Forget antibiotics - just hook this Meath team to my veins

If you’ve never had or heard of Cellulitis, count yourself lucky. Just picture something being rolled over by a full tri-axle grain trailer. Which then reverses and does it again.

If you have heard of or dealt with the cursed thing, you’ll know it can affect you in a variety of different ways. Or in my case, the whole dinner box with the 25% extra free that nobody asked for or can handle.

That was yours truly in the build up to last weekend’s astonishing gazzumping of Galway.

Making it to Croke Park at all was my Colm O’Rourke, September 1991 moment. What a privilege it was to be there to see one of the greatest displays by any Meath team of any era.

Yes, the same statement was made after the Kerry victory but this was even better. This was Galway. A county Meath have struggled against for generations. A county that have been All Ireland finalists twice in the last three years and who can lay claim to he who some would regard as the best individual footballer in the country in Shane Walsh.

But here’s the thing, young players (or the few older ones Meath have) don’t give a damn about names or reputations. And, as has been said repeatedly in relation to this Meath group, the infusion of younger players - started by Colm O’Rourke during his tenure and continued by Robbie - bring with them a winning culture which leaves them fearless and their rising tide takes those around them with them.

Which meant that, after a cagey opening, when Walsh eventually opened the scoring after seven minutes, there was no panic, no rolling over. Robbie Brennan’s side kept their composure, stuck to the processes which have served them so well during the season so far.

That is to say, swarm defending, locking up opponents in possession - rugby style - manipulating the phase of play so as to force turnovers via overholding from where scores were manufactured by Sean Coffey, Donal Keogan, Bryan Menton, Ruairi Kinsella, Mathew Costello and Jordan Morris.

Thus, even though John Maher fisted over the score which gave the Connacht outfit a 0-7 to 0-6 lead at the break, there was no reason for undue panic in the green corner.

Something underlined when Costello clipped over an equalising free immediately after the restart following brilliant linkup play between himself and his fellow Dunshaughlin clubman Conor Duke.

The sides then traded scores for a phase, at the end of which the sides were deadlocked at 0-9 apiece. Until Meath again had a spell of dominance which was every bit as impressive and productive as was that by Kerry in the second match.

All of what was utter brilliance produced by the rank outsiders going through and revolving around the inspirational Conor Gray. Now, the above adjective can sometimes be overused to the point of devaluation. But in fairness to the Dunshaughlin colossus, it’s the only one applicable.

Not just due to his prodigious talent as a footballer, but, even more so, given cognisance of the battles the towering midfielder has encountered and conquered off the field since his road to stardom appeared paved with gold at the time of the Tailteann Cup success of 2023.

A broken leg, pneumonia, a collapsed lung and a very elongated stay in hospital during which ambitions were a lot more basic than trotting out onto Croke Park in front of 70,000.

Yet he has kept rolling with the punches and kept defying the odds. Not only by shutting down last year’s Footballer Of The Year, Paul Conroy, as the two tangoed, but also when channelling his inner Peter Crouch, showing neat legwork before tucking away a deft finish in a way similar to that used by the affable journeyman striker.

Speaking of star, though, - or Stars, Kingscourt Stars, to be exact, it was their Jordan Morris who proceeded to grab the occasion be the scruff of the neck and between scoring himself and creating for others.

Phase one of which - if one was to title it thus - saw the Royals swashbuckle into a 1-12 to 0-9 lead. Before, in fairness to them, Galway showed the rudiments of the great team they are by roaring into a three point lead thanks to goals from Cillian McDaid and Liam Silke and points from Walsh and Damien Comer, who did little else when introduced bar throw his considerable bulk around.

All of the above chaos ensued when a communication breakdown along the Meath line led to the indefatigable Sean Rafferty being taken off in error. But, once the great Na Fianna clubman ‘persuaded’ Robbie to put him back in, the Royal roadshow was soon back on track to a point where Padraic Joyce’s side could no longer stand the heat of what was cooking in the kitchen.

Within seconds of Silke’s ‘major’ the irrepressible Morris thundered into Johnny McGrath with ferocious yet highly disciplined tackling. Effecting a turnover as a result of which a necklace of passes between himself, Sean Coffey and Costello resulted in the architect finishing to the net before himself and Cathal Hickey closed out the deal on one of our greatest days.

Forget antibiotics, just hook this Meath team to my veins!