'It was a great feeling, but that great feeling is for the lads'

LEINSTER SFC REACTION Manager Brennan delighted for his players and the supporters

There were times this year when Meath manager Robbie Brennan was frantically animated on the sidelines. Celebrating brilliant football, bemoaning mistakes and poor calls, arms out in protest and acclaim, but on Sunday he remained remarkably calm.

While those around him were losing their head, Brennan was almost serene, as if he knew it was coming. The former St Peter's Dunboyne player and manager stood back and soaked it all in - the joy of beating the Dubs is rare and wonderful, he wanted to make sure he remembered every moment.

“It was brilliant. We were joking saying - some tennis fella said you don’t beat me 17 times in a row or whatever it is - you don’t beat Meath 16 times in a row," beamed a proud Brennan.

“It was a great feeling, but that great feeling is for the lads, just particularly had Keogie (Donal Keogan) and Mento (Bryan Menton) were in my head the minute the whistle went.

“Cillian O’Sullivan, guys like that who are around the squad. It was for them more than - I wasn’t really thinking about myself, absolutely just emotional. I was calm all week. I was calm on the line. I just felt we could do it. I was probably more nervous against Offaly.

“I just stood on the outskirts of it (the group of fans as they sang come on you boys in green on the Portlaoise pitch) just to soak it up and lap that up. It’s been a while since we had scenes like that. I would have been one of those in the middle of it, giving it all that.

“A few of my friends from Dunboyne were in there and they have a few pints ready to go. I hope everybody enjoys it, but for us we’ve to put our head down now and get back to work.

“Two weeks to go. A massive game against Louth who obviously did us up in Inniskeen the last day. We have a lot to work on, but looking forward to it.”

The scenes of celebration made up for all the nerves and anxity that prevailed over the previous 70-odd minutes. Brennan was a proud man, but his pride was in the players and the hard work they put to get their just reward.

"I'm delighted for the lads, they put in a huge amount of work over the last few weeks. We've been prepping for Dublin on the off chance that we did get here, so we were well drilled.

"It was a gutsy, full of belief, defiant kind of performance, that's what we asked for and the lads delivered in spades, so I'm delighted for them."

Playing with the wind at their backs in the opening half was pivotal to Meath's success and Brennan acknowledged the importance of that, but also the message of controlling the game in the second0half was equally vital as he priased the outstanding individual performances of some of his players.

"Banty (James Conlon) gave us a massive outlet in there, his movement is phenomenal as was Keith (Curtis) and Frayner (Eoghan Frayne). Overall I'm really happy, even though we did miss a few as well.

"It was a really, really tricky wind. You could see that Dublin missed a couple with it as well.

"We managed the game well, we managed the momentum that Dublin got back. There were a few poor, sloppy turnovers towards the end of the second-half which had my heart in my mouth, but we just held out thankfully.

"At half-time we focused on our scoring area and where we could possibily shoot from, we didn't want any silly shots and we wanted to manage the wind. We knew we would have a few scoring opportunities because Dublin had them in the first-half, so it was just whether we could take them or not.

"Then there was a bit of game management. Making sure we controlled the ball when we could and we did that reasonably well, but Dublin did put a good squeeze on towards the end and there were a couple of occasions that might have been different, but thankfully it wasn't.

"We won the toss and went with the wind for the first-half and said we'd try to get after it as much as we could. If you went in behind against Dublin at half-time it would have been much harder in the second-half.

"We scrambled really well. Seamus (Lavin) cleared one off the line after Billy (Hogan) got a hand to it and then Billy made a great save to deny Cormac Costello. Goals are key with Dublin, if they get goals they get massive momentum, so to concede just one goal was big and defensively wise we were rock solid at times.

"We did aim for 15 points on the board by half-time then as the game went on we wanted a few more and thankfully we got them.

"Dublin are so good at creating goal opportunities, that we had to try to balance stepping out to stop them going for two-pointers and keep looking behind us to make sure they didn't get in for goals. The lads handled it really well.

"That momentum from the crowd gives us a great lift. All week we had been saying we had to stay in the fight, we had to keep hunting and keep looking for work. I'm sure there's loads of learnings in it for us, but overall I thought the lads did brilliant.

"I'm delighted for them, this is their time. They have been waiting to produce a performance like that and they took it today."

While no one gave Meath a chance, the bookies didn't believe they'd get within eight points, Brennan always believed and they did their homework on the Dublin kickout where Meath got great joy.

"We prepped for Evan (Comerford) and Cluxo (Stephen Cluxton) during the week and then when we get here and see that it is Cluxo we get our plan in place.

"He is the best to ever play the game, so to be able to put him under that kind of pressure is all credit to the lads and the system that Conor (Gillespie) and Shane (Supple) put in to put him under pressure.

"David (Drake) said to me inside in prehab before the game that he didn’t believe what I was saying, that we could win but we felt we could. We absolutely felt we could.

“The reality is it’s not the same Dublin team, but it’s not the same Meath team either. The fact it’s out of Croke Park and all those things certainly played into our favour. We had a real belief we could go and do it.

"Taking the game away from Croke Park is huge. I think in my first Leinster final in there with Kilmacud Crokes we kicked 18 wides, lads just weren't used to the posts. It takes a bit of getting used to playing in Croker and obviously Dublin are very used to being in there.

"So having the game in Portlaoise definietly helped. The atmosphere was class. Would we have got that atmosphere in Croker? Probably not. There is certainly merit in it (bringing semi-finals out of Croke Park)."

Brennan was asked if the scras of past heavy defeats had weighed on the minds of some of his older players, but he insisted the mood had been hugely positive before the game.

“No scars, they are two phenomenal characters you mentioned there, obviously Keogs (Donal Keogan) and Mento (Bryan Menton) and I thought they had phenomenal games again. Just that blend in youth who probably haven’t got the scars from Dublin.

“Yes, they’ve lost a couple of times, but they’ve not been through the Diarmuid Connollys, the Paul Mannions, that kind of team and it’s massive for Keogie and Mento and a couple that might have had tough defeats at the hands of Dublin.

“So delighted for them. No, no mental scars. The buzz was good and it was quite relaxed coming down today. The belief was there and they delivered, which was the biggest thing.”

“I think just the work that was done on the training pitch. Not that you can dismantle an opposition, but you can certainly look at the way they are setting up and that kind of stuff and give ourselves the best opportunity.

“We felt we had the footballers there to cause trouble, if we could get the defensive side of it right, which we did.

“A lot of stuff bounced our way and things like that - you always need a bit of luck to beat a great team like Dublin. There's belief in the lads and they have it themselves. We have to take it on now to the next game. That’s the key for us.

"We are all in that boat. Raff (Sean Rafferty) you could see his performance today, he is some boyo, he has a great career ahead of him in that number 3 jersey.

"Ronan Jones is nine weeks on from his injury which was deemed a nine to 10 week injury, so we took a bit of a gamble. We knew he probably had 20 minutes in him and I thought he was brilliant when he came in. Won kickouts, drove forward, didn't turn it over and kept us up the pitch. Brilliant to have him back and hopefully get another one or two back.

"Jack Flynn twinged his hamstring on Tuesday night, he was still hopeful of playing up to this morning, but he did a fitness test and just wasn't fully right, he should be fine in another couple of weeks."

While the celebrations continued out on the O'Moore Park pitch the focus in the Meath dressing room quickly turned to the Leinster final against Louth.

Brennan is really looking forward at the shot at redemption against Louth and believes that the recent run of good results for all Meath teams is the rising tide that is lifting all boats.

"Hopefully the lads will get a good result on Wednesday night in the u-20 final against Louth, they're a good side at that age and at senior.

"It is huge for both counties and it is amazing that we are both heading to Leinster finals with the two age groups.

"We'll keep our feet firmly on the ground now and get down to work.

"I had a quick chat with the minors before their campaign started. All this is linked. The hurlers winning yesterday (against Derry), the 20s and minors going well. Getting everybody working off each other is how we get the county going. It's fairly buzzing at the moment," concluded Brennan.