Meath lose to much-changed DCU side

[Phoenix]

ALARM bells need not ring in Meath after their shock O'Byrne Cup defeat to DCU, but manager Eamonn O'Brien has some concerns ahead of Saturday's NFL opener against Armagh.

A 0-16 to 0-13 defeat to the students took the gloss off two battling performances against the old enemy Dublin in the previous week.

The home victory over the Dubs in the quarter-final replay last Wednesday night gave Meath fans an early-season boost.

And while the crowd was smaller for the visit of DCU at a chilly Pairc Tailteann on Sunday, the Royal followers were unstinting in their encouragement, only to see their favourites lose the lead late in the match.

Once DCU got level at 0-12 each with five minutes to go, Meath were asked questions -- and they didn't have the answers. Points by Cathal Cregg of Roscommon (two), Meath's own Brian Sheridan, and Dubliner Paddy Andrews were answered by only one from Cian Ward.

DCU will face holders Louth in the final on February 21 at Drogheda in a repeat of last year's final.

Primary

In the meantime, DCU engage in their primary focus, the Sigerson Cup, starting with a first-round match against UCD tomorrow, while Meath look to the visit of Armagh on Saturday.

O'Brien and his backroom team will review the O'Byrne Cup performances, especially the DCU game, before deciding on a line-up.

Big guns Joe Sheridan and Anthony Moyles are unlikely to feature and Brian Meade is out after receiving a straight red card following a clash with DCU's Conor Rafferty.

O'Brien said: "Saturday evening against Armagh will be as close to championship football as you get.

"We have tested and tried fellas, and we've decisions to make now as a management team. We'll have to do that over the next few days.

"The young players are putting it up to the established players, and that's what we want.

"The more competition we have on the panel, the better. That will push other fellas on more."

O'Brien was clearly disappointed at the failure of his side to finish off the students, having dominated the game -- despite having two men sent off, to DCU's one.

Meade's dismissal after 29 minutes was compounded by a double yellow-card sending-off for Barry Regan five minutes before the end. Rafferty got his marching orders for receiving a second yellow card in the 59th minute.

Interestingly DCU won the game -- and also beat Westmeath and Offaly -- with an extensive rotation policy.

Their Sigerson campaign is the priority, and in Navan, manager Niall Moyna rested 14 players from the previous week's starting 15.

And if Meath take consolation from the fitness advantage that Moyna admitted DCU have over county teams at this time of year, they should note that exams have taken the attention of the students in the last fortnight, so their training has been curtailed.

Meath won't lose or win a Leinster title on the basis of their O'Byrne Cup campaign, but as O'Brien said: "Every time we pick a team, it's a team that we think can win a match. This was a game that we could have won."

Referee Derek Fahy of Longford was particularly vigilant in penalising hand-pass infringements, and he did well on the mark.

The fist-pass issue got a mixed reaction at Navan. It added to the stoppage count, but the ref is there to enforce the rules.

- Liam Kelly

[Plain of the Herbs]

The constant mis-use of the word 'shock' really gets up my nose. It seems to be used every time a match is won by an underdog, no matter how narrow outsiders they are.

Apart from the fact that DCU beating Meath in the OBC won't have raised too many eyebrows anyway, don't phrases like 'surprise' or 'mild surprise' get used any more.

Or perhaps Mr. Kelly, in his shortsightedness, never considered the possibility that Meath (who only won their previous round in midweek) would lose out to DCU (who have several county players in their ranks and would be many people's fancy to win the Inter-Varsity football championship).

Aaaarghhh!!!

ALARM bells need not ring in Meath after their shock O'Byrne Cup defeat to DCU, but manager Eamonn O'Brien has some concerns ahead of Saturday's NFL opener against Armagh.

[Bord na Mona man]

I would have assumed that DCU were the bookie's favourite for this given their better preparation, strong panel and Meath having to got to a replay vs. Dublin?

[Lone Shark]

I would have assumed that DCU were the bookie's favourite for this given their better preparation, strong panel and Meath having to got to a replay vs. Dublin?

The opposite, simply because DCU would have been thinking of Sigerson tomorrow rather than this - and they had a couple of lads exam tied. The money was very much on Meath's side. I was lucky, I would have joined in only I didn't get a chance to get money on over the course of the weekend.

[black and red exile]

The problem over the years with Meath losing any sort of a match against any of the lesser lights after the top 6 counties is that the media always seem to consider it a shock. Despite this current Meath team being the poorest to don the green jersey for a long long time last Sunday's defeat against a very talented DCU side would have been seen as a disaster by some fools in the press as well as Meath people with green tinted glasses. The bottom line is that this Meath team are very ordinary and I would give Offaly every chance of turning them over on May 23rd providing of course the right team and tactics are put in place.