‘If there’s a buzz about and people are enjoying it then that’s what it’s about’

The feeling of freedom and pride that flooded the entire county of Meath after the Leinster SFC semi-final win over Dublin was overwhelming on that Sunday afternoon.

Meath manager Robbie Brennan felt the buzz too, but he has bigger plans on the horizon and while he was clearly delighted with the win, he admitted that celebrations were kept to a minimum and attentions immediately turned to the next challenge - Louth in the Leinster SFC final in Croke Park next Sunday.

"It was brilliant, amazing. That carried through Sunday evening, but the lads were straight into recovery. As a management we did the same, we kept the head down, enjoyed the moment more than anything else," admitted Brennan.

"The overriding thing is that yes it is great that we have beaten Dublin, but it will mean nothing if we don't try to follow it up next Sunday against Louth.

"Attention turned quite quickly to Louth and the Leinster final.

"Me as the manager and us as a management did not need to demand that the players didn't go out celebrating after the Dublin game, the lads were fully aware of that themselves.

"There used to be a time when the bus stopped on the way home from games like that players might go in and get a few cans to celebrate, but after the Dublin game they all just got 99s from Supermacs and sat outside for a few minutes and had a bit of down time before getting back on the bus. That was their treat.

"With the condensed season, that is the way it has to be. You are back up on the horse straight away and all eyes are on the Leinster final."

Even for seasoned players like Donal Keogan, Bryan Menton and Cillian O'Sullivan, the relief of finally getting one over Dublin must have tasted so sweet. That trio have been put through the ringer by the Dubs over the last decade and a half, so Brennan was thrilled for them for the team to finally get over the line.

"There was all the usual range of emotions after the game against Dublin. Maybe not disbelief because we always believed, but the realisation that we had won was very emotional.

"Those lads (Keogan, Menton and O'Sullivan) are good lads, they've been around the scene a long long time, they know how to handle those things, so it was quickly straight back down to work on what we have to do to get over the line the next day.

"That's why they are the type of players they are. They were able to get themselves into the headspace for the next challenge, whether it was a good day or a bad day.

"Personally I was delighted for them. When that final whistle went, they were the first people on my mind, it was brilliant for them. No more than all the Meath fans, I've sat in the stands and watched those lads suffer on the tough days, so I was delighted for them."

The nationwide sense of shock and disbelief at Meath's win over Dublin can be regarded as a little bit disrespectful to a Meath side that have made considerable strides at underage level in recent years and have shown considerable improvements this year, especially operating under the new rules.

However, Brennan understands why the rest of the country was surprised by Meath's win over Dublin, but he always believed it was possible.

"Given the juggernaut that Dublin have been - and still will be by the way, they're not going anywhere - it is fair to say that there was a bit of disbelief when we did it," admitted Brennan.

"However, we believed it was possible heading down to Portlaoise because we knew the work the players had put in and we knew what they were capable of, but I can fully understand why others might have though that it was unlikely to happen, but thankfully it did."

A huge part of that magnificent win over Dublin must be put down to having their tactics spot on and Brennan admitted that a huge amount of work goes into preparing for the opposition.

He also feels that having lost to Louth in the last two outings, last year's All-Ireland SFC series and this year's NFL promotion chance, will ensure Meath will take more from those games than if they had beaten their neighbours.

"There's a huge amount of work goes into that (analysing opposition). As soon as the Dublin game was done we were straight onto Louth. That can sometimes start on the bus on the way home and if not it certainly started on the Monday.

"The players do a huge amount of prep as well. It's not just myself, Fez (Conor Gillespie) and Shane (Supple), the players have a lot of homework to do themselves.

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"With the games coming thick and fast you are on it straight away and you don't really have time to come off it until the game is over for a few hours.

"We have loads of different learnings from our last couple of games against Louth, particularly the last day in Inniskeen in the league. We will also look at their game against Kildare and we will take some stuff from that as well.

"For our own sake we have loads of learnings from the last time against Louth. We didn't really perform that day, there's reasons for that both tactically and other reasons, so we have plenty of work to do.

"We certainly won't be underestimating them, that's for sure, because they have had our number over the last few games. This is their third Leinster final in-a-row, under Ger (Brennan) they have great chemistry and they are well used to each other.

"It will be a huge task, but we are looking forward to it."

So why have Louth had the upperhand on Meath recently and who carries the heavier weight of pressure going into next Sunday's final?

"Ultimately they are a really good side with some fantastic players. Ironically they are probably better stacked coming to Croke Park this time. When we played them in Inniskeen they were without Craig Lennon, Sam Mulroy, Conor Grimes etc, so they're going to be stronger.

"I'd like to think we will be stronger too, which is great, so it should make for a really great game.

"Tactically they are really well set up from the old rules and they have brought some of that through to the new rules, they have married that quite well, particularly defensively.

"They also have really good forwards that can cause you trouble. Outside of the tradition, if you look at them with a magnifying glass they are a really good side with really good players.

"It'd say the pressure is equal. I mentioned the 2010 game to some of the lads on the bus home from Portlaoise and most of them barely remember it, that's more for the supporters on both sides than the players.

"I'd say there's equal pressure. For Louth it is their third Leinster final in a row and they will want to win one, while for us we are coming off a good win in the semi-final and we will be looking to back that up.

"Pressure for both, but no matter what happens two weeks later we are both back out in the All-Ireland series, so there will be no time for wallowing no matter what happens."

For Brennan and his players what happened in the past is very much buried back there and will have no bearing on Sunday's final, but the Meath manager remembers those famous clashes of 2002 and 2010.

"There have been a few great games between us down through the years. I was in Navan for the dramatic win in 2002 and I was on the Cusack for that game in 2010. Hopefully next Sunday's game will have just as much excitement and we'll come out the right side of the result," enthused the Meath manager.

"I'd say Seamus (Kenny) is getting sick of me joking with him about 2010, that if he had just rolled the ball into the net instead of hitting the crossbar there would have been no controversy.

"It was a fantastic game, two great sides and when you look back on the teams and see who was playing that day, great players. It seems like a long time ago, but at the same time it doesn't.

"Obviously we were all aware of the controversy afterwards and everyday you were getting up to see what was going to happen. I'm sure Joe (Sheridan) hears about it everyday, never mind Seamus.

"Someone joked that we should have Joe as a Maor Uisce in Croke Park next Sunday, but I think we'll avoid that one just in case."

While every team in the country wants to contest their provincial final there is now a scenario where Meath will play a game every two weeks until the start of the All-Ireland series where they will then play three games in four weeks.

Brennan likes the hectic schedule and is delighted to be in a Leinster final, although he also admitted that a four week gap between a Leinster semi-final and the start of the All-Ireland series would have given his coaching team more time to work on tactics and his medical team more time to work on injuries.

"Personally I like the every two weeks schedule. Coming from a club scenario, that's the way it was with Kilmacud when we got on that great run," confirmed Brennan.

"It doesn't give you as much time as you'd like from a coaching perspective. If you'd have had the four weeks we would certainly get more work in, but for me I'd rather be playing every two weeks.

"I'd say the players would be the same. A month is a fairly big gap and then you are looking for challenge games as opposed to this scenario. So this is ideal prep for us heading into the All-Ireland series, particularly from where we are as a group.

"We trained last night and the hurlers were on one of the other pitches and you can really feel the atmosphere around the place.

"I was out and about around Navan today and there is a real good atmosphere around.

"If there's a buzz and people are enjoying it then that's what it's all about. We want to get as many people into Meath jerseys as we can and back out supporting the team.

"Nothing has really changed for me. You get the odd person coming over to say well done, which is far better than had luck, so I'm happy to have that," concluded Brennan.

Long may it last.