'We had a stuttering campaign and it came to a shuddering halt'

The air of disappointment around the Meath dressing was palpable at Parnell Park on Thursday night as the bitter sting of a heavy defeat lingered long into the night.

Manager John McCarthy admitted that the loss will take a long time to get over as he lamented his side's dreadful opening half display and the concession of a fourth goal early in the second-half that left his side 15 points behind.

"Hugely disappointed with that, particularly the first-half. The game was effectively over by half-time and then they came out and got a fourth goal early in the second-half, funny to say that the fourth goal would be the killer as if the first three weren't bad enough. That fourth goal certainly killed off any hope we had," admitted the Walterstown man.

"There was a strong breeze in their favour in the first-half, but that is just an excuse, it had nothing to do with it. We were off the pace, got blitzed by runners coming through the middle that we didn't pick up. Surprisingly we looked asleep and sluggish."

It was an honest assessment from the Meath manager who expected more from his troops, but who was let down by a lethargy and sluggishness in a sheepish opening half.

McCarthy was pleased with the second period performance, but by that stage the game was long up and he admitted that it took a stern half-time talking to to spark some life into his side.

"The second-half was better. We kicked 1-10 in the second-half, you'd be happy with that any day. There was a strong breeze, but we didn't kick on from the Longford game," he said.

"We had played last Saturday, we had hoped this game would be this Saturday, but that wouldn't have made any difference if we are to be honest considering the way we turned up today in the first-half.

"I have to give the lads credit because it would have been easy to have just capitulated at half-time with the way the game was going.

"They showed a bit of character and came back and fought. They fought for every ball until the very end, even though there was no hope of them winning the game, I take that as one of the few positives out of it.

"I couldn't believe the amount of breaking ball that we didn't win in that first-half. It is frustrating standing on the sideline because we were stand-offish and we were leaving it for someone else to do something and that's not the way we want to be. I'm very disappointed in that aspect of our game.

"There was a collective lack of winning the ball, that's what annoyed me. The ball was hitting the ground and it was a blue jersey winning it every time.

"I said to the boys at half-time that maybe with the exception of Daragh (Reilly) there was 14 battles out there that we lost.

"We improved that in the second-half, but it was hugely disappointing in that first-half and the lads knew that at half-time.

"That dressing room wasn't a nice place to be at half-time, there were a few truths told, but in fairness they stood up in the second-half."

Just as was the case in the fortunate, late win over Longford in the quarter-final it was the impact off the bench that helped Meath improve and central to that increased threat was the excellent Pearse Sheridan.

Sheridan is one of the few minors from 2019 involved on the team and his unavailability and injuries to other full-age players was a source of frustration for McCarthy who accepted that the gulf between minor and under-20 is huge.

"We have been unfortunate because the likes of Pearse (Sheridan) and Oisin (Martin) are only back training two weeks, they've been injured all year. They are full age 20s, which we didn't have too many off either," lamented McCarthy.

"David Bell is another one, that was his first day back in the squad, but unfortunately the way things went we had our subs used and weren't able to get him on, he would have been another one who would have made an impact.

"Losing Diarmuid (Moriarty) who is also a full age player was a blow for us as well, he is a big man.

"They are four lads who would have played minor in 2019, but they were really only available to us this week, which was a bit late.

"The physicality of it showed. It is hard to bridge that gap. Talent will get you a long way, but a year or two at that age group makes a big, big difference.

"We had three or four lads out there who were playing two years above their grade. We probably only had four lads of full age starting and we brought on two or three, we just didn't have them.

"We know the lads are talented from what they have done previously. There is a big step up that they have to make between 17 and 20.

"There is an element of 'do they want to commit to it' and most of those lads are good lads. There is a big difference between playing minor football and stepping into an adult grade like that.

"We have huge improvements to find if we are to compete in that grade next year."

So speaking of next year, the original plan was for McCarthy to continue as under-20 manager for two years and with a management team that includes Colm Coyle, Sean Kelly, Cathal Sheridan, Joey Farrelly, Mickey McDonnell and others there is plenty of experience there for the young players to draw from.

However, last Thursday was a tough night at the office for the Walterstown man and while he admitted it has been a difficult campaign he needed more time to reflect on how it all ended.

"We will have to sit down and plan and see how we will go about the future. We will have to take a bit of time to reflect on that, because to be honest that is not the way we wanted to finish out this season," said McCarthy.

"The only positive we can take is that second-half, but we had a stuttering campaign and it came to a shuddering halt.

"It is a bit early for that (looking for positives). It is going to take me a while to get over this. I'm struggling to be honest. This is not where I wanted to be or thought we would be.

"Those lads gave a good commitment, they have worked hard, but this is a body blow to them, so we'll have to take some time before we reflect," concluded the Meath manager.