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Content Zone
Sat 08-Jul-2006 17:17
More from this writer..
Press Box Lad
Meath ‘Carry’ on the right road!
by Brendan Boylan
For Colm O’Rourke in the stand and Trevor Giles in the dugout it must have brought back some great memories. In the case of Dudley Farrell, the rest of his management team and any players that have been involved with them for the past two seasons it surely eradicated some pretty horrible ones.
Not so long ago I wrote how, on the evidence against Carlow and Roscommon, the Meath senior team seemed to rediscovered the spirit of which the county is so proud but which seemed to have deserted them in recent times. Well, whatever got into the senior side in of late seems to have seeped through to Farrell’s minor side.
In Newbridge recently, Drumbaragh’s Colm Carry was the central figure as the stars of the future pulled of the sort of result the two stalwarts of Sean Boylan’s side engineered so often over the years. This time though, O’Rourke’s role in St Conleth’s Park was proud parent while Giles acted as part of the backroom team.
Meath’s victory over Laois was one that will remembered for an eternity by anyone in the decent sized crowd who witnessed it but the one thing all will be pondering is how exactly the young Royals managed to advance to a first provincial decider in the grade since 2002.
The day didn’t even get off to a good start for them. Minutes before the off it was discovered that the jerseys had been left behind> Luckily, some quick thinking on the part of Kildare officials managed to source a set from the local Milltown club.
I don’t know if the unusual green and red attire was throwing them off, but during the opening period there wasn’t much one could recognise or understand about what the boys in the unusual shade of green were trying to do.
Never before have I seen a team being outplayed so much and coming away with the spoils. That they did is a tribute to the spirit I spoke of earlier but it was also made possible by the profligacy of their opposition. Laois had enough possession to win the game ten times over but paid the price most teams do in such situations thanks to Carry’s late netbuster.
Shane O’Rourke lofted over Meath’s first score but after that his dad had to watch as his offspring and Cillian Finn played second fiddle around the centre. Consequently, the Meath rearguard were under incessant pressure. All bar one of the scores posted by those in blue came from frees. Meath were extremely lucky to only trail by four at the change of ends, thanks mainly to a few outstanding stops from the very impressive Johnny Ginnitty. Add to this that Shane Carr was on a yellow card from the very early stages and things looked decidedly bleak.
Similarly to when the lads faced Kildare in the opening round, selector Sean Barry asked me at half time what I thought. I don’t mind admitting, and I know he’ll get great pleasure in reminding me, that I told him I felt they were in big trouble.
Though they did make the ideal start with two points, to leave that between the sides but when Laois hit back accordingly it appeared the gap of four would remain until the end. Indeed, it ended up being extended out to five.
Meath’s spirit held firm however and like in the Kildare game Simonstown youngster Carr, a son of ex-Louth boss Paddy, was majestic when the fat was in the fire and once Alan Nestor drove over a ‘45’ and the hard-working Graham Reilly cut the gap to two you could almost sense what was going to happen.
And it did. Laois’ wastefulness eventually caught up with them when place-kicker Colm Meredith kicked what looked an easy free into Ginnitty’s grateful arms and, in a throwback to something like what O’Rourke snr. and Giles were famed for Meath put together a great move, at the end of which Nestor transferred to Carry, who blasted to the net and guaranteed Meath supporters at least one more run out in Croker this year.
The Great Escape wouldn’t even begin to describe the audacity of this bit of jail breaking. They didn’t look a patch of the team that accomplished the quite tricky feat of beating Kildare and would want to improve a great deal if they are to overcome an Offaly side that are bound to be useful enough having dispatched the Dubs and also given that they reached the last four last term.
However, I venture to suggest, having got out of jail against Laois, Meath are probably never likely to play as bad again. Hopes would be reasonably high that they will go on and take the province, ironically thirteen years after Giles was part of the last Meath team to achieve it. Of course, if the worst comes to the worst and they do come up a bit short on final day, they will have the escape hatch of the ‘back door’, but I would very hopeful that this won’t be needed.
A few years ago, I remarked that the most important thing Meath underage teams need at present was a bit of continuity. Dudley Farrell, Sean Barry and Sean Kelly have made some great strides over the past year or so and I would expect that progress to go still further in the weeks and months ahead. They have overseen Meath U-18 teams remain standing after the opening round of the provincial championships for two consecutive seasons, something that hadn’t been done for nearly a decade.
It should be remembered that the last time a Meath team made a provincial MFC final was, as stated previously stated, in 2002 and from that side Caoimhin King, Dudley’s son Brian, Joe Sheridan, Tommy O’Connor and Brian O’Reilly are now important members of the senior setup. Although they went on to perform poorly enough at U-21 level, I feel that it did count for something that the same management structure was left in place. Not because of who they were, but just because it held a large chunk of the same players together for the older grade and that’s probably why a good few of them ended up where they are now.
Surely now the most sensible, practical and important thing to do at this stage is to put the talented managerial trio in charge of the county U-21 side for 2007 and maintain the continuity that is so important in bringing players through from underage to senior? Not to do so will only destroy the progress that the three lads and their players have made and will hopefully continue to. There’s a reference to that word again- continuity!
All in all, when you take the senior side into the equation, Meath football seems to be once again heading on the right road and I just hope the obvious and sensible moves are made to make sure it stays that way.
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