays result but also meath entire season, (could haunt us wen promotion is being dished out)

PureBredRedStag (Meath) - Posts: 7 - 14/03/2010 21:39:58    588024

After yesterday the best 6 FORWARDS that i would like to see playing in the championship are:
10-Shane O'Rourke
11-Joe Sheridan
12-Brian Sheridan
13-Steven Bray
14-Jamie Queeny
15-Cian Ward.

That would be a good out and out forward line and they are forwards that have skill.Work horses like Peader and Ollie Lewis are great to see,but what this Meath team need's is 6 scoring and dangerous forwards and i feel those 6 are all of that.Lets hope Joe finds his form again fast and Queeny also.Cian Ward seems to have found some sort of his scoring threat again and Steven Bray is playing good at the moment.And hopefully Brain Sheridan doesn't fade away because he is very dangerous when he is on form.Lets hope the injuries that Shane O'Rourke has suffered from are in the past and lets hope he can concentrate on his football because he is a great player and he showed that in 2007 for such a young age.

12Royal (Meath) - Posts: 987 - 14/03/2010 22:04:16    588072

Very very bad. Clueless performance and deserved to lose pityful last 10 minutes of hoofing the ball in and Tipp men walking out with it. Penalty seemed a bit dodgy but Tipp where the best of two very bad teams. We stayed in the game by kicking some spectacular points and had no inside forward line or for that matter half forward line either or when you think of it no line at all.

Worring times and I feel we are destined for Div 3 only for stealing wins over Armagh and Westmeath we would be dead certs and are looking like a poor Offaly side will knock us out of Leinster.

Ive said in before we in line for a 2008 like collapse

Havoc (Meath) - Posts: 296 - 15/03/2010 08:49:29    588081

sorry lads, cant agree with the above, there was very little positives for Meath, well apart from we cant play much worse.
Tipp were not too far ahead of us, but a 2 point loss does not tell the story.
M Ward and McKiege had a mare, yet again. let me know when they are dropped and I'll start going to games again. Dont know what match M Kerrigan was watching.
McKiege did not deal with one ball all day, he seems happy to let his man win the ball every time and then run after him. Twice he beat his man to the ball, and on both occasions he through one arm at it and gave away posession. Again as with the WMeath game the opposition realised this after about 5 mins and singled it out as a route of attack. A point not lost on the 2 Galway hurling fans that were laughing at me and my frustrations, (all good humoured).
The amount of ball given away by over playing in defense is unforgivable. On about 3 occasions we played direct ball into the forwards that resulted in scores, why not keep doing it??
There is a complete lack of willingness to make space and look for the ball. the long passing displayed towards the end of last season seems to have been dismissed as a tactic. Big Joe also had an off day, but I'll give him the benefit of the doubt as he has earned that right.

Anyone want 2 season tickets?

here4now (Meath) - Posts: 21 - 15/03/2010 09:11:29    588086

Shane O'Rourke was a great boost and looked lively. Big picture lads ... yeah its not ideal that we're hovering in Div 2 but it seems EOB has still not established who is best for certain positions. Still I'd much rather he tries things away to Tipperary in the league then in the championship.

TheFlyingTeacup (Meath) - Posts: 286 - 15/03/2010 09:47:59    588107

I went to the game..enjoyed the hurling, but Meath dont look at the races, after been ran close by Westmeath, i thought we would come out fighting, but it didnt happen. On the plus side Shane o Rourke looked good.. and thats about all the positive i can be... should be interesting saturday night against Laois!

maco (Meath) - Posts: 357 - 15/03/2010 12:20:22    588325

Why was Brian Sheridan sitting in the stands? Some great performances with the college recently

JimB (Cavan) - Posts: 7 - 15/03/2010 12:40:20    588357

Ollie99
your memory must not be very good. Last year cork were a division 2 team and they got to the all ireland final! Donegal last year were a division 1 side. This is monaghans first year in a while to be a division 1 side and to be fair they always get a hard draw in the all ireland! My point is that division 1 & 2 are very close. Lets not forget two years ago it was division 1a and 1b... Nobody had any problems with it then!

Markymark (Laois) - Posts: 644 - 15/03/2010 12:44:06    588362

Its very disappointing to be losing to Tipp we need to be beating these teams, we are now in a relegation dogfight with Donegal.

theblindassasin (Meath) - Posts: 915 - 15/03/2010 12:53:16    588377

12Royal- a great scoring line there but totally lacks pace in the half forward line and other teams would tear us apart with their half back line bombing forward. Every team needs the likes of Peadar and Michael Burke to work up and down the picth. Thats the way football is now.

DowdtoFoleyGoal (Meath) - Posts: 292 - 15/03/2010 13:20:32    588414

10 or so weeks untill championship starts, no need to panic the team will be right by then

mickey fluther (Meath) - Posts: 94 - 15/03/2010 13:45:42    588447

What has happened to Meath this year? We hammered Westmeath yesterday and they are terrible but yet ye only bet them by a point. We could beat ye next week if ye are going that bad. Relegation is on the cards for whoever loses next week.

thetown (Laois) - Posts: 79 - 15/03/2010 14:06:50    588470

kelly starts fr tipp

gons (Tipperary) - Posts: 13 - 15/03/2010 16:18:34    588676

Markymark
County: Laois
Posts: 267

588362 Ollie99
your memory must not be very good. Last year cork were a division 2 team and they got to the all ireland final! Donegal last year were a division 1 side. This is monaghans first year in a while to be a division 1 side and to be fair they always get a hard draw in the all ireland! My point is that division 1 & 2 are very close. Lets not forget two years ago it was division 1a and 1b... Nobody had any problems with it then!

Cork were Division 2 champions and Donegal were demoted. I could be pedantic and point out that Cork were a Division 1 team having achieved promotion but I'll let that be ;) so this just reinforces the common consensus that league form impacts directly on championship success. There is the odd striking exception, Derry '09 for example but for the most part it's a useful barometer of where a team is going. Where are the Royals going? Well bottom half finish last year and it looks like it's going to be more of the same this year.

Two years into the job and O'Brien is still juggling players and positions despite working with a very stable squad. We seem to consistently gift posession away working the ball out from the backs, that's schoolboy stuff that should have been sorted out pre-season. We don't supply good ball to our forwards and are over-reliant on brilliant individual efforts to put points on the board, same as last year, e.g. Cian Ward's sideline kicks, Joe's rampaging runs forward.

At least last year we had a solid defensive record but even that looks like an achievment that won't be repeated.

Positives? Well... ehm... The new kit's growing on me :/

Ollie99 (Meath) - Posts: 442 - 15/03/2010 17:41:39    588838

Ha okay fair enough, but still my point is that i think division 1 and 2 are good prep for championship! Oh and wexford did quiet well after winning div 3 few years ago!

Markymark (Laois) - Posts: 644 - 15/03/2010 18:11:55    588893

hard luck to ye in truth it was a dire game but we just about deserved it.i couldn,t get over how poor ye were

bigman2 (Tipperary) - Posts: 1202 - 15/03/2010 18:37:17    588927

Listen all, whoever was not that game cannot comment on how bad meath really were! I am trying profusely to see positives from yesterdays game, I am trying to see why these lads seemed dead on their feet, I am trying to think that the league is only the league and in 10weeks time we will be up for it, i am trying to think how our full back line has had serious problems in every league game this year and above all I am trying to keep faith in the lads but...... Yesterday was a shocking performance. It came straight after a very poor half of football against westmeath. What is wrong?
From my point of view yesterday's bench had o'rourke and meade that could change a game or assist meath?
Why has Brian Sheridan been dropped from the panel, a lad that wins the man of the match at the sigerson final?
Where are our decent backs gone? Why was cormac mc gill dropped?
Questions I cannot answer!

Pa Connors (Meath) - Posts: 10 - 15/03/2010 18:53:27    588952

Im afraid in this relegation dog fight we are looking like a poodle

Havoc (Meath) - Posts: 296 - 15/03/2010 18:55:08    588953