McEntee left frustrated again following Kerry defeat

There was a sense of frustration about Meath manager Andy McEntee when he faced the media on Sunday afternoon.

On this occasion the match officials weren't solely to blame for how McEntee was feeling.
He wasn't impressed with the black cards Cillian O'Sullivan and Donal Keogan picked up in the first-half, but this time he was frustrated with seeing another good performance count for nothing.
That's two games in-a-row that McEntee felt his side deserved something from the contest and with chances also going abegging against Tyrone on matchday one it's not beyond the realms of comprehension to believe Meath could have six points on the board and looking up, instead of down.
Relegation is a foregone conclusion at this stage. Even wins against Galway, Dublin and Monaghan are unlikely to save Meath, but McEntee insists that his side will be better, significantly better, for the experience.
“I thought it was a fantastic performance. We were definitely slow out of the box, we weren't getting contact with Kerry in the first 10 minutes and they raced into a 1-5 to 0-0 lead,” recalled the Meath manager.
“From then on we certainly gave as much as we got, I thought some of the individual performances were great, but even as a team I was very, very happy with the vast majority of it.
“There were a lot challenges put up to the players on and off the field in different areas and they responded really, really well.
“We have this discussion (about rules) every week. It seems that since we made an issue of a few black cards that weren't dished out up in Tyrone we have been on the receiving end of some questionable calls.
“I don't know, maybe I'm just paranoid, but just because I'm paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get us.
“The performance against Donegal wasn't good, the performance against Mayo was good, but the accuracy wasn't.
“The performance against Tyrone was good, but again the accuracy wasn't so they are two games we could have got something out of, and with a bit of luck there today we could have got something out of that game today.
“The bottom line is that that is the way sport is, if you don't get it, you don't get it.
“When we come through this, and we will come through it, where ever we are after we come through it we will be stronger for it.
“We will have given big game experience to a lot of players who mightn't have got it otherwise.
"We are learning about the players all the time. We are not getting as many back as we would have liked, every time we take one step forward we seem to take two back.
“We need to get three performances, that's been our mindset since the word go. We have had a couple of decent performances and one poor display against Donegal.
“There are certain things that are out of our control, there are certain things we can control including our attitude and application.”
Life in Div 1 has been a cruel harsh lesson for McEntee, but things could have been much different, especially when he reflects back on the Mayo game and Sunday's loss to Kerry.
“There's a saying that if my aunt had certain different parts to her anatomy she'd be my uncle,” quipped McEntee.
“Sometimes you play as well as you are let play, so there's no point looking at it like that. It is what it is, we play the game, we do our best, if we perform we give ourselves a chance of getting something out of the game.
“I think it's fair to say we haven't had a break go our way yet with injuries and other bits and pieces, one of these days we'll catch a break.
“We are playing the best teams in the country and while it is disappointing and frustrating to be losing games this is where we want to be.
“We are testing players all the time and testing new lads and by and large a lot of them are coming through with a lot of credibility.”
There was certainly every reason for the players to hold their heads high following Sunday's performance.
Donal Keogan was superb through, Conor McGill did an excellent job on David Clifford, James McEntee was a constant threat on the break, while Thomas O'Reilly and James Conlon also caused problems for the Kerry rearguard.
“We knew it was going to be a hell of a challenge coming down here, we talked about the possibility of shipping a quick volley of scores, but we just made sure that we would keep at it and react positively,” said McEntee.
“I don't think anybody can complain about our ability and the character the players showed.
"It would have been very easy for the lads to drop their heads when Kerry got 1-5 early on against whatever breeze was there.
“It looked ominous at that stage, but we got a couple of scores and then we got a fantastic goal and we were right back in it.

"We actually missed another opportunity after we scored the 1-2 when we had a shot blocked down with men over, if there was a slick pass there was the possibility of another goal.
“Then when we get the black card we struggled to get the kick-outs away. Kerry pushed right up on our kick-outs and when you are a man down it makes it a little bit difficult," he concluded.