O'Rourke delighted with variety of Royal's performance ahead of Tailteann Cup semi-final showdown with Antrim

When Colm O'Rourke finally made it into the plush new media room under the old stand in Pairc Tailteann on Saturday evening he was happy to take the weight off, sit back and contemplate what was certainly his side's most impressive performance since he took over from Andy McEntee.

Apologising for his delayed arrival O'Rourke was quickly forgiven, especially as his side had just produced a mesmerising display which blew Wexford out of the water - it was a performance the manager saw coming.

O'Rourke has always held firm to the line that this is very much a work in progress for Meath football, but that his side will come good. He admitted that we did see a possible glimpse of what could be in store in the future, but he was also wary of getting carried away when he considered the poverty of effort from the opposition.

"It was our best performance probably since we took over and maybe the best performance in the first 20 minutes that we have seen in Navan for quite a while," beamed the manager.

"I think we saw a very good performance coming. I think Down marked a fork in the road for us and since that Down game and the way that we won it, the training has gone really, really well and fellas have applied themselves.

"They've applied themselves all year but you could see that there was a bit of a pep in the step after the Down win.

"We decided that we'd take the wind if we could get it (for the first-half) and we were intent that in the first 10 or 15 minutes we were going to go as fast and as hard as we possibly could. The scores flowed easily.

"There was nice movement. The quality of kicking and passing was very good. I thought we got a bit sloppy coming up to half-time but the game was probably over at that stage.

"The lads themselves have sat down and talked about this (slow starts) a lot. They have worked it out among themselves more so than I did.

"They were very keen to start well against Down and it continued on to today. It is a big change but when building a team there's a lot of setbacks along the way.

"We've had quite a few knocks but we still have persisted in introducing the young players and the new players and I have mentioned on several occasions how many new players we have to Championship football.

"I think it's 12 or 13 at this stage. Most teams would take five years to introduce that many new players but we have gone for the big bang approach and put everybody in this year. It's beginning to pay off.

"I've been saying from the start, we have good players - they just need patience. They're beginning to come and I think a performance like that today will show the Meath public and the Meath supporters that we're on the right path.

"They were (Wexford were poor?) and we had paid a lot of attention to Wexford. We watched their games against Antrim and particularly against Offaly, when they scored 1-23 (sic) all from play.

"That was a bit of a shock, when we saw that we were thinking, 'these fellas are very dangerous opponents'.

"We planned accordingly. We looked at every one of their players and were very familiar with them. We left nothing to chance on this."

As well as being please with the result, O'Rourke was happy to see his side mix the long ball game with short, precise, intricate passing.

He also signalled out James McEntee for special praise and cleared up the reasoning for some of the substitutions and allayed fears of even more injuries.

"Earlier in the league we had worked well on long ball. By the time the league finished we were back to a short passing team. We weren't kicking very much at all," he said.

"We've concentrated a good bit on that in training. It seems to work out well. The other side of this is that we were playing in the second division, Wexford were playing in the fourth division. We should have been winning this game on all known form anyway.

"I suppose maybe some people were writing off Padraic Harnan, that he was washed up but I think he had a wonderful game today.

"It was great to see James McEntee. We left him off early in the year to do his own training, to get up to speed, rather than being in the sort of hothouse environment of the team and he's worked very hard himself to get himself back into shape. You could see that coming.

"He's worked hard and I was delighted for him. He really, really is a very good footballer. You could play him anywhere. Most people were saying maybe he should be wing-back but I think he showed today that he does a lot of good things at centre-forward.

"I would certainly say that (McEntee has come back hungry), I would say that James has shown enormous hunger in training.

"He has grafted really hard every single night and it hasn't been easy on him, working as a doctor in Blanchardstown. He worked nights this week, imagine the performance he put in after working a full shift last night. It's great credit to him on a personal level. I think we're all delighted for him to see that it's working out for him.

"Ronan (Jones) is inclined to get himself injuries because of his style of play. He was one of our best players against Down and he has a bit of a problem with his knee. We are hopeful that he will be fit for next Sunday but we decided we wouldn’t take any chances with him today.

"Aaron Lynch wasn’t feeling great at half-time; he was feeling a bit dizzy. James McEntee had a bit of a tummy upset and he wasn’t feeling great and Donal Keogan got a bit of a wallop in the first half and you don’t want to take any chances with him at his age, we wanted to get him off and keep him safe.

"Jack Flynn got a bit of a knee but I think they are all relatively minor injuries."

With a semi-final place secured and a return to Croke Park on the cards. O'Rourke hinted that his players might be suited to the hallowed turf at HQ.

He was also delighted to give the Meath supporters something to cheer about and admitted that the players are playing with a freedom and enjoying their football.

"I always think good players play well in Croke Park. Some people might say they get spooked by the occasion or by their first game but that is the place everyone wants to play and to play your best. That is where we want to be from now on playing in Croke Park in front of bigger crowds.

"It is brilliant to see the half-time thing (bring-a-ball) as well. Before we went in off the pitch there were the masses descending on the pitch and kicking around, I think it is a wonderful initiative and again there is a bit of a feel good factor.

"I think a lot of the young supporters will identify with these young players more and more as time goes on.

"As a maximum we have two more games left for the remainder of the year and it is a pity it is only the month of June.

“It would be nice to continue with them for a few more months I think they would really prosper by more training but we will be ready for next year no matter when this year finishes.

"There is plenty of fun in training, it is a relaxed atmosphere and very enjoyable. I always say to lads the reason you play football is to enjoy it and have fun and relax and make mistakes and do silly things and still get back.

"They are very determined and very committed and there is good fun at training but when we go to do something they switch on and really do switch on and try to improve themselves.

"They set high standards for themselves, it’s not me, they are setting their own standards.

"It is risk free football with us when you are building a team you cannot be too hard on them. We have to encourage them and realise today was a brilliant day and the next day a thousand things could go wrong for them. We feel we are on the right path.

"It (the win over Wexford) is packaged off immediately. We spoke about it in the dressing room after the game. We are going to get back to work tomorrow, the lads are just keen to get on and all eyes are on next week.

"We don’t get any advantage at the start from playing well today. We have to start the process all over again and we will we will work hard and no matter what happens in Croke Park this group of players will get better and better with time," concluded the manager.