McEntee delighted with the performance against Down

The rain abated just in time for Meath manager Andy McEntee to be swarmed by the media following Sunday's seven-point victory over Down and as the water spiked his hair it didn't dampen his spirits. There were certainly plenty of reasons to be cheerful for the Meath manager.

His side had just secured their place in the NFL Div 2 North promotion play-off and with the threat of Tailteann Cup football in 2022 no longer lingering at the back of his mind McEntee cut a satisfied figure. As always there were aspects of Meath's performance that will require work at training in Dunganny during the week, but McEntee and his management are always looking for improvement and they certainly got that on Sunday. Against Westmeath in the opening round, Meath had looked timid for three-quarters of the contest and lacking a bit of sparkle - they looked nervous. However, against Down they played with a confidence in their ability that the Ulster side couldn't handle and even though that dominance wasn't reflected on the scoreboard McEntee was pleased with the performance "There are a lot of positives to take from that today. That first period when we were a man down I thought we played really really well," said the Meath manager. "We created some really good chances and put some good moves together, I think it died a little after that but it was the best part of the game for us from an intelligent game play point of view. "We started well in the second-half, turned them over in vital areas of the pitch and capitalised on those turnovers, that bit is always pleasing." That third-quarter was crucial in helping Meath over the line as they out-scored Down by 2-4 to 0-1 in a blistering 15-minute spell. It was clear that the ring-rustiness that was evident in the Westmeath game had been cleared by plenty of WD-40 at training during the week.

McEntee admitted that the competitive nature of the game against Westmeath really stood to his players on Sunday. The presumption before the game against Westmeath was that Meath would win comfortably, so when they had to scramble from four points down with 15 minutes remaining to nick a one-point victory there were major questions about the performance. However, Westmeath proved on Saturday they were no pushovers when they ran Mayo close, so McEntee was of the opinion on Sunday that the win over Westmeath was more impressive than it might have seemed at the time. "It certainly was a competitive match last weekend, and people’s opinion of last weekend might be tempered slightly by the game yesterday, so last weekend was a battle," reflected McEntee. "So yes there were mistakes, but there were good bits in it too and it probably did bring lads on a bit.

"They were a little bit sharper, no more than the Mayo game probably brought on Down on too." Clearly Meath were a lot sharper on Sunday than they were against Down, but McEntee was baffled how his side weren't more than two points clear at the break. However, black cards for Eoin Harkin and Shane McEntee left Meath down to 14 players for 20 of the opening 35 minutes, so from that perspective McEntee was pleased with how the team dug in. "It felt like we should have been more than two points up at half-time," said the manager. "In all fairness Down seemed to get to grips with the way the game was going. "They did seem a little bit out of sorts at the start, but they clawed their way back into it.

"We fell the wrong side of refereeing decisions inside our own half and they punished us for them and that brought them back into the game. "The first period in particular I thought we looked sharp and created a couple of really good goal chances.

"We used the ball well and our kick outs were going well, there were a lot of good bits there. "The game died a little bit in the second-half and we didn’t really reproduce that form again for the rest of the game. "A lot of that is down to the opposition adapting to what we were doing, but that was a good part. "The introduction of subs can also break the flow of a game and that seemed to go that way in the second-half.

"Maybe that was our fault, we are trying to mind players as much as possible, so we did what we felt we had to do." With players and management having had limited time to prepare for what are a hectic few months of almost non-stop action the GAA are allowing managers use seven subs in a game, but McEntee doesn't agree with the rule that those subs can only be used in five windows. On Saturday night Armagh manager Kieran McGeeney complained about the substitution situation and McEntee echoed his words on Sunday. "I can see the sense in being able to make seven subs. You bring a couple of guys on at half-time or in the water break, that is not disrupting the game. "If you are going to have seven subs then let people make seven substitutions as they need them, I can see where he (McGeeney) is coming from. "I can see there is an awful lot of stoppages in the game, but a lot of that is down to marks and things like that too. "I can see why you don’t want to stop the game too much, but in the current circumstances I think it makes sense to be able to make the full seven changes when you need them." With Sunday's win over Down securing their place in the promotion play-off, Meath and Mayo's clash in Castlebar next weekend is of little consequence other than to determine who tops the group - so will McEntee opt to utilise his full training panel? "I’d like to think so, but they will have to put their hands up, no more than anyone else, if they want to play they will have to show it," suggested the manager. "It is a good opportunity for us and it is nice going into the last game with nothing at stake really.

"I’m sure everyone is the same and I believe there were a lot of injuries over the weekend, Armagh had a lot of injuries. "With a very limited build up it is inevitable you’ll get that amount of injuries. We’ll be seeing how bodies are after today and pick the team accordingly," concluded McEntee, who you get feeling would love to score a very rare win in Castlebar.