Meath star explains effect the hooter had in Leinster final loss
Mathew Costello spoke on Meath’s struggles to gain possession back from Louth in the Leinster final, especially with the introduction of the hooter.
Sunday’s final, in which Meath were defeated by the Wee County 3-14 to 1-18, saw the Royals struggle in the second half to keep the ball.
Costello fired in a goal on 61 minutes to give Meath the lead again, but the fired-up crowd were subdued soon after as Louth dominated the ball.
The next play would see the decisive game-winning two-point free, from Sam Mulroy, as he fired Louth into the lead after a Brian O’Halloran challenge on Conall McKeever.
Ciarán Lennon struck an insurance point after on 69 minutes and the next minute saw the sound of the hooter, which allows teams to be more aware of how long they have to run down the clock than when the referee had more of a say in the ending of the game.
With the hooter, teams know exactly how long left they have to keep the ball for.
The corner forward was disappointed that they couldn’t get the ball back off Louth, which they found “very difficult”. The hooter has been a “whole new thought process” for Costello, and one that he reflected on.
He said: “In years gone by, Louth would probably be trying to attack to get another score because they’d want to go two or three up and they might take it a few more chances.
“Whereas now, with the definitive end with the hooter, they can be a bit more relaxed on it because they know all they have to do is just keep it out of our hands.”
Costello added: “But really the learnings are to recognise the opportunity that is there and realise that you only have around two minutes to get the ball back (in that scenario).”
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