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A definite PLUS tonight in Newry. Early days I know but confidence must be on the up. Solid foundations laid.

MillerX (Meath) - Posts: 1094 - 15/02/2025 21:04:15    2591220

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Replying To Royal.Legend:  "Well do you think we deserved to win that, hon the Royals."
I do, delighted. Great in midfield. Morris was unreal. A huge, confidence giving performance. I've been giving Down too much credit in recent years.

MeathAbroad (Meath) - Posts: 129 - 15/02/2025 21:18:12    2591223

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Replying To Sheridan2010louth:  "I see what your saying but I don't think that's necessary with this current meath team. I've always rated Billy Hogan since he played meath minors. He had 1 or 2 dodgy plays today but overall I thought he was good. Even with the new rules I think they suit Billy, he's comfortable on the ball and looks equally as fit as his teamates do. Plays outfield for his club."
Yep Billy super keeper but just think it's nearly turned in to a new position.
If you have a keeper with inter county outfield ability it will be massive.
Armagh will revert to someone like rafferty purely because of rule changes.

Harnan6 (Meath) - Posts: 37 - 15/02/2025 21:24:19    2591227

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That was a nail biter! Just goes to show you with the 2 point arc, you can't relax when you build up a decent lead. We were 7 up and we nearly threw it away. Poor first half. Both teams were sloppy. Jones got a stupid black card which allowed Down to get into the game. We had a 2 minute period of possession where we played over and across the foesld. Which was disappointing to see. But Meath had an unbelievable purple patch for 10 mins in the 3rd quarter which was the difference in the end. We got caught in possession a couple of times in the last quarter who cost us scores. Billy Hogan twice and Caulfield (I think it was) messing around with the ball taking it into a crowd of players, and then got turned over for scores. But some unbelievable shooting from Morris. One of the best games I've seen him play for Meath. Even the Down Fans around us were complimenting him. Some great catches in midfield in the second half also. Still Putting up high scores, which is great to see. Probably the worst performance out of the 3 games so far, but we still won. And away from home too. Which is a good sign.

Selwyn (Meath) - Posts: 396 - 15/02/2025 21:27:49    2591229

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Replying To Selwyn:  "That was a nail biter! Just goes to show you with the 2 point arc, you can't relax when you build up a decent lead. We were 7 up and we nearly threw it away. Poor first half. Both teams were sloppy. Jones got a stupid black card which allowed Down to get into the game. We had a 2 minute period of possession where we played over and across the foesld. Which was disappointing to see. But Meath had an unbelievable purple patch for 10 mins in the 3rd quarter which was the difference in the end. We got caught in possession a couple of times in the last quarter who cost us scores. Billy Hogan twice and Caulfield (I think it was) messing around with the ball taking it into a crowd of players, and then got turned over for scores. But some unbelievable shooting from Morris. One of the best games I've seen him play for Meath. Even the Down Fans around us were complimenting him. Some great catches in midfield in the second half also. Still Putting up high scores, which is great to see. Probably the worst performance out of the 3 games so far, but we still won. And away from home too. Which is a good sign."
There was method to the over and back at times, no point going gung ho and losing the ball every attack, we won the game dont forget. nothing will be just for the sake of it with this management team. To say we nearly threw it away is ridiculous aswell and a needless pop at the players. Have you watched the league so far, so much eb and flow to games and even a 10 point lead can be wiped out in 10 mins.

southmeathgael (Meath) - Posts: 955 - 15/02/2025 22:25:51    2591249

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Replying To TobinsBeard:  "Sorry but in no way were Meath ever fortunate against down in the TC. No need to over egg the negativity about us."
Wasn't at the game today but was at the two TC games referenced. Meath were the better team in both contests. I don't want to say Down are overrated, but they haven't beaten us in three recent attempts despite being well-fancied.

Encouraging start to the league from our point of view. Amazing the almost immediate difference a modern coaching ticket can make.

MarkMyWords (Meath) - Posts: 521 - 15/02/2025 23:10:26    2591262

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Delighted to get away with a win to one of our main rivals in the group, particularly if you factor in all the following
• Being Away from home. Its clear that the home crowd is a massive help to the officials in calling out the infringements against their own team to the officials
• It seems that over the three games so far that we are one of the worst teams for infringements against us, leaving us with a lot of room to improve, and potentially concede 4-5 points less per game
• Caulfield must be running on fumes at this stage
• Costello being out
• The realiability of our replacement inside forwards to retain possession and do the right thing is a concern. Any loose passes couls lead to dangerous counter attacks at the end of these close games. We got away with that today

Its just dawning on me that this win is one of the most important for years and could be looked back on as the game that changed everything.
This is the biggest chance of getting out of Division that we will get, because winning against Roscommon and Monaghan as opposed to the likes of Derry or Mayo is much more realistic, and we have them both at home this year.

Intersting that Jordan Morris said in the BBC interview after that they have a clear plan while attacking, something that they didnt have last year.

Overall very impressed by the team. Keep it up!

Kingroyal (Meath) - Posts: 49 - 15/02/2025 23:13:42    2591264

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Replying To Selwyn:  "That was a nail biter! Just goes to show you with the 2 point arc, you can't relax when you build up a decent lead. We were 7 up and we nearly threw it away. Poor first half. Both teams were sloppy. Jones got a stupid black card which allowed Down to get into the game. We had a 2 minute period of possession where we played over and across the foesld. Which was disappointing to see. But Meath had an unbelievable purple patch for 10 mins in the 3rd quarter which was the difference in the end. We got caught in possession a couple of times in the last quarter who cost us scores. Billy Hogan twice and Caulfield (I think it was) messing around with the ball taking it into a crowd of players, and then got turned over for scores. But some unbelievable shooting from Morris. One of the best games I've seen him play for Meath. Even the Down Fans around us were complimenting him. Some great catches in midfield in the second half also. Still Putting up high scores, which is great to see. Probably the worst performance out of the 3 games so far, but we still won. And away from home too. Which is a good sign."
Some interesting takes. Wasn't at the game but tuned in on LMFM. The commentary team felt it was one of our best performances in recent times. Not sure if that is an exaggerated view? Re. the 2 minute period of possession, was this during the Jones black card in the first half? The guys referred to this and felt it was a clever move to run down the clock which I'd agree with. Game smarts appear to have come into the team which had been severely lacking in recent years. The most exciting thing is that the management team are only in the door yet there are immediate signs of progress.

MarkMyWords (Meath) - Posts: 521 - 15/02/2025 23:18:32    2591266

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New rules just seem to suit us well, we're very physical around the middle of the field, transition fast and have sharp inside forwards. The team is probably just missing a few goals, but hard not to be impressed so far. Could easily be 3/3.

Defensively still a bit to answer, sloppy at times, committing too many fouls and giving up goal chances. Roscommon is really a massive step above anything we've played so far, so it will be a very good gauge of where we are truly at.

I fee like the nervy finishes are going to be a feature of these new rules, you're never really dead and buried, and a 7/8 point lead can be wiped out fast. But a good win.

hyperache (Meath) - Posts: 266 - 16/02/2025 00:06:21    2591273

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Didn't deserve to be trailing at HT, dominated possession and created far more scoring chances, ref handing Down so many soft frees and bringing them up to the 20. That purple patch in the 2nd was the winning of the game, won every kickout & converted them into scores. Menton, Flynn, Jones & Morris all immense. When Jones got his black card we boxed smart and burned the clock, even in the last few minutes of the game after Down had a strong spell we got our hands back on the ball and played smart, really encouraging to see. Can someone explain this to me because maybe I've missed something in the new rules, the ref would blow a free for Down and immediately run 50m up the pitch, he was pretty much running up the pitch as he blew the whistle, I thought this was for dissent yet how were we giving dissent in the middle of the play?? Nothing more obvious than the start of the 2nd when Jack Kinlough was fouled and the ref immediately blew the whistle as he was running 50m up the pitch for Down only for the linesman to pull him aside and tell him he'd made a mistake, seemed like very strange behaviour

LowerHogan (Meath) - Posts: 53 - 16/02/2025 08:51:28    2591281

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Just a side point. The standard of refereeing in div 2 needs to be addressed by the powers that be. It shows how little coverage there is of div 2 that it hasn't been highlighted already, cause its blatantly obvious to everyone that attends these games. If you lay a finger on player it's a free, then you flick over to a div 1 game and they are really allowed get stuck into eachother, it's like a different sport at times in terms of how the contact is refereed. It will cost us more then most in div 2 as we are bigger and fairly physical so these weak refs will always favour the smaller team. Even physicality aside, they miss pick ups, sideline balls and other fairly basic calls. It's frustrating.

southmeathgael (Meath) - Posts: 955 - 16/02/2025 09:17:15    2591283

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Replying To LowerHogan:  "Didn't deserve to be trailing at HT, dominated possession and created far more scoring chances, ref handing Down so many soft frees and bringing them up to the 20. That purple patch in the 2nd was the winning of the game, won every kickout & converted them into scores. Menton, Flynn, Jones & Morris all immense. When Jones got his black card we boxed smart and burned the clock, even in the last few minutes of the game after Down had a strong spell we got our hands back on the ball and played smart, really encouraging to see. Can someone explain this to me because maybe I've missed something in the new rules, the ref would blow a free for Down and immediately run 50m up the pitch, he was pretty much running up the pitch as he blew the whistle, I thought this was for dissent yet how were we giving dissent in the middle of the play?? Nothing more obvious than the start of the 2nd when Jack Kinlough was fouled and the ref immediately blew the whistle as he was running 50m up the pitch for Down only for the linesman to pull him aside and tell him he'd made a mistake, seemed like very strange behaviour"
I watched it on the BBC and they were fairly switched on with the rules(had a referee on co commentry)
The Kinlough incident was when the ref percieved that Kinlough threw the ball away after a foul, but the linesman set the ref straight. The rest of the times when he brought the ball forward for Down was when Meath didnt have at least 3 players forward(or 2 players forward when Jones was off).
All entirely preventable stuff that we can only improve on. We must be one of the worst teams over the three games on giving these infringements away.

That being said, youre right, referee was giving a lot soft frees to Down, they were'nt even throwing themselfs on the ground. One the Down players punched Jones on the ground after Jones turned over possession and i think he was lucky to just get a yellow.

The crowd in Navan for Roscommon and Monaghan down near the sidelines need to be in the linemens ear if their '3 Up' drift even sightly, massive potential for 2 pointer frees

Kingroyal (Meath) - Posts: 49 - 16/02/2025 09:18:27    2591285

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Replying To Kingroyal:  "I watched it on the BBC and they were fairly switched on with the rules(had a referee on co commentry)
The Kinlough incident was when the ref percieved that Kinlough threw the ball away after a foul, but the linesman set the ref straight. The rest of the times when he brought the ball forward for Down was when Meath didnt have at least 3 players forward(or 2 players forward when Jones was off).
All entirely preventable stuff that we can only improve on. We must be one of the worst teams over the three games on giving these infringements away.

That being said, youre right, referee was giving a lot soft frees to Down, they were'nt even throwing themselfs on the ground. One the Down players punched Jones on the ground after Jones turned over possession and i think he was lucky to just get a yellow.

The crowd in Navan for Roscommon and Monaghan down near the sidelines need to be in the linemens ear if their '3 Up' drift even sightly, massive potential for 2 pointer frees"
Ah okay, it's hard when you're in the stand and there's instances like that with Jack to understand what's actually going on, in either case the ref just seemed very trigger happy to run 50m up the pitch. The soft frees are very frustrating in the game, we put a glove on a Down player and the whistle immediately blown yet we were hit late on 4 separate occasions I remember and Menton pushed in the back a number of times fielding the ball yet nothing, I'm happy for a ref to let a game be physical and have some niggle in it but don't keep blowing for basic tackling. The linesman on my side didn't help much either, twice a Down player handled the ball on the ground trying to pick it up no more than 2m from the linesman and didn't see it, this is pretty basic stuff. Not gonna get bogged down with it though, good result, 4pts out of 6 on the board and good momentum going into the Roscommon game!

LowerHogan (Meath) - Posts: 53 - 16/02/2025 10:38:58    2591301

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Great result, with he exception of the cork win away last year I think that was probably our best result since and will give huge confidence to the players. Baby steps still but definitely improvement.

New rules have definitely suited our players, was so tough watching one forward been left up front last season.

thelutch (Meath) - Posts: 1077 - 16/02/2025 12:59:29    2591323

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Think it, don't say it, dont even whisper it.

There could be something very special brewing with this Meath team. I could eat my hat in six months time, but this has to be the biggest middle 8 in the country, with a lot of big, powerful, athletic operators and finally a bit of room upfront for the tidy forwards we have... These new rules will massively suit Meath football. I just have a feeling.

Young_gael (Meath) - Posts: 597 - 17/02/2025 17:01:14    2591632

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Next Sunday is a big game and will be a good tester to see where we are at. Down was also a good test in that they are an improving team and not short of talent in their own right.
The signs have been very good so far in that we are now playing with a purpose and direction. Team is full of physicality and has a shape about it.
Early days though and we need all our best players fit to ensure the team that finishes is equally as good or better than the one that starts.
Also a bit of work in our defensive tackling to avoid soft scorable frees being conceded.
Overall indications are that we have alot to look forward to as the year progresses.

winatallcost (Meath) - Posts: 609 - 17/02/2025 17:29:21    2591642

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Replying To Young_gael:  "Think it, don't say it, dont even whisper it.

There could be something very special brewing with this Meath team. I could eat my hat in six months time, but this has to be the biggest middle 8 in the country, with a lot of big, powerful, athletic operators and finally a bit of room upfront for the tidy forwards we have... These new rules will massively suit Meath football. I just have a feeling."
Yeah, i think many folks are thinking the same but saying nothing at this point ..

bert09 (Meath) - Posts: 1813 - 17/02/2025 18:11:13    2591649

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Kildare 2 team 1.15 meath 2 team 1.11 played Monday night luke mitchell scored 2 2 pointers .does anyone know full team sheet

Centralmeath (Meath) - Posts: 6 - 18/02/2025 10:09:38    2591726

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A solid win for yous against a very impressive down team. Looking at the minute Monaghan v Meath could be a winner goes up. Plenty of swings & roundabouts still to come looking forward to out tussle in navan in a few weeks.

Wee side note managed to catch your tailteann final against down that time as Monaghan played the dubs straight after it there was a young lad jack oconnor was his name he had an absolutely hellish game that day but haven't seen him in the squad this year so far anyone shed any light on why?

Bantysbabes123 (Monaghan) - Posts: 32 - 18/02/2025 10:44:41    2591738

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Replying To Bantysbabes123:  "A solid win for yous against a very impressive down team. Looking at the minute Monaghan v Meath could be a winner goes up. Plenty of swings & roundabouts still to come looking forward to out tussle in navan in a few weeks.

Wee side note managed to catch your tailteann final against down that time as Monaghan played the dubs straight after it there was a young lad jack oconnor was his name he had an absolutely hellish game that day but haven't seen him in the squad this year so far anyone shed any light on why?"
Gone to Australia.

kingofclubs (Meath) - Posts: 332 - 18/02/2025 10:58:58    2591743

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