Meath play Megadeth football to storm Portlaoise and end Dubs dominance
Declan Bogue
AFTER THE NATIONAL anthem was played at O’Moore Park in Portlaoise yesterday, Dave McIntyre, on commentary duty for GAA+, spelled out the reality ahead of the next hour and a half for Meath.
As a fledging broadcast partner, GAA+ are under scrutiny from the word go. If they have games that are worth ringfencing, then they become a worthy subscription. It’s also a double-edged sword in that when they do get a humdinger, such as Armagh’s win over Tyrone the previous evening, there is an inevitable backlash that the games are not free to air.
The solution is simple, of course; that is for fans, whether interested as a casual fan or implicated as a native of that county, to go along and watch the games in person.
The dwindling crowds in this year’s championship have shown that is a less appealing prospect. That Meath and Dublin could only draw a crowd of 10,126 to this game is as much evidence as you’ll ever need.
On the broadcast, McIntyre laid out the stark facts.
“One of the longest unbeaten streaks in Irish sport.
“Dublin have not lost a game at provincial level since 2010…Dublin with 14 consecutive Leinster titles, 19 of the last 20. Marc ÓSé beside me on co-commentary, do you give them any chance?”
Ó Sé responded by kicking for touch, saying that everything would have to go right for them, and that the two-pointers they found their flow with against Offaly would have to be reprised.
Just as he was finishing the point, Ruairí Kinsella was attempting Meath’s first shot from two-point range, slicing wide on 20 seconds.
After the second wide, McIntyre made the salient point that while Meath had been written off by the experts and bookmakers, they also suffered the same fate by their own people who had stayed at home.
Oh boy, what they missed. Those who made the trip to Portlaoise should be presented their tickets for the Leinster final gratis, from the county board, on a fluffy pillow.
It became apparent from the start that they were up for it. In a recent podcast on The42′s GAA Weekly, we wondered just how Stephen Cluxton might fare as Dublin goalkeeper under the new rules. Restored to the starting line up here, we got our answer.
Kicking into a stiff breeze is no doddle. But having to do it and propel the ball past the arc, facing an aggressive press makes it exceptionally difficult.
What some of the best goalkeepers are discovering is that for years they were able to knock the ball to a corner back and their kickout stats were padded out. When an opposition team seeks to take away that advantage, mad things happen.
But only if the opposition make the mad stuff happen. The night before in Clones, Armagh goalkeeper Ethan Rafferty had a 23/24 kickout retention. That’s because Tyrone were incredibly passive.
Meath had no interest in that. They’ve tried being professional and organised and structured and all the other buzzwords of the modern era. Here they went back to their roots and played Heavy Metal. They couldn’t have been more ‘80s than if they were togged out in denim jackets festooned with Metallica and Megadeth sew-on patches.
They started to feast on Cluxton’s kickouts and once Eoghan Frayne landed the first two-point score, the camera lingered on him, wagging his finger and getting team mates to close all the space between them and their opponents.
By six and half minutes, Meath already had three wides, Bryan Menton the third. Kinsella added the fourth just 30 seconds later. James Conlon converted a point 40 seconds later. They were taking the Limerick hurling position on shooting.
Take plenty shots. Most of them will stick.
Shortly after, Dublin captain Con O’Callaghan sent a shot wide. Meath fans cheered. By now they were all in and from the next kickout from Billy Hogan, Eoghan Frayne kicked a two-pointer.
After ten minutes, a statistic came to light. Dublin had won just two from their nine kickouts. Those kind of figures wouldn’t have happened under the pre-FRC rules.
Just prior to the half hour mark, Meath had another Menton two-pointer and had jumped into a lead of a Baker’s Dozen.
The adventure and daring they played with had infected everyone.
Until it all started to get a bit hairy, in the fourth quarter. Three Dublin players converged on Eoghan Frayne and, with no Meath support nearby, stripped him of the ball. Davy Byrne utilised the solo and go. They got Con O’Callaghan in possession and he created the goal for Cormac Costello.
Six points in it. 16 minutes remaining. Paddy Small narrowed it to five. Con O’Callaghan made it four with eleven minutes left.
Meath lost the next kickout. “It’s still doable,” said McIntyre about the Royals chances, though with a dubious trace to the tone. Already, he was mentally preparing the lamentations for Meath. ‘Brave effort.’ All that stuff.
Colm Basquel brought the deficit back to two with a two-pointer from play with seven minutes left.
With three minutes to go, Basquel sent another two-point attempt wide. It was Meath that scored next through Aaron Lynch. The roar of the crowd told you that now, and only now, did the Meath support truly believe.
From Ciaran Kilkenny skewing a two-point effort into the skies in one of the final plays, Meath owned the ball from thereon. Matthew Costello raced upfield and Aaron Lynch was fouled. The hooter went. Dessie Farrell went down the line to congratulate Robbie Brennan.
Robbie Brennan!
We’ve made it this far and nary a mention of the man who has had, by any stretch of the imagination, quite the few weeks.
It hasn’t even been a full month since his two coaches, Martin Corey and Joe McMahon left the Meath set-up. Both men have not disclosed the reasoning for their departure, but at that point, Brennan looked extremely vulnerable.
County chairmen getting involved in senior team affairs is never a great look and when Meath chairman Jason Plunkett accompanied Brennan to the post-match media briefing of their earlier Leinster win over Carlow, it looked like a weakness on Meath’s part rather than a strength.
Recency bias and results-based punditry bedamned, he’s smelling a bit rosy today.
There are a couple of elements arising out of this win that deserve mention.
How have Meath – even when not required to do so – allowed so many of their games against Dublin to be played in Croke Park?
We come to praise Meath, not bury Dublin. But all the same; where now for Dublin?
We go back to a pertinent comment made by Darragh Ó Sé recently when he asked how Dessie Farrell allowed Brian Fenton to retire.
We know, we know. How do you force someone playing an amateur sport to continue in a supposed hobby? But he had a point. With so many retiring in one go, Dublin needed Fenton to remain.
It would seem almost incredible that he went with the blessing of Farrell. They are a vastly diminished force without him. The pity is that under the new rules, every fan of Gaelic football could have seen him flourish.
He’s not there now. Dublin are struggling without him and the other recent retirees.
With all that said, when Colm O’Rourke took on the Meath job, he said that he would be judged on his record against Dublin.
So how are we judging Robbie Brennan now?
*****
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