Team captain relishing the winner-takes-all clash with Kildare

playerscope McEntee feels loss to Mayo won't impact confidence

After three games in 14 days Meath's NFL Div 2 aspirations hinge on a trip to Newbridge next Sunday where they will take on hosts Kildare to determine their league status for 2021 and Meath captain Shane McEntee believes the form book will go out the window.

While Meath booked their place in the promotion play-off, there will be no league final this year, with a game to spare, Kildare's Div 2 South campaign went down to the wire with their big win over Laois in their final group game secure their place in the play-off for promotion.

Despite the relative ease of Meath's progression they will be well aware of the challenges posed by Kildare in next Sunday's massive game and McEntee recalls the last few clashes with the Lilywhites which could have went either way.

"Last year's Leinster SFC semi-final in Croke Park was a bit of a freak game. Lazy analysis of the scoreline might suggest we won handy, but the reality of it was completely different because they missed a goal chance just before half-time that possibly would have put the game to bed," McEntee told the Meath Chronicle.

"Things worked out for us in the second-half. To get the goals we did boosted our momentum and once we got going we did well.

"I'd take that result with a pinch of salt and even when you look back at the game before that in the league against Kildare when we needed a last minute penalty and even the two games before that one they were comfortable wins for Kildare.

"I wouldn't be reading anything into favourite tags. Going to Newbridge obviously makes a bit of a difference too, so I certainly wouldn't be buying into the stories that we are anyway favourites for this game."

So heading into the game against Kildare how does McEntee assess the season so far? Two wins from the first two league games secured Meath's place in the league semi-finals and afford them the luxury of fielding an experimental side for the final group game against Mayo.

While that result against the Connacht side didn't go according to play McEntee insists there is still plenty to learn from the contest and he believes that while it was a tough game for the younger players to be thrown into, they will gain valuable experience from the occasion and that will stand to the whole squad.

Mission was accomplished when Meath beat Westmeath and Down in their opening two games and McEntee believes the panel are in a good place.

"The whole mission accomplished thing is huge because of the short term nature and cutthroat format of the league meant that we were going from zero to 100 straight away and if we didn't reach the league semi-final then the alternative was a relegation play-off," said the captain.

"The possibility of being in a relegation play-off could have transpired very easily if things didn't go our way and that would have been a very uncomfortable position to be in.

"We were in that position before in 2018. It wasn't quite a relegation play-off, but we needed to win our last two games and that was a horrible experience, so our over-riding sense now is relief because we are not facing that prospect.

"From a performance perspective our campaign so far has very much been a mixed bag. We were quite nervy and edgy against Westmeath, but we were happy with the character we showed to get us over the line.

"Against Down we did play pretty well for most of the game considering we were down players for most of the first period. The game against Mayo was a bit frustrating, but there were a lot of changes and the lads that came in did have that first game rustiness that the other lads had shown in our first couple of games.

"Overall we are happy with where we are and it's about taking as much learning from it as we can. It's all about putting in a big performance now against Kildare and with the games under our belt now we have no excuses any more.

"There was a conscious effort to have experience in the team from the start against Mayo. Lads like Conor McGill, Seamus Lavin and Bryan Menton started and then some of the older lads came on for the start of the second-half.

"There were a lot of new lads who got a start, and they would have bitten your hand off to get that chance. They have been training exceptionally hard on their own throughout lockdown and then as a group since we came back.

"A lot of them have been going really well in training and because of the quick turnaround if you weren't in the starting team for the first game it has been hard to get into the side.

"It was a bit of risk to approach the Mayo game with so many new faces, but it was absolutely the right thing to do because those lads put their hands up at training and deserved it.

"We earned the right to approach the Mayo game whatever way we wanted because of the way the first two games went. If we had needed a result in Castlebar to qualify things might have taken on a different perspective.

"The situation we are in now is that everybody who is fit has had game time and that is great. There are a few lads who are injured who would have loved that game time, but to get game time into the whole squad in just three games is good."

There is sure to be changes to the starting line up for Sunday's promotion play-off against Kildare, but McEntee insists that as a group they will look closely at the game in Castlebar and use it as a valuable learning tool.

"We still have to analyse the Mayo game and try to learn from it. You could see the way Mayo punished our mistakes clinically so we need to work on our play from an execution and a shape perspective," he said.

"From an emotional viewpoint we won't get as worked up about the defeat as we might have with other losses given the nature of the game and that we were already qualified.

"From a technical side we will look at it again, but from the emotional end we won't get bogged down by it."

Meath could be forgiven for going into next Sunday's game with one eye on the championship in three weeks time, but McEntee believes that there will be plenty of time to focus on the Leinster SFC once Sunday's objective is achieved.

The reward for victory next Sunday is promotion to NFL Div 1 and will put Meath in a good place for 2022. because of that high reward, Meath are putting their full focus on the risks necessary to win that game.

It is this type of must-win football that appeals to McEntee and he believes that Meath can benefit from the cutthroat nature of league and championship.

"We have three weeks between the Kildare game and the start of the championship, so we can focus fully on the Kildare game, we haven't really talked about the championship at all yet," said the Dunboyne club man.

"Given the short nature of the year, if you were to go the distance in every competition you still don't have that many games, so you just take each one as it comes and look forward to them as an opportunity to play.

"The game against Kildare is a huge one for us. It has massive implications for us for next year and for trying to progress as a team, so we are fully focused on this week and we'll worry about the championship in the three weeks after this one.

"We will even get to see the game between Wexford and Longford before we play the winner, so we have ample time and we can just solely focus on Kildare for now.

"I really enjoy this type of cutthroat, must-win football. Since the resumption of football after Covid late last year we basically had that format of football with the club too.

"With only one going through from the group of four in the club championship, straight knockout in the inter-county and then with this year's league format it has been do-or-die and I very much love that type of football - if you are good enough you are going to win it out, if you're not good enough then you've no business going further.

"From a team development and player development, the back door and the Super 8s can help team bridge gaps and give players more exposure to bigger games, but I'd be a little bit more old school in my approach in that if we are good enough we will win the games and if we don't win then we don't deserve to go on.

"I don't know if everyone will agree with me on those points, but from a personal point of view that's the way to play football.

"I think the club championships in Meath are shaping up to go that wat and that will be great and will bring more of an edge to club players going into the inter-county. I used to find the old championship system in Meath such a drag so this more cutthroat style is great," concluded McEntee.