What's this, our third ever meeting? (I remember 1990 and 2002 - don't think there's been any others).
What kind of shape are Meath in?
Things are not good in Donegal based on the past two games. The Tyrone game needs no further comment, while apparently Saturday night against Longford was appalling, in both performance and tactics (back to 14 men behind the ball and little movement ahead of it). Donegal missed some ridiculous chances, but from what I've heard, had Longford had an accurate free taker on the night, we'd have been in big, big trouble.
We went back to the short kick-outs again too. If Meath have any sense, they'll push up on this, especially if they are competitive at midfield. This was the area where Tyrone really turned the screw in that second quarter... well that and the red seas parting inside our 40!
Not too optimistic about this as you can probably guess! Whether its inexperienced players or management that don't really know what to after the Tyrone debacle (aside from going for all-out defensiveness at home against a Division 3 team), this year's championship looks like its on life support for Donegal, just waiting for a half-decent team to put us out of our misery.
I'd imagine Meath will relish this. It is in Navan so I'd expect a big crowd and at the moment Donegal don't seem to know they want to play. Hope RTE have it and use Benny Tierney as the co-commentator.
Quote from: Denn Forever on July 03, 2017, 12:34:30 PM
I'd imagine Meath will relish this. It is in Navan so I'd expect a big crowd and at the moment Donegal don't seem to know they want to play. Hope RTE have it and use Benny Tierney as the co-commentator.
not on tv, 6pm saturday
I expected meath to perform better in the c/ship,mcentee seemed to have them moving well,could have been promoted from div 2 but a bad result to down I think? I expect them to beat donegal,I think donegal played their best football in the league,as with any young team it's a learning curve.Meath are not unlike galway, consistency wise,which galway have improved on,I think home advantage will swing it Meaths way.
Not on TV and Meath expectations pretty high considering Donegal have not been impressive this year.
Should be a sell out!
Don't know what you lads are looking at, we were dire against Kildare, conceded 3 goals to Louth and struggled mightily to beat Sligo with home advantage, our first win in the qualifiers since 2011. Our expectations aren't anywhere near as high as you might think.
Our midfield isn't great and Ronan Jones might be out. Our kick outs have been poor. Defensively we've been quite suspect and overall we are not that physically imposing. Also we haven't scored a goal in the championship so far either.
I had the misfortune to attend the meath v sligo game last sat evening and Meath were nothing short of shocking.
If Donegal leave Murphy and McBreatey on the edge of the square, they should get enough scores to win comfortably, I cant see were Meath will get enough scores to win.
Quote from: WT4E on July 03, 2017, 03:10:38 PM
Not on TV and Meath expectations pretty high considering Donegal have not been impressive this year.
Should be a sell out!
My expectations literally could not be lower.
Ever see a bumblebee repeatedly flying into a window pane when it's wide open a couple of inches higher up?
That's our forwards.
Meath are 150/1 to win Sam. Is this a record?
There is a touch of "bring out the gimp" about Meath playing Donegal
I've a feeling that Meath will find themselves here with the likes of Cillian O'Sullivan amd Graham Reilly coming good. Menton just needs to man mark Murphy whereever he goes, he was top class as a full back on him at Sigerson level back in the day. If Meath play with balls then Donegal are there for the taking.
Quote from: Jinxy on July 03, 2017, 06:22:39 PM
Quote from: WT4E on July 03, 2017, 03:10:38 PM
Not on TV and Meath expectations pretty high considering Donegal have not been impressive this year.
Should be a sell out!
My expectations literally could not be lower.
Ever see a bumblebee repeatedly flying into a window pane when it's wide open a couple of inches higher up?
That's our forwards.
If you're trying to lull J70 into any sense of security, you'll have to do better than that.
Just wondering can anyone tell me where Blue Badge Parking would be for Pairc Tailteann for the game on Saturday.
Quote from: Kuwabatake Sanjuro on July 03, 2017, 07:15:23 PM
I've a feeling that Meath will find themselves here with the likes of Cillian O'Sullivan amd Graham Reilly coming good. Menton just needs to man mark Murphy whereever he goes, he was top class as a full back on him at Sigerson level back in the day. If Meath play with balls then Donegal are there for the taking.
Donegal can defend, so not sure its a game that will suit Reilly.
O'Sullivan on the other hand is key. But he needs his teammates to be awake and on the same wavelength to take advantage of his penetrating runs.
Quote from: Hound on July 05, 2017, 02:33:47 PM
Quote from: Kuwabatake Sanjuro on July 03, 2017, 07:15:23 PM
I've a feeling that Meath will find themselves here with the likes of Cillian O'Sullivan amd Graham Reilly coming good. Menton just needs to man mark Murphy whereever he goes, he was top class as a full back on him at Sigerson level back in the day. If Meath play with balls then Donegal are there for the taking.
Donegal can defend, so not sure its a game that will suit Reilly.
O'Sullivan on the other hand is key. But he needs his teammates to be awake and on the same some wavelength to take advantage of his penetrating runs.
Amended
Quote from: Hardy on July 05, 2017, 02:46:28 PM
Quote from: Hound on July 05, 2017, 02:33:47 PM
Quote from: Kuwabatake Sanjuro on July 03, 2017, 07:15:23 PM
I've a feeling that Meath will find themselves here with the likes of Cillian O'Sullivan amd Graham Reilly coming good. Menton just needs to man mark Murphy whereever he goes, he was top class as a full back on him at Sigerson level back in the day. If Meath play with balls then Donegal are there for the taking.
Donegal can defend, so not sure its a game that will suit Reilly.
O'Sullivan on the other hand is key. But he needs his teammates to be awake and on the same some wavelength to take advantage of his penetrating runs.
Amended
Maybe so! You see more of him than I do, but you're perhaps being a bit harsh on him. He's the one with the talent, breaking through defences. He's not the perfect player, so when the cul-de-sac comes, I think there's an onus on his teammates to be there and available at the right time.
Quote from: Hound on July 05, 2017, 02:50:08 PM
Quote from: Hardy on July 05, 2017, 02:46:28 PM
Quote from: Hound on July 05, 2017, 02:33:47 PM
Quote from: Kuwabatake Sanjuro on July 03, 2017, 07:15:23 PM
I've a feeling that Meath will find themselves here with the likes of Cillian O'Sullivan amd Graham Reilly coming good. Menton just needs to man mark Murphy whereever he goes, he was top class as a full back on him at Sigerson level back in the day. If Meath play with balls then Donegal are there for the taking.
Donegal can defend, so not sure its a game that will suit Reilly.
O'Sullivan on the other hand is key. But he needs his teammates to be awake and on the same some wavelength to take advantage of his penetrating runs.
Amended
Maybe so! You see more of him than I do, but you're perhaps being a bit harsh on him. He's the one with the talent, breaking through defences. He's not the perfect player, so when the cul-de-sac comes, I think there's an onus on his teammates to be there and available at the right time.
Surely when you come across a cul-de-sac there's an onus on him not to enter it?
Quote from: Main Street on July 03, 2017, 09:32:13 PM
Quote from: Jinxy on July 03, 2017, 06:22:39 PM
Quote from: WT4E on July 03, 2017, 03:10:38 PM
Not on TV and Meath expectations pretty high considering Donegal have not been impressive this year.
Should be a sell out!
My expectations literally could not be lower.
Ever see a bumblebee repeatedly flying into a window pane when it's wide open a couple of inches higher up?
That's our forwards.
If you're trying to lull J70 into any sense of security, you'll have to do better than that.
On the contrary, I have lots of faith in the ability of our players. We could easily win this.
Unfortunately, I am not convinced by the management or the tactics, while the inexperience and morale of what is a young team is a big concern.
I haven't seen Donegal play yet this year but if they pull men back a lot then I think it would probably necessary for us to do the same and counter attack. But we don't do either of those particularly well. It will be particularly tough for Reilly and O'Sullivan to counter from deep positions. They'll be marked men for sure so perhaps they need to be doing decoy runs and pulling men out of position. It might be that guys like Jones (if fit) or Menton have a bigger role to play being big men and potentially having more space as Reilly and O'Sullivan get most of the attention.
Given the amount of ball we turned over in the half forward line against Kildare & Sligo, it's all set up for Donegal to sit back, draw us on to them and then counter attack.
Assuming we haven't learned anything from the last two games, I mean.
Which is quite likely.
Maybe the Meath half forwards will.decide enough is enough and start playing
low scoring game likely with nailbiting finish, could go either way.
Named Donegal 15
Young Langan and Carroll dropped for Brennan and McFadden
(http://www.highlandradio.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/donegal-team.jpg)
Level at half time. Decent from Meath
Quote from: seafoid on July 08, 2017, 06:57:47 PM
Level at half time. Decent from Meath
Is it being shown on TV?
Meath 0-10
Donegal 0-08
47 mins.
Meath 0-11
Donegal 0-09
50 mins.
Meath 0-11
Donegal 0-11
53 mins.
Paddy O'Rourke does it again!
Meath 0-11
Donegal 0-12
56 mins.
Meath 0-12
Donegal 0-12
57 mins.
Meath 0-12
Donegal 1-12
60 mins.
Meath 1-12
Donegal 1-12
62 mins.
Cillian.
Meath 1-13
Donegal 1-12
64 mins.
Meath going to win this.
Shocking from Donegal immediately after going 3 up.
Meath 1-13
Donegal 1-13
66 mins.
Close free for Donegal
Meath 1-13
Donegal 1-14
68 mins.
Meath 1-14
Donegal 1-14
70 mins.
Donal Lenihan long distance free.
Really encouraged by our ability to tough it out in a close finish, whatever the result.
3 minutes added.
Next score the winner.
Meath 1-14
Donegal 1-15
McBrearty
All over.
That's a sickener for Meath.
Sorry Hardy lad, that was unlucky.
Important win for us though, even if we are not going beyond the quarters.
Apparently a fine score from McBrearty to win it.
Highland boys not happy with the disallowed goal before half time.🙂
Donegal are still waiting for the knockout blow to hit.. Marky Park in two weeks beckons if we lose tomorrow.
Hard luck to Meath. Hopefully it is something to build on and Mayo will shortly be vacating some space...
Quote from: J70 on July 08, 2017, 07:54:51 PM
Sorry Hardy lad, that was unlucky.
Important win for us though, even if we are not going beyond the quarters.
Apparently a fine score from McBrearty to win it.
Highland boys not happy with the disallowed goal before half time.🙂
It sounded as if Donegal had the bit of know-how to fashion the win in a tight finish. I had no confidence we would do it, given our lack of experience of this sort of situation. Really disappointed to lose it, but encouraged that we made a fist of being competitive under pressure. The danger is that the experience will go to loss with a six month break to the next competitive outing.
Meath have to get out of d2 next year. Maybe they are not far behind the flourbags.
Just back in the door.
Disappointed with the result, but an improved performance from the Sligo game and no shortage of hard work & endeavour.
We did well defensively and around the middle.
Still no coherent attacking plan though.
Cillian O'Sullivan had no idea how to play at FF and alternated between standing beside the goalkeeper and making runs 5 seconds too late (to the wrong place).
Graham Reilly was poor again, I assume he's carrying an injury.
Menton & Conlon did well around the middle.
Conlon needs to hit the gym as he was out-muscled on a couple of occasions but he's that 'running' type of tall player we badly need around the middle.
Menton made a super catch in the first half over Murphy's head and got forward to kick a great point in the 2nd half.
Lenihan & McEntee were the pick of the forwards with McEntee growing in confidence and taking on the Donegal defence every chance he got.
There's a decent foundation there to build upon, but we badly need to sharpen our cutting edge up front.
For me, Donegal deserved the win and had that bit of class and guile in Murphy & McBrearty that we lacked.
Lovely evening for football and a good crowd there from both counties.
Best of luck to Donegal the next day, the fans around me were a lovely bunch and there was a great family atmosphere with the grass banks being invaded despite 'The Man' saying they were closed!
Health & safety bedamned. :)
Not much criac here lads. Listened to this on the wireless and it sounded like a classic...well the last quarter anyway.
Yes. I can't wait to see the fifteen seconds of highlights on TSG tonight.
Quote from: Hardy on July 09, 2017, 01:36:20 PM
Yes. I can't wait to see the fifteen seconds of highlights on TSG tonight.
...and they'll more than likely show the big moments in that stupid snapshot segment they show at the beginning of the programme.
Believe me, it was far from a classic.
Exciting tight finish alright, but I found it a very frustrating game to watch.
Fantastic atmosphere at the game , Meath supporters really got behind team, it's a terrible pity about the toilets for men and women, disgraceful facilities
Are the womens' toilets bad?
Was never in them.
Do women use toilets?
Didn't get to hear or see it. Hadn't a huge amount of hope for us but I guess we didn't disgrace ourselves. Overall it's hard to argue if we made any real progress this year. If there was it wasn't significant enough to really note. We didn't get promoted and we didn't get through the qualifiers or reach the provincial final.
There was some fight in the closing stages of games which wasn't there last year and the fitness levels went up a bit. But that wasn't enough to swing more games in our favor. Still need more talent in the backs and midfield (Rooney's return might help). There's some good talent in the forwards but there needs to be some thought behind how to make them a cohesive attacking unit.
Till next year amigos.
Heard McEntee on the radio he made an interesting point about the chasing group of teams, you're doing your best training during the summer but the top 4 are getting an extra month at least every year and it's hard to catch up as they are always pulling away
Quote from: Mayo4Sam on July 18, 2017, 11:10:46 PM
Heard McEntee on the radio he made an interesting point about the chasing group of teams, you're doing your best training during the summer but the top 4 are getting an extra month at least every year and it's hard to catch up as they are always pulling away
One of the Tipp player mentioned in an article I read somewhere lately that the additional length of their run last year definitely helped them in terms of getting fitness back for the league this year.
Quote from: Jinxy on July 09, 2017, 03:17:51 PM
Are the womens' toilets bad?
Was never in them.
Do they not have gender neutral toilets for intersex fans ? Gender is like county allegiance. A social construct.