Take Five v Galway

TAKE FIVE from last Sunday's NFL Div 1 loss to Galway

Following last Sunday's narrow loss over Galway which confirmed Meath's relegation from NFL Div 1 FERGAL LYNCH looked at five aspects of the game and hints that all is not as desperate as it might look.

DAMNED LIES

There's an old saying in sport that 'the table never lies' when it comes to assessing a league campaign, but it is fair to say that Meath's return of zero points from their five games in NFL Div 1 is not an accurate or fair reflection of their performances. The opening day in Tyrone saw Meath squander chances, but it's not a game that can accurately be described as 'one that got away'.
The second outing was a shocker against Donegal and one quickly forgotten, but since then Meath can consider themselves fiercely unfortunate to have nothing to show from games against Mayo, Kerry and Galway.
This week again there was an opportunity to grab something from the game, but when the tide turned against the Royals in the approach to half-time there was a sense of inevitability about the outcome.
However, despite a fifth defeat of the campaign, Meath are far better than their points tally suggests.
 

SHIPPING HEAVY SCORES

Against Kerry Meath found themselves 1-5 to 0-0 down early on. Playing against a stiff wind at home to Mayo the Royals were left with a mountain to climb as they trailed by 0-1 to 0-7 at half-time.

Last Sunday the same thing happened again.
After using the wind to good effect to build up a decent 1-6 to 0-1 lead, Meath collapsed, helped somewhat by a referee who was conned time and again by Galway's spoiling tactics.
Galway scored the last four points of an exciting opening half and within 10 minutes of the start of the second period they added a further 1-2 to take a lead for the first time, 1-7 to 1-6.
That concession of 1-6 either side of the interval turned the game very much against Meath, but they will only progress if they learn to weather spells like that with a little more cute hoorism and cleverness when not in possession.

 

AH REF

At this stage it seems like having a pop at the referee is a staple of the Take Five column, but it can't be always a whinge when we have to constantly refer to so many bizarre decisions that went against Meath, as was the case last Sunday at crucial stages.

In the opening round against Tyrone the Ulster side got away with a couple of dubious black card calls that weren't issued.
Last week against Kerry referee Derek O'Mahoney got a couple of big calls wrong and left Meath down to 14 men at two crucial junctures in a tight game.
On Sunday Fermanagh's Niall Cullen didn't exactly cover himself in glory, but he certainly wasn't helped by his assistants. As Meath threatened to put the game to bed in the opening half Galway went into spoiling mode and they were allowed do it.
They pulled, dragged and blocked Meath players constantly off the ball, often right in front of sideline officials, but got away with it.
Even when the referee did see incidents he got blatant wrong calls. In the 36th minute he blew up Ethan Devine for a 'throw ball' despite the Na Fianna man obviously handpassing the ball away with his only free hand while his arm was being held back. Shane Walsh converted that free to help Galway on their way.
About 12 minutes before that the referee waved play on when James McEntee came out strongest in a collision with Gary O'Donnell.
Seconds later the referee stopped play to allow O'Donnell receive treatment and when play resumed he booked McEntee and gave Galway a free.
Bizarre stuff. It was weak refereeing from Cullen and his team, but there's no accountability for referees.
 

PITCH PERFECT

As storm Jorge raged all weekend and wreaked havoc on the fixtures list in the county the people responsible for the welfare of the Pairc Tailteann pitch deserve enormous credit for having the pitch in Navan in immaculate condition, not just for one game, but for both the hurling game against Mayo and the football clash against Galway.

Add in the fact that the 'Bring a Ball' initiative allowed for kids to be on the field at half-time in both games and the Meath Coaching & Games Committee held a '100 Touches' competition at half-time of the football match it is remarkable that the pitch held up so well.
Not only did it hold up well, but it also contributed to a fast-flowing, open game of football.
So credit where credit is due and well done Meath GAA, now just sort out the stand because I saw at least two people take tumbles on the dodgy steps of the decrepit old stand.
The match programme could also do with some more relevant information.
Excellent articles from David Rispin and Noel Coogan were entertaining, but when it came to finding information on the league standings for both the hurlers and footballers it was sadly lacking. A few more stats and relevant information wouldn't go amiss from the award-winning PR team.
 

CHRONICLE CHOICE

The fact that no one player stood head and shoulders above the rest is an indication of the type of solid team performance produced by Meath.

In other games in this campaign three or four players have impressed ahead of others, but last Sunday's display was a reward for the collective.
Credit for that must go to the example led by the captains and last Sunday Bryan Menton led from the front. He was central to most of Meath's good work and while he wasn't the focus of everyone's attention it was his hard work ethic and non-stop willingness to battle for dirty ball that set him apart.
Add in the fact that he scored for the 16th game out of his last 17 and chipped in with two points and he deserves to be acknowledged as Meath's most outstanding performer.