Jimmy Geoghegan: Hats, flags and a rivalry that still stirs deep down emotions

"Hats, flags, scarves and headbands" the man shouted in a strong Dublin accent at the Brews Hill entrance to Pairc Tailteann last Sunday about an hour before it all kicked off between Meath and Louth.

It's a call that has echoed down through the generations from vendors outside GAA grounds; a call that is usually heard on warm summer days before big championship games when the sellers of hats, flags, scarves and headbands are sure of a large customer base.

It's not usually heard before league games. At least not before nondescript, run of the mill league games - but then Sunday's clash was none of the above.

Sunday's game was between close rivals who have always, it seems, have had about as much love for each other someone squabbling bitterly with an neighbour over a barking dog that never shuts up. There's is always an edge when these two meet and the source of the intense rivalry can be found in history.

Back in 1949 for instance Meath and Louth fought out a famous three-game saga. It was won finally by the Royals who went on to win the Sam Maguire for the first time, something that probably didn't go down too well in the Wee County.

There was the summer of 2002. Remember. An All-Ireland qualifier, a packed, rocking Pairc Tailteann, Graham Geraghty arriving from a wedding down the country in a helicopter. Louth leading by a point four minutes into injury time, Ollie Murphy set up Geraghty for a late, late goal that clinched a breathtaking victory. Paddy Carr with his head in his hands. What despair. What drama.

Then, of course, there was 2010. Who dares to speak of 2010? The last time the Royals won a Leinster SFC crown with the help of Joe Sheridan's goal denying the Wee County their first provincial title in 50 years.

Of course Big Joe's goal should never have been allowed but it was and Meath won - leaving Louth fans with a bitter taste, a deep-rooted sense of injustice, they will never root out from their collective psyche. That defeat runs deep.

The manager of the Louth team 13 years ago was Peter Fitzpatrick the football man and politician who has a accent that is as much a part of the Wee County as the ancient Hill of Faughart. Fitzpatrick was at the game on Sunday sitting in the Ard Comhairle in Pairc Tailteann in his role as Louth Co Board chairman with the other dignitaries including the main sponsors of Meath GAA, Noel and Valerie Moran.

When the final whistle sounded Fitzpatrick jumped up, arms in the air and cheered loudly. It showed how much beating Meath means to him and the rest of the Louth GAA fraternity. "It's their All-Ireland," as someone later said.

Certainly Fitzpatrick & Co had reason to feel delighted with the victory. Beyond the fact this was a win over their local rivals, the precious two points might, just might, be a crucial factor in keeping the Wee County out of relegation trouble - and away from the quagmire of the Tailteann Cup.

Not that Meath are safe from that scenario either. Colm O'Rourke's side have three games left to play and as he spoke to the press corps after Sunday's game he sounded bullish, confident even of getting points from those assignments, certainly enough to ensure they avoid the dreaded prospect of ending up out of the 'real' All-Ireland and playing in the second-tier competition.

One seasoned Royal County supporter, who made his way out of the Pairc Tailteann after the game, found it hard to get his head around the fact that there is still a distinct possibility Meath, his beloved Meath, the team he supported since he was six (he's now 77) might not even be in contention for the Sam Maguire. Not even at the starting gate. That would be more than strange. Unimaginable.

His main gripe about Meath's performance on Sunday was that the players didn't garner enough possession from the kick-outs. They weren't running into space, creating the right conditions for 'keeper Harry Hogan to find them with one of his kick-outs. It wasn't the goalkeeper's fault, he insisted, it was the players outfield, they weren't creating the space.

It is one of the things manager O'Rourke, the coaches and players will have to work on, he insisted. Without a good kick-out, he felt, Meath will struggle - and the man had a point.

He was also worried about the lengthy spells Meath went without scoring. "What about that?" he wondered. Is that not something that needs to be be tweaked and changed ASAP, he implored. Maybe, he wondered, it's a symptom of a more fundamental problem with the team?

By the time the last remnants of the big crowd (estimated at 8,000) had departed Pairc Tailteann the man selling the hats, flags and headbands at the Brews Hill entrance had, no doubt, long packed up his wares and headed for home. How well he sells his Meath "colours of the game" will depend also on how they do this summer. Only time will tell how all that works out.