Meath average. Kildare woeful. That about sumes it up. Dublin have nothing to fear.

No mention of Kildare forward being taken out by Kevin Reilly on The Sunday Game. He was lucky to stay on the pitch. Nasty tackle.

batterburger (Cork) - Posts: 161 - 30/06/2014 09:50:09    1611225

Well done to MOD and all the panel, great win. Didn't see the game playing out the way it did. Should have had another 2 goals in 1st half. Very disappointed with Kildare, management very slow to change things and when they did it was too late. Best of luck to Kildare against Down, winnable but will be a tough battle.

moylagh (Meath) - Posts: 486 - 30/06/2014 09:51:07    1611228

Well Done to Meath, great performance, especially either side of half time. Could have been all over by the break, but one worry for them is how we got back into game even when we only played 25 mins at the level we are capable of. Some calling it Meath complacency or how we were destroyed for whole game (from a Kildare poster) but think thats disingenuous to the effort, talent and spirit shown by some of our lads in the come back. Also thought many Meath players looked out on their feet for the last 10 mins. A big worry when you see how the Dubs played right up to last kick. But enjoy the victory lads you deserved it.
Changes made way too late by Kildare, obvious to all the defense was not up to it. way off the mark as regards speed to ball, marking tight and good hard tackles. Also when we gain traction our shot selection at times was very poor, by two lads in particular but don't think singling any one or two players out would be just as so many under-performed or were beaten by their opposite number for a lot of the game. We did not do ourselves justice but its a lesson for the lads so if we learn from it well and good.
Best of luck to the Royals in the final, looking forward to it big time.
For us, a trip to Newry next, time to bounce back. So heads up, learn from the mistakes and onwards.
Cill Dara Abú.

commander (Kildare) - Posts: 225 - 30/06/2014 10:11:09    1611248

Division 2 has definitely shown that it was very strong this year, exceptionally strong in comparison to Division 1 when compared with previous years. Basically the gap between the two division's this year was closer than at anytime in recent years.

Donegal beat Derry
Monaghan beat Tyrone
Meath beat Kildare
Down take Tyrone to replay
Laois put it up to Dublin, despite eventually slipping.
Louth beat Westmeath
Armagh take Monaghan to replay.

And Galway play Mayo in a Connaught final, in what should be an Interesting one.

GaryMc82 (Derry) - Posts: 3026 - 30/06/2014 10:16:38    1611255

Gary

I think too much does be made about some performances of teams in the league to be honest..

ziggy320001 (Meath) - Posts: 2432 - 30/06/2014 10:23:42    1611268

Good performance. .need to have a real go at da dubs as they looked a bit complacent yesterday

curnew (Wicklow) - Posts: 449 - 30/06/2014 11:08:34    1611337

Went a little hard last night. But for what its worth here is my verdict.
P orourke 7/10. Didn't have much to do , kick outs were solid for most part
Harrinton 6/10 did well but lack of match fitness could be seen
K reilly 8/10 consistent as always
Menton 6/10 did very well early , tired again match fitness
Harnan 6/10 see above
Keoghan 7/10 did well but we all know he is class.
Carroll 8/10. Best game for meath since 12 game v kildare
S orourke 7/10 yet again tired towards end but did very well
Meade 7/10 the exact same as shane, excellent first half
Tobin 7/10 played deep and did well
Mcdonagh 8/10 made himself available all the time , pushing for starting place no matter who is back
Tormey 8/10 will be a player that gets better and better reminds me of tommy dowd
G reilly 7/10 played too defensive for my liking and seemed unfit ,
Bray 9/10 motm. But would need to improve awareness, the open goal missed would be massive against dubs, look up more
Mcmahon not on long enough to rate.

Plenty to work on which is good. The tiring is biggest worry, dubs don't tire. Fitness needs to be upped hugely.
Micko 8/10. I have been a critic of him in past but he got it right yesterday.

foreverroyal (Meath) - Posts: 349 - 30/06/2014 11:44:09    1611390

Pat Spillane focused on Tomas Connor not starting as a reason for our downfall. Goes to show what Pat knows. We have no defencive system what so ever. What would Meath have done to us if they weren't crippled with injuries? As it was they should have scored 5 goals. I have to commend a few of our lads for rallying to try and put some gloss on the score line. A 5 point gap was very flattering to us, Meath were so much superior and best of luck to them v the Dubs.

Daith (Kildare) - Posts: 1172 - 30/06/2014 12:38:52    1611466

Meath looked very good yesterday and really should have been further ahead at half time, they looked like a team who knew exactly what their jobs were and had a very definite game plan, MOD impresses the more I see him operate and he definetly has Meath looking a dangerous team with belief when they attack. I was very disappointed in Kildare and expected more from them to be honest. Id love to know what Jason Ryans game plan was because they really had no answer when Meath pulled lads back. Well done Meath ,very impressed.

AthCliath (Dublin) - Posts: 4347 - 30/06/2014 14:10:32    1611568

Daith

I think Kev Reilly would have had O'Connors number too

ziggy320001 (Meath) - Posts: 2432 - 30/06/2014 14:27:23    1611584

ziggy320001
County: Meath
Posts: 719

1611268
Gary

I think too much does be made about some performances of teams in the league to be honest..

I agree, and it was that very reason I was concerned about certain teams being completely written off from having any serious All Ireland challenging potential purely because they played in Division 2 this year.

GaryMc82 (Derry) - Posts: 3026 - 30/06/2014 16:53:15    1611695

I wonder were Kildare thrown a bit by the changes made by Meath before the game. I'd say they were expecting at least one of Brophy or Fogarty to be able to expose a smaller defender. There was talk on here of Kildare targetting "Carroll's wing" but that never happened because Carroll played in the forwards and Tobin kept McNally quiet. Menton also added some size to the defence as well so there was never going to be a chance that Kildare could overpower the Meath backs as they might have hoped.

Former_Poster (Meath) - Posts: 394 - 30/06/2014 18:22:29    1611748

Hard luck to Kildare, you's came back at us very well however 12 points was just too much but best of luck up in Newry anyway, it's a tough test but Kildare will be well able for it. Anyway very pleased with the result, we're starting to make a habit of getting to Leinster finals again which is great but we have to try and make a habit of winning Leinster finals now which ain't easy given Dublin's incredible strength at the minute.

I can't really add to what's already been said, I can only echo people's opinions, Bray was excellent up front, Carroll played very well, Tormey and O'Rourke filled Newmans free taking boots without any hassle and all in all we played very well. Ok we did take the foot off the peddle after going 12 points up but credit to Kildare they took full advantage out field and we're lucky they didn't take full advantage infront of the posts. But listen given the fact that we had a stretched squad and a few players just back from injury I thought we did very well so looking forward to 3 weeks time.

Htaem (Meath) - Posts: 8657 - 01/07/2014 08:43:13    1611927

Gary

Ya some teams are at different fitness levels in the league,take it more-less seriously etc etc..

For example you would ahve to question Derry in that regard?

ziggy320001 (Meath) - Posts: 2432 - 01/07/2014 09:03:45    1611935

Former Poster

Plus Young and Burke didn't play corner back,I was seriously worried about those.. I do like Burke,but further out..

ziggy320001 (Meath) - Posts: 2432 - 01/07/2014 09:04:44    1611936

Htaem

Ya,Tormey actaully said we took the foot of the gas,and thought we had it won(in which we did),but you cannot blame players for that.

ziggy320001 (Meath) - Posts: 2432 - 01/07/2014 09:05:57    1611937

ziggy

Ya,Tormey actaully said we took the foot of the gas,and thought we had it won(in which we did),but you cannot blame players for that.

Ye it was quite obvious to see, especially in Croker where you see more of the game, a lot of our players just seemed to think that the game was over after 45mins, now that will cost us if it ever happens again. But listen that's not to take too much away front Kildare they never gave up and credit to them for it but if we fall asleep against Dublin it's good luck and thanks for coming. Ps not that we'll be 12pts up against Dublin at any stage btw, I'm not suggesting that!

Htaem (Meath) - Posts: 8657 - 01/07/2014 09:45:11    1611967

Former poster I'd agree that Ryan was totally thrown by the Meath line up. Cr to MOD. The fact that it took 40 minutes for him to make a change when everyone in the stadium could see that full back line and half forward line needed urgent changing is incredible and worrying going forward. By the time changes were made it as to late. Credit to Meath they are buildiing a good team and showed great confidence and desire.. If we learn from the defeat and make the necessary changes we possibly could still make last 8, but we were way off the mark against Meath both on the pitch and sideline.

NorthKildare (Kildare) - Posts: 197 - 01/07/2014 14:23:27    1612135

I think Kildare have to allow time for Ryan to get things right, he is basically rebuilding from scratch with less emphasis on the bulk. If I'm correct didn't mcgeeney get relegated first year and lost to either Louth or Wicklow in leinsyet? Give the man time to stamp his mark in team.

royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 19449 - 01/07/2014 15:30:34    1612171

We lost to Wicklow in 08. The difference is that McGeeeney was a rookie manager learning as he went along whereas Ryan has seveal years with Wexford. His inability to act more quickly last sunday is a major worry.
If Meath are to have any chance the next day they will need to score at least 3 goals but they are capable of doing that.

murof (Kildare) - Posts: 480 - 01/07/2014 16:25:00    1612189