Shocking 2nd half performance. Should have won that. Handling and shooting was terrible to watch. How many chances did Walsh waste?
Only positive is our defence is solid. But Christ...we wouldn't finish a dinner

Selwyn (Meath) - Posts: 387 - 02/03/2024 20:38:02    2529277

Absolutely shocking not to win that game, should have been 8/9 points clear with the first half dominance and the missed goal chances. Cavan were not as good as I thought they would be at all, we kept them in it with our poor shooting.

Unlucky to not win it at the end with shot that hit the post, but just very frustrated we left that behind us.

hyperache (Meath) - Posts: 254 - 02/03/2024 20:39:48    2529278

Definitely left that behind but great entertainment by 2 fairly well matched teams , quality is still miles off the top 10 but i see progress which is good.

Our kick out strategy definitely needs work, not blaming our keeper who was excellent tonight , our management need to sort it out.

thelutch (Meath) - Posts: 1073 - 02/03/2024 20:41:14    2529280

Blackspot09 (Meath) - Posts: 1012 - 02/03/2024 20:42:45    2529282

going into this, I thought Meath would be beaten reasonably well. So right away, Im happy to be wrong. I think, in the grand scheme of things, a shared point isnt the worst result. 6 points on the board.

I would think both sides would be very upset with the game. It was a mess. Meath could have won it, as could Cavan. All in all, a poor second half performance given a confident cushion from the first. However, with the exception of Armagh, this Meath team has been impressive defensively; tough, turgid, and hard to beat. They've shown mettle. Coming away from Breffni with a point against a *very* fancied Cavan team is a good showing any day of the week, regardless of the game.

well done to all.

Young_gael (Meath) - Posts: 596 - 02/03/2024 20:49:53    2529284

Adam O'Neill and Keoghan just unreal. Hard one to stomach not winning, Shane walsh left a simple 1-3 behind. Diarmuid Moriarty unused sub is crazy stuff.

Sheridan2010louth (Meath) - Posts: 184 - 02/03/2024 20:51:19    2529286

A great opportunity missed there. Can't get my head around how we did not win. Is promotion still possible?

TownlandGael (Meath) - Posts: 9 - 02/03/2024 20:51:43    2529287

thelutch (Meath) - Posts: 1073 - 02/03/2024 20:54:33    2529288

Was hoping for some character in the Meath performance tonight and it was all that. I have to be honest I didnt see a decent defensive display coming from this team but tonight proved me wrong. Thought they were very good. There will be some tired bodies tomorrow with the effort they put in. Great to see. And Donal Keoghan pretty much destroyed the best and most in form forward in the country tonight!
Its a pity that some of our promising players like McGowan and O'Connor are only 50 minute players. Especially when you see the Cavan no. 10 bombing forward in teh last few minutes albeit he missed the last chance. But those lads could be the difference in the last 10 minutes if fit enough. I thought they were good (especially O'Connors running) in first half.
Kickouts probably cost us especially in the 3rd quarter - no real options for the short kickouts and not winning the long ones but Brennan has to stay in goals for his free taking alone.
Yes we wasted an awful lot of chances and could have been well ahead at half time but at least we were creating chances. Can see why Cavan were conceding big scores in the other matches and we had a great chance tonight based on the fact we got our defense playing tight!
So overall i would be happy with the character shown and we will be coming away from Breffni the more disappointed team with a draw. Still the quality (from both teams tonight) was not great but gives a bit of confidence going forward.

JonnieG (Meath) - Posts: 246 - 02/03/2024 21:05:44    2529291

Progress continues under Colm despite the dectractor. Was talking to a Cavan man on the way out and he was surprised by our display, reckons Colm making his mark.

On another note, we had several pivotal games last year and another one tonight, hopefully no more pivotal ones for a while.

Well done to all

royalproxy (Meath) - Posts: 46 - 02/03/2024 21:52:58    2529311

Should have won that very frustrating.The goal chances we had have to be taken.Two poor attempts straight at the keeper and a few bad wides although Cavan had poor wides as well.The defence was very good and first half we played lovely football. We lost it around the middle in the second half as the two lads tired.Showed good character when going behind and Kinsella getting the black card to fight back and get the equaliser.We could easily be on 8 points with the ball hitting the post (so unlucky)at the end and Costellos free v Fermanagh dropping short at the end.Definte sign of improvement especially defensively but would be worried about our scoring rate and also our midfield options.I think after the Arnagh game we all would have taken two wins and draw and hopefully we can keep the momentum going v Cork on St Patrick's day.well done to all on a hard fought point and game.

Proudroyal (Meath) - Posts: 296 - 02/03/2024 22:24:57    2529321

1st half was the best bit of football we've played all year albeit with some poor execution in front of goal, 2nd half we couldn't get firing and Cavan stepped it up, left 2 glorious goal chances out on the pitch and interestingly in the warm up we drilled 1v1s and didn't hit the net too much so a big area to work on, 1 goal in 5 games is not good enough so that needs a lot of work. A result v Cork keeps us in Div2 and a free shot at Donegal then in the final round

LowerHogan (Meath) - Posts: 45 - 02/03/2024 22:36:45    2529325

winatallcost (Meath) - Posts: 594 - 02/03/2024 22:56:44    2529331

Great defensive 1st half performance. Bravo Adam o Neill.

Second half 2 goal chances….. the first one particularly. But cavan came back into it well in fairness to them.

Thought on "xG" to use a soccer term we should have won the game but a draw is no disaster. Great free from Sean Brennan (pressure kick!) to level it in added time.

We are missing Conor Grey to give us an advantage when the kickouts go long.

Didn't see the black card late in the second half was a pity because we had turned it over and I think? They scored from the resulting free. Small margins.

Finally , Kingspan breffni park - get a burger stand for gods sake.

cabbage (Meath) - Posts: 162 - 02/03/2024 23:52:38    2529337

cabbage (Meath) - Posts: 162 - 02/03/2024 23:54:42    2529338

Feels like we probably should have won with where we were at half time but when going behind twice late on showed balls to get equaliser twice and pity the one off the post late on didn't go over.
Brennan got a few good frees tonight.

Where we were at at about the 60'th minute I feel we would have lost it in the recent past.so maybe a bit more positive that we got the draw late on than negative that we didn't push on and win the game in second half.

Now that it looks like relegation and promotion highly unlikely the next game against Cork will be interesting as that game will be more important for Cork than us, will we be as motivated as Cork?

bdbuddah (Meath) - Posts: 1402 - 02/03/2024 23:59:16    2529339

Positives
Defended well
Transitioned ball from defence to attack well.
Most kick outs worked
Confidence improving.

Negatives
Missed about 3 goals and 8 points.

Foley91 (Meath) - Posts: 418 - 03/03/2024 08:20:00    2529353

LowerHogan (Meath) - Posts: 45 - 03/03/2024 08:36:52    2529355

Good result but we need to be more clinical when on top and that's the difference between the top teams and the teams trying to get there .
Our defence apart from the Armagh game have played really well in the league the young players have improved in every game and seem to be learning what they have to do at this level .
Our scoring needs to improve we have averaged just 12 points a game in the league Morris is a huge loss upfront especially with Costello and Walsh dropping deep . We are just lacking that top class inside forward at the moment but hopefully that will change when we have a full panel to pick from .
Grey is a massive loss around the middle of the pitch but I doubt we'll see him back this year after his recent illness and for what ever reason Flynn left the panel he needs to be coaxed back onto it .
We have played great football in all our league matches for periods of time so it's just a matter of putting that together for 70 minutes and hopefully that will come
Let's hope by the time the All Ireland series starts ORourke will have a full panel to pick from and we'll see exactly where we stand when we take on the top teams .
Looking at Dublin they are still miles ahead of most teams so I'd just hope we can be competitive against them if we get over Longford which I expect us to do .
Until then let's hope we can relegate Cork in Navan !! never forgot the war !! and the last game against Donegal could be a nothing game for both teams .

mmc (Meath) - Posts: 281 - 03/03/2024 08:55:12    2529358

Entertaining game, but very much two teams competing to be the 11th best county this year. That's not a complaint, just reflection of where we're at. It would be a problem if we haven't closed the gap next near.
Encouragingly, there is still lots of room for improvement. Forwards should have backed themselves to take goal instead of a point a couple of times in the first half. Two gilt edged goal chances passed in second half. Still need to implement a better kickout strategy. A more experienced team would have held onto possession better in injury time and carved out one good chance with no time for a Cavan equaliser (see Kerry v Mayo the other week). And still far to many turnovers. We're good at winning them, but turnovers are barely a thing at Div 1 level. When they happen it's massive. They are tenapenny in our games.
Now relegation is, I think, not possible, I'd like to see management experiment a little in final two games. Test players in new positions, try something new with kickouts, try to bed in patterns even if, short term, we're clunky in the Cork and Donegal games. Also gives them 3 added weeks to work hard on S&C. If that means lads are leggy for the matches, so be it.

MeathAbroad (Meath) - Posts: 101 - 03/03/2024 09:47:04    2529367