Manager likely to stay on board

Although he wasn't committing himself either way after Sunday's game, it would be a major surprise if Eamonn O'Brien didn't opt to stay on as Meath manager for at least another year. It is unlikely there will be too many candidates looking to put their names against him when the issue comes up for discussion. Earning a place in the All-Ireland semi-final has to be considered a huge step in the right direction especially after the humiliation in Limerick last year. It is also a significant step forward in light of the listless, lacklustre display against Dublin earlier this summer. After that encounter few could have predicted that Meath would be still in the hunt in late August. When asked after Sunday's game if he would like another shot at the job he said he would consider it at the appropriate time. "I'll think about that when I'm asked by the Co Board." Something Meath had been hoping for on Sunday was a bright start to unsettle the Kingdom. Instead, what they got was a nightmare beginning that included the concession of a needless penalty and an injury to their talisman Stephen Bray. As he sat down in the media centre to field questions from journalists, O'Brien reflected on the kind of start that left his troops facing a near mission impossible. "There were a couple of critical periods in the game and I think the first 15 or 20 minutes were critical in that sense that they got a penalty, which was three points, and we probably missed two or three points in that period of time which was a turnaround of six points. "That was difficult for us and then we had to claw our way back into the game and we ended up two points behind at half-time. That first 15 minutes I thought was critical and it took a lot of energy out of us to get back into the game just before half-time." Just when his team appeared to be finding a foothold Meath shipped another major blow with Tommy Walsh's goal. Despite the bad luck and the decisions that went against his men O'Brien felt that on the overall balance of play Kerry were "the better team." Following the way he went down to earn the penalty Colm 'Gooch' Cooper has left himself in danger of earning comparisons with Arsenal's Eduardo. While Cooper was undoubtedly hindered by Anthony Moyles the Kerry man did go down in a dramatic fashion. O'Brien admitted that he hadn't a good view of the incident, but felt the best approach was to accept the decision and move on. "Look, these things go for you and you take it as it comes, no point in griping over it," he added. The poor quality of ball played into the forwards was one of the negative aspects of Meath's first-half display and it rightly concerned the manager. "Right through the game I thought that we were too predictable in what we were doing. "We said at half time the Kerry half-backs were dropping back and we needed to play to hands a little bit more, but I suppose the killer blow was the goal because you know you had to get a goal to get back into the game. "Maybe if that goal we got with two minutes to go, if we got that with 10 minutes to go we might have had a different finish." Despite the trouble Moyles had in dealing with the size of Walsh the Meath manager hadn't considered making a switch. O'Brien also emphasised that there were no injury problems with Moyles going into the game despite rumours that were circulating before the throw-in, something that clearly irritated the Meath manager. A question relating to the reason for the substitution of Seamus Kenny also evoked a brisk reply from O'Brien. "We were six or seven points behind at that stage and we needed to get fresh legs on the pitch, we used our five subs for that purpose, it wasn't because we were worried about how people were playing or not playing. "The purpose of introducing the subs was to try and revitalise the team. To try and get at Kerry in the middle third of the field and get more ball into the forwards." The late goal suggested these changes worked to an extent. Overall though it was a day to forget for Meath football. The question now is: will O'Brien be around to continue to good work started this year? It will be a major surprise if he is not at the helm once more.