I have to agree with most of the comments that have been made about the leinster final yesterday but I have one or two other points to make.
At the end of the 70min the best team won but I believe we threw away that leinster final yesterday. We rocked the dubs in the first half. They expected to trounce us but after 12-15 min we were 0-3 0-0 and the hill was silent. naturally they were always going to get their rhytmn but we should have been at least 3 or 4 points up at half team. I know I am stating the obvious here but we badly need a consistent free taker. Mac missed 2 scoreable frees and as for that miss at the end - a disgrace. Oh how we laughed at Dessie Dolan when he missed a simple enough free a few years ago but the our miss, to put us going in at half time in the lead, was inexcusable. What a lift that would have given the team.
Shot & pass selection cost us that game yesterday. We had some good scoring opportunities that were wasted and then the dubs would come down and score. There was at least three 2 two points swings where we did not take our opportunites and the dubs took theirs.
Anyway as ye can gather I am bitter about the end of another leinster campaign that has been wasted. We are not far off being the top team in the provinence but due management failures and players making wrong decisions have cost us over the last five or six years.
Oh and another thing the minor are a waste of space. Brutal performance.
Between senior and minor level we do not have one forward who can kick a ball over the bar from 35+yards.
The Meath minors gave an exhibition of point taking.
Forwards & Training
-
Lone Shark
- All Star
- Posts: 5598
- Joined: Fri Oct 29, 2004 5:21 pm
- Club: Ferbane
- Location: Roscommon
- Contact:
You're very harsh there Delboy I suspect.
We all agree we badly need a consistent freetaker - however it's not like someone like Dara Ó'Cinnéide is playing club football in Offaly and not getting picked. All our freetakers have serious question marks over them. Let's not forget, there was a free taking competition organised last year in Offaly for this very reason, and who won it - McManus. So it may just be a case of make the best of it. I don't like McNamee taking them because he's not confident, and often it affects his general game when he misses frees - I would prefer to see him taken off them.
We had nine wides yesterday, Dublin had fifteen. I don't think anything to do with shooting was the problem - granted all wides are frustrating, but we really only had a run of bad wides towards the end, when Niall and Tommo were frustrated trying to create chances with no support and three men marking them. The Dubs missed way more than we did.
I'll accept too we're not far off - but do you honestly think that if the Leinster Final was to be replayed next week that we'd be in with any more than a 10 or 15% chance? The Dubs are a good team - now bookies favourites for the All Ireland. We missed the boat in 2003 and 2004 when the easy Leinsters were being won, as BnaM man pointed out.
As for the minors, that's just downright unfair. This is a good Meath minor team, and our lads have done well to reach a second Leinster final. It didn't happen for them yesterday, but these are kids. Ken Casey had an offday and that was always going to hurt us, but this lad has already made his presence felt at senior level and has a long way to go yet before he's even close to his peak. Dunne, Mulhall, Currams, Kelly were four of the other forwards - all underage again next year if I'm not mistaken. Ross Brady, probably one of our better players too, looked to sustain an early injury so I'd be very slow to pick on his quieter display, and a lot of our backs did well on a Meath forward line that as you say, put in a sublime shooting display. The two corner backs in particular, Pender and Lonergan I thought more than held their own against tricky looking opposition.
We all agree we badly need a consistent freetaker - however it's not like someone like Dara Ó'Cinnéide is playing club football in Offaly and not getting picked. All our freetakers have serious question marks over them. Let's not forget, there was a free taking competition organised last year in Offaly for this very reason, and who won it - McManus. So it may just be a case of make the best of it. I don't like McNamee taking them because he's not confident, and often it affects his general game when he misses frees - I would prefer to see him taken off them.
We had nine wides yesterday, Dublin had fifteen. I don't think anything to do with shooting was the problem - granted all wides are frustrating, but we really only had a run of bad wides towards the end, when Niall and Tommo were frustrated trying to create chances with no support and three men marking them. The Dubs missed way more than we did.
I'll accept too we're not far off - but do you honestly think that if the Leinster Final was to be replayed next week that we'd be in with any more than a 10 or 15% chance? The Dubs are a good team - now bookies favourites for the All Ireland. We missed the boat in 2003 and 2004 when the easy Leinsters were being won, as BnaM man pointed out.
As for the minors, that's just downright unfair. This is a good Meath minor team, and our lads have done well to reach a second Leinster final. It didn't happen for them yesterday, but these are kids. Ken Casey had an offday and that was always going to hurt us, but this lad has already made his presence felt at senior level and has a long way to go yet before he's even close to his peak. Dunne, Mulhall, Currams, Kelly were four of the other forwards - all underage again next year if I'm not mistaken. Ross Brady, probably one of our better players too, looked to sustain an early injury so I'd be very slow to pick on his quieter display, and a lot of our backs did well on a Meath forward line that as you say, put in a sublime shooting display. The two corner backs in particular, Pender and Lonergan I thought more than held their own against tricky looking opposition.