Meath Forum

Meath V Cork

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Replying To LeitrimRoyal99:  "The game had absolutely nothing riding on it for us (unless you value finishing top half). However having got in the position to be 3 up with 15 mins left to concede 7 in a row and not even have a shot in that time is a concern. Confused as to why Moriarty wasn't brought on much earlier as Walsh was having a poor day inside (could have taken somebody else off and kept Walsh half forward even) and why Scully wasn't brought on. I know next week is another dead rubber but we can't afford a big beating like we got against Armagh and Derry&Dublin last year. I think that would badly knock us back before championship"
Would strongly disagree "had nothing riding in it" In my view we should be on the road of continuous improvement. A performance where we collapsed and conceded 7 points in a row without reply is a hammering in a game we should have won . We have to improve by refusing to accept mediocrity, and that includes no celebration for NOT being demoted to Div 3.....big deal ! Collapse like that does not help with building confidence from a fragile base line.Without confidence which is so glaryingly obvious we dont progress. The positives to me we got a wake up call to challange our ATTITUDE to accepting poor standards .It helps maybe to support the theory ATTITUDE dictates most things. The other positive is how lucky we are to have a goalkeeper like Brennan who makes it look easy to score 3 45s witout fuss.Unfortunately he covers up for our need to have developed a reliable freetaker by now.I accept captain Ronan Jones was a loss to day because of his leadership qualities .
With a bit of luck maybe we can have a look at how easily we make excuses or "ah shurs" Want to see COR continue on his learning curve with everyone else, Very poor performance to day that could be a very significant ingredient if it is studied under the heading of ATTITUDE

nobull456 (Meath) - Posts: 1266 - 16/03/2024 20:41:29    2531519

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Replying To Selwyn:  "Lord Jaysus. Where do you start with that loss? All this talk of Meath having the bottle to finish games strong is out the window after that. A 7 point swing in the last10 mins...against Cork. Pathetic.
'Ah but sure they're only young lads'..."
Agreed with above extremely poor last ten minutes, are youngest player probably showed the most fight, thought he was very solid at the back

Mmmeath (Meath) - Posts: 15 - 16/03/2024 21:55:09    2531552

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Replying To LeitrimRoyal99:  "The game had absolutely nothing riding on it for us (unless you value finishing top half). However having got in the position to be 3 up with 15 mins left to concede 7 in a row and not even have a shot in that time is a concern. Confused as to why Moriarty wasn't brought on much earlier as Walsh was having a poor day inside (could have taken somebody else off and kept Walsh half forward even) and why Scully wasn't brought on. I know next week is another dead rubber but we can't afford a big beating like we got against Armagh and Derry&Dublin last year. I think that would badly knock us back before championship"
From this vantage point there was nothing to play for, but at the start of play today wasn't there a sequence of results that could have seen us promoted? The least we could have done was to go for the results we needed.
For me this league campaign has been a huge step backwards.

Greenfield (Meath) - Posts: 523 - 16/03/2024 22:34:14    2531561

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Replying To Greenfield:  "From this vantage point there was nothing to play for, but at the start of play today wasn't there a sequence of results that could have seen us promoted? The least we could have done was to go for the results we needed.
For me this league campaign has been a huge step backwards."
Huge step backwards? We barely stayed up last year, drew with Limerick and eventually lost to Offaly. This year we were more or less safe with three games left.

Bit of perspective needed yet again. Ourselves and Cork are what we are. Mid table div 2 sides. On another day its us who finish with a late run. I'm not saying we can't be disappointed with the manner of the defeat, but let's have a bit of perspective.

Spoofer (Meath) - Posts: 51 - 16/03/2024 23:37:18    2531573

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We need a better kick out strategy. Plus tighten up on simple handling errors. I think the players had their foot off the gas today. The defensive performance in the 1st half of the cavan game and today are light years apart. I reckon the goal was to be safe in Div 2 and once that's achieved they have lost interest in the league. True also for the fans, much smaller crowd today

cabbage (Meath) - Posts: 162 - 17/03/2024 00:33:07    2531585

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Personally, I think there's an issue with decision making and spatial awareness. From having seen all games bar the Armagh one, there has been countless times where I was thinking 'why in the name of God did he just do that?' Yesterday for instance, the amount of times players were hopping the ball on the greasy deck, and to lose possession, was criminal. Or taking the ball into a tackle. I thought it was absolute madness when Shane Walsh lobbed in 2 High balls to Costelloe in such bad conditions. Costelloe had no right to win those balls. But he did and It just shows his class..

Selwyn (Meath) - Posts: 387 - 17/03/2024 07:46:25    2531587

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Great to see Diarmuid Moriarty come on for a solid minute.. Keith Curtis also got 1 minute to show what he's about too. Aaron Lynch got no minutes. They have every right to be raging.

Sheridan2010louth (Meath) - Posts: 184 - 17/03/2024 09:26:33    2531605

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Hard to know what to take from that game, a terrible opening 25mins with sloppy passing and poor shooting but stepped it up in the last 10mins of the half putting together some good moves and kicking some good scores. Got ourselves into a comfortable position by the 60th minute sitting 3 pts clear then just completely fell apart in the final 10-15mins. Defensive shape was non existent today where we left ourselves wide open every time Cork were on the counter. The decision to not empty the bench in the final 10mins when there were tired legs out there was mind boggling to me, that's what Cork did and it won them the game. Interesting to see what way we fair out against Donegal next weekend.

LowerHogan (Meath) - Posts: 45 - 17/03/2024 12:02:51    2531627

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Replying To Spoofer:  "Huge step backwards? We barely stayed up last year, drew with Limerick and eventually lost to Offaly. This year we were more or less safe with three games left.

Bit of perspective needed yet again. Ourselves and Cork are what we are. Mid table div 2 sides. On another day its us who finish with a late run. I'm not saying we can't be disappointed with the manner of the defeat, but let's have a bit of perspective."
Very poor last 15 minutes, however, Cork were driven on knowing their season rested on winning the game, we showed good attitude and fight in previous games to insure safety in division so would not be too hard on them today. Meath really missed our three big midfielders today and need them back if we are to make any impression in A/I series. No doubt changes should have been made sooner, Cork bench brought the freshness that got them over the line.

seadog54 (Meath) - Posts: 2196 - 17/03/2024 12:37:36    2531635

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That game yesterday was very depressing - the weather probably contributed to it also.

I thought that it was clear in the first half that Cork had much better and slicker movement up front than we had. Shane Walsh was struggling to get possession up front and, in fact, we were fortunate to go in at half time level.

We hung in there and points from Frayne, Kinsella and 45's from Brennan and it really looked that we would see this one out. However, we just tamely let them take over and the lack of real fight and any sense of panic or effort to turn it back around was disappointing to see.

Also, from what I saw of Colm's interview he was a bit blaze about the result. In my opinion he should have been FUMING. He says the right thing but it doesnt come across that he has a killer instinct. Also, he should have been ready to make changes - it didnt come across that he thought he did any wrong by no bringing on the subs earlier.

On a side note, the Meath GAA page on FB had the interview and they were chatting about Noel and Valerie Moran winning at Cheltenham. I was just thinking if that was Roy Keane after a loss at that there would be no pleasentries like that - they had one focus yesterday and it was to win that game. The capitulation should have meant a very angry manager committing to looking into the issues and no chats about Cheltenham!

stillaroyal (Meath) - Posts: 225 - 17/03/2024 13:10:30    2531644

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Replying To stillaroyal:  "That game yesterday was very depressing - the weather probably contributed to it also.

I thought that it was clear in the first half that Cork had much better and slicker movement up front than we had. Shane Walsh was struggling to get possession up front and, in fact, we were fortunate to go in at half time level.

We hung in there and points from Frayne, Kinsella and 45's from Brennan and it really looked that we would see this one out. However, we just tamely let them take over and the lack of real fight and any sense of panic or effort to turn it back around was disappointing to see.

Also, from what I saw of Colm's interview he was a bit blaze about the result. In my opinion he should have been FUMING. He says the right thing but it doesnt come across that he has a killer instinct. Also, he should have been ready to make changes - it didnt come across that he thought he did any wrong by no bringing on the subs earlier.

On a side note, the Meath GAA page on FB had the interview and they were chatting about Noel and Valerie Moran winning at Cheltenham. I was just thinking if that was Roy Keane after a loss at that there would be no pleasentries like that - they had one focus yesterday and it was to win that game. The capitulation should have meant a very angry manager committing to looking into the issues and no chats about Cheltenham!"
A time and place to vent his anger, interview after game would have been of little benefit to anyone, he voiced his dissapointment which was fair enough. No problem with the nod to the Morans, there has to be give and take where sponsorship is concerned. As for Keane the less said the better.

seadog54 (Meath) - Posts: 2196 - 17/03/2024 13:34:57    2531654

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Well done to players and management , Division 2 status maintained , another year to work on this very much young team and perhaps aim for promotion next year, we not ready for division 1 yet.

In my opinion which are my own I think we missed some of the lads out injured or unavailable in the last 2 games especially around the middle in the last quarter, Jack Flynn and Conor Gray with Ronan Jones also yesterday. It meant Shane Walsh having to come out the field which is not where we would like to have him.

Again I see progress this year, solid backline which came under huge pressure in the last quarters yesterday and against Cavan and its glass still half full in my eyes.

The game is a 20 man game and the team finishing should be even stronger in my opinion. Just a little short on the bench.

As for the forwards who were not used, yesterday was not for slighter (in build )quick footballers as Cork had most lads behind the ball when not in position.

thelutch (Meath) - Posts: 1073 - 17/03/2024 15:09:55    2531680

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Replying To thelutch:  "Well done to players and management , Division 2 status maintained , another year to work on this very much young team and perhaps aim for promotion next year, we not ready for division 1 yet.

In my opinion which are my own I think we missed some of the lads out injured or unavailable in the last 2 games especially around the middle in the last quarter, Jack Flynn and Conor Gray with Ronan Jones also yesterday. It meant Shane Walsh having to come out the field which is not where we would like to have him.

Again I see progress this year, solid backline which came under huge pressure in the last quarters yesterday and against Cavan and its glass still half full in my eyes.

The game is a 20 man game and the team finishing should be even stronger in my opinion. Just a little short on the bench.

As for the forwards who were not used, yesterday was not for slighter (in build )quick footballers as Cork had most lads behind the ball when not in position."
Congratulating the team and management for not being relegated to Division 3.... Good god man. Where are we going as a County football wise if we are celebrating that as an achievement. If we were in Division one and stayed up then fair enough but we have missed a big opportunity to get promotion when you look at the games we should have won but weren't good enough to get over the line.

We can harp on about this being a young team all we want but in reality we have a lot of lads in their mid 20s which is not young in inter County terms as well as 7 of the starting 14 outfield players yesterday were in at least their 5 th season with the Meath Senior team.

And to top off yesterday's disappointment we have to listen to the usual tripe about the players being tired because of their busy schedule which included of course Sigerson. Change the record please on that one please. The Sigerson finished almost a month ago and the squad had a 2 week break from the last game to recharge the batteries if that's what was needed but that excuse just needs to be binned now .

A League campaign where our only 2 wins were against an absolutely hopeless Kildare and a Louth team operating nowhere the level they were at last year despite their big win yesterday can only be seen as a disappointing campaign .

We can clutch at Straws and say there has been notable improvement from last year because we put ourselves in positions to beat Cavan Cork Fermanagh etc but the reality is we didn't beat and still have beaten any team from the top end of Division 2 so for me there has been little or no improvement only that we look a small bit more organised defensively and even that is debatable when playing an actual good team like Armagh or Donegal next week.

Blackspot09 (Meath) - Posts: 1012 - 17/03/2024 18:59:04    2531733

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Replying To Blackspot09:  "Congratulating the team and management for not being relegated to Division 3.... Good god man. Where are we going as a County football wise if we are celebrating that as an achievement. If we were in Division one and stayed up then fair enough but we have missed a big opportunity to get promotion when you look at the games we should have won but weren't good enough to get over the line.

We can harp on about this being a young team all we want but in reality we have a lot of lads in their mid 20s which is not young in inter County terms as well as 7 of the starting 14 outfield players yesterday were in at least their 5 th season with the Meath Senior team.

And to top off yesterday's disappointment we have to listen to the usual tripe about the players being tired because of their busy schedule which included of course Sigerson. Change the record please on that one please. The Sigerson finished almost a month ago and the squad had a 2 week break from the last game to recharge the batteries if that's what was needed but that excuse just needs to be binned now .

A League campaign where our only 2 wins were against an absolutely hopeless Kildare and a Louth team operating nowhere the level they were at last year despite their big win yesterday can only be seen as a disappointing campaign .

We can clutch at Straws and say there has been notable improvement from last year because we put ourselves in positions to beat Cavan Cork Fermanagh etc but the reality is we didn't beat and still have beaten any team from the top end of Division 2 so for me there has been little or no improvement only that we look a small bit more organised defensively and even that is debatable when playing an actual good team like Armagh or Donegal next week."
Do you honestly think we are ready for division 1 ?

If you do ,you obviously haven't been watching any division 1 games.

Yee keyboard warriors hiding behind made up names, never anything positive out of yee.

thelutch (Meath) - Posts: 1073 - 17/03/2024 19:40:12    2531755

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Replying To thelutch:  "Do you honestly think we are ready for division 1 ?

If you do ,you obviously haven't been watching any division 1 games.

Yee keyboard warriors hiding behind made up names, never anything positive out of yee."
Where did I say we were ready for Division 1 ? What has that got to do with being disappointed with what was at best a mediocre league campaign. I know we aren't ready for Division 1 but that shouldn't stop us being disappointed and only managing to win 2 games in a very ordinary Division 2.

If not celebrating the fact we weren't relegated to Division 3 is being negative then so be it. I prefer to see myself as being realistic. Possibly minimal improvement on last year but that is still debatable IMO and there certainly hasn't been enough improvement as far as I'm concerned.

Blackspot09 (Meath) - Posts: 1012 - 17/03/2024 20:06:59    2531769

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Replying To Blackspot09:  "Congratulating the team and management for not being relegated to Division 3.... Good god man. Where are we going as a County football wise if we are celebrating that as an achievement. If we were in Division one and stayed up then fair enough but we have missed a big opportunity to get promotion when you look at the games we should have won but weren't good enough to get over the line.

We can harp on about this being a young team all we want but in reality we have a lot of lads in their mid 20s which is not young in inter County terms as well as 7 of the starting 14 outfield players yesterday were in at least their 5 th season with the Meath Senior team.

And to top off yesterday's disappointment we have to listen to the usual tripe about the players being tired because of their busy schedule which included of course Sigerson. Change the record please on that one please. The Sigerson finished almost a month ago and the squad had a 2 week break from the last game to recharge the batteries if that's what was needed but that excuse just needs to be binned now .

A League campaign where our only 2 wins were against an absolutely hopeless Kildare and a Louth team operating nowhere the level they were at last year despite their big win yesterday can only be seen as a disappointing campaign .

We can clutch at Straws and say there has been notable improvement from last year because we put ourselves in positions to beat Cavan Cork Fermanagh etc but the reality is we didn't beat and still have beaten any team from the top end of Division 2 so for me there has been little or no improvement only that we look a small bit more organised defensively and even that is debatable when playing an actual good team like Armagh or Donegal next week."
You are talking to much sense and realism there. That won't go down well. Two wins against a Kildare team who are a total mess and they actually could have won the game had they took their chances, and Louth. The small bit more organised defensively consists of getting everyone behind the ball, but don't actually tackle/put pressure on. This succeeds to a certain extent against average/poor teams like Cavan, Fermanagh, Kildare and Louth. But they get completely blown out of it against good teams like Armagh and even Cork who got in behind Meaths defense and straight through the middle on numerous occasions yesterday.

The way Meath are playing currently and with the personal they are going with, I fear they could get absolutely cleaned out against Dublin should they beat Longford, which is no forgone conclusion in the slightest.

BigJoe14 (Meath) - Posts: 998 - 17/03/2024 20:59:32    2531794

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Replying To BigJoe14:  "You are talking to much sense and realism there. That won't go down well. Two wins against a Kildare team who are a total mess and they actually could have won the game had they took their chances, and Louth. The small bit more organised defensively consists of getting everyone behind the ball, but don't actually tackle/put pressure on. This succeeds to a certain extent against average/poor teams like Cavan, Fermanagh, Kildare and Louth. But they get completely blown out of it against good teams like Armagh and even Cork who got in behind Meaths defense and straight through the middle on numerous occasions yesterday.

The way Meath are playing currently and with the personal they are going with, I fear they could get absolutely cleaned out against Dublin should they beat Longford, which is no forgone conclusion in the slightest."
You fear that we will 'be cleaned out against Dublin'! As if that hasn't happened 9 out of the last 10 times we played them.
We are all looking for the year that we show a 20% improvement and jump up the ladder and start challenging. If we had a full deck with Morris, Harnan, Gray, Flynn and Ryan then I think we could have pushed on but we will never know.
After two games the mood was terrible and we looked like relegation could be on the card. Colm and the lads turned that on its head in three games.
If Campion and Jones played 70 minutes we would likely have beaten Cork.
The margins are fine and I'm looking forward to the championship and the All-Ireland series.

49erroyal (Meath) - Posts: 68 - 17/03/2024 21:19:09    2531802

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Three points up and in control but instead of going for the kill we start this sideways and backways passing and lose the ball and get caught on the counter.While I know Cork had the greater hunger as they had league status on the line I feel this was a chance missed to build more confidence.its worring to concede 7 points unanswered.Brennan kicked 3 good points but our kickouts are a real worry .Whenever anyone pushes right up we cant seem to get possession.Donegal will push right up next week and Dublin will if we get past Longford that is.In his defence we are missing three of our midfielders so if we can get them back maybe that might make a difference.We totally lost our shape the last 10 minute s or so .I also dont get putting Moriarty and Curtis on for 1 or 2 minutes to go.I find that a poor token gesture and in truth insulting why bother bringing them on at all. Im not sure where we are now?I thought after the Cavan game we had improved but after yesterday I just dont know.With Donegal now promoted maybe they will give fringe players a game but it still looks like too big of an ask to win up there.It looks like we will now finish 3rd from bottom (assuming Louth beat Kildare)and in reality that's no improvement on last year so that would mean we haven't gone forward.it seems to be one step forward two steps back for us.Looking ahead to the championship it's hard to see us doing much.If we get past Longford I fear a beating from Dublin which is the last thing we need.We can do damage and play good football v better teams but we only play in fits and starts and that wont do v better teams.I really hope we can do something in the championship but going on our league performances I canr see us lasting the 70 mins which is needed v top end teams.

Proudroyal (Meath) - Posts: 296 - 17/03/2024 21:36:35    2531805

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Replying To 49erroyal:  "You fear that we will 'be cleaned out against Dublin'! As if that hasn't happened 9 out of the last 10 times we played them.
We are all looking for the year that we show a 20% improvement and jump up the ladder and start challenging. If we had a full deck with Morris, Harnan, Gray, Flynn and Ryan then I think we could have pushed on but we will never know.
After two games the mood was terrible and we looked like relegation could be on the card. Colm and the lads turned that on its head in three games.
If Campion and Jones played 70 minutes we would likely have beaten Cork.
The margins are fine and I'm looking forward to the championship and the All-Ireland series."
If we had a full deck things would have been different. If we had campion and Jones we'd have beaten cork.

If if if..

Lot of ifs there. You'd swear we were the only team missing players . If Kildare hadn't lost Kirwan early and McCormack at HT maybe they'd have won. If if if.

Blackspot09 (Meath) - Posts: 1012 - 17/03/2024 21:37:40    2531806

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Replying To Blackspot09:  "If we had a full deck things would have been different. If we had campion and Jones we'd have beaten cork.

If if if..

Lot of ifs there. You'd swear we were the only team missing players . If Kildare hadn't lost Kirwan early and McCormack at HT maybe they'd have won. If if if."
So mentioning the players we are missing when comparing where we are and where we hoped to be isn't relevant? And likewise commenting that two of our best performers in this league were missing when it mattered against Cork?
I note in true keyboard warrior style you didn't debate the point but rather defected. I'd be a glass half full person and pity those who take pleasure in trying to drag us all down.

49erroyal (Meath) - Posts: 68 - 17/03/2024 22:07:57    2531817

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