TAKE FIVE - A quick look back at Meath's loss to Donegal

Five talking points from Meath's disappointing display against Donegal in NFL Div 1 last Sunday.

UNDER NO ILLUSIONS

No one ever said it was going to be easy in NFL Div 1 and Meath were under no illusions about the enormity of the job on their hands to even pick up a point from their seven-game campaign.
However, the home games were where they were expected to make life difficult for visitors, but on Sunday Donegal had it relatively easy as Meath lacked the punch, nous and wherewithal to worry their northern visitors.
With Mayo and Galway still to come to Pairc Tailteann it is not beyond the realms of possibility that Meath could scramble to safety, but they will need to find significant improvement on Sunday's display if they are to get within touching distance of any opposition in the five remaining games.
 

REFEREE OFF POINT

Maybe one of the reasons Andy McEntee didn’t talk to the media after the game on Sunday was to ensure there would be no outbursts about Cork referee Conor Lane.
If McEntee had come out and blasted the match official for a number of poor decisions then he could have found himself in front of the disciplinary authorities in Croke Park and what good would that serve anyone, but the Meath manager would have been justified in being scathing in his opinion of Lane.
Donegal were clever in their cynical tackling, they played on the edge of the black-card rule and Lane let them away with it.
On countless occasions Meath's momentum was broken up by pulling on an arm or a ruthless bodycheck – all very cynical, but not worthy of a black card according to the law.
Lane also made an error when he awarded Donegal a penalty in the 16th minute as Robin Clarke's tackle on Jamie Brennan was outside the large square.
Justice was done when Mark Brennan saved Michael Murphy's spot kick, but then the umpire was quick to award a '45' even though the ball hadn't crossed the line.
Donegal's opening point from a Murphy free wasn't even a foul by Clarke, it was a great piece of defending.
Lane also got the decision to award Donegal’s second penalty wrong as Brennan was outside the square when accidentally tripped by Conior McGill and as if to compiound his error he sent the Meath full-back to the sin-bin.
Another major mistake by Lane was not to issue more than a yellow card to Murphy for his dangerous tackle at the three-quarters stage, that enraged McEntee.
The referee was not to blame for Meath's defeat, but he certainly didn't help their cause.
 

POOR FORM

These are worrying times for Meath. The pre-season O'Byrne Cup competition aside, Meath have lost six of their last seven competitive games by a combined total of 59 points.
The only win in that run came against Clare in round four of the All-Ireland SFC qualifiers last year. Since losing to Dublin by 16 points in the Leinster SFC final and after the win over Clare, Meath lost to Donegal by nine, Mayo by nine and Kerry by 10 in the Super 8s.
They have opened this year's NFL Div 1 campaign with a five-point defeat by Tyrone and a 10-point loss to Donegal. Scoring 1-9 against Tyrone and just seven points against Donegal last Sunday hints at a lack of firepower and creativity.
Of course the ever-growing injury list hasn't helped Meath, but when everyone was available last year they still lost the three Super 8s games by a combined total of 28 points.
The tide has to turn, but until it does Meath need to find a way to weather storms and break up long barren spells without scoring.
Being patient in their build up is one thing, but when the end product is nil then that patience counts for nothing.
 

SUPPORTERS

When the supporters started heading for the exits long before the final whistle it was a serious indication of their displeasure at Meath's performance.
While Meath have not drawn huge crowds to Pairc Tailteann for their NFL games in recent years there was a big crowd at Sunday's game, but the atmosphere did not reflect that.
The supporters were very quiet throughout the opening half, maybe they sensed that Meath were just not at the races.
There was mild optimism in the opening 22 minutes when the hosts raced into a 0-4 to 0-1 lead and Mark Brennan almost brought the roof of the old dilapidated stand down when he saved Michael Murphy's 16th minute penalty.
However, there were considerably more groans than cheers over the 70-odd minutes of football and as it became increasingly obvious Meath were on for a hiding the supporters made for the exits long before the final whistle. 
In the lead up to the start of the league the Meath manager spoke about making Pairc Tailteann a fortress, an uncomfortable place of visiting teams to come. He urged supporters to get behind the team. They tried their best, but there was little to set the pulses racing.
Hopefully, the fans will come out in force again next Sunday against Mayo, the players need everyone behind them. 
 

CHRONICLE CHOICE

Given the tale of woe involving the goalkeepers in Omagh Meath were grateful to the third man to play between the posts in two games, Mark Brennan on Sunday for two stunning saves that prevented an even worse look on the scoreboard.
Brennan made his championship debut for Meath when he came on as a black-card replacement for Andy Colgan and saved a penalty against Mayo in the Super 8s last summer.
On Sunday he showed amazing reactions for a 35-year-old to produce a stunning stop from Michael Murphy's 16th minute penalty.
He did have a few dodgy kick-outs that put his defence under pressure and one or two of them led to scores. One poor restart also led to another remarkable save in the 61st minute when he denied Jamie Brennan a certain goal with his legs.
He could do nothing about any of Donegal's goals and while his kick-outs did have hearts in mouths at times he was generally excellent in his distribution and he offered an outlet to his under pressure full-back line.