Darren Fay - good article

[Jinxy]

http://thescore.thejournal.ie/meath-darren-fay-four-kings-1176933-Dec2013/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

Very interesting insight into the 2001 semi-final against Kerry and the final against Galway.
Honest as a footballer, honest as a man.

Less than a minute after the restart, Joyce gets in behind him and blazes over the bar with the goal at his mercy. Not long after that, Savage passes to Joyce who dodges one way, slips Fay, and scores. His second point from play. A defining moment.
"It was the first time ever in my playing career that someone had scored twice from play off me."
Suddenly, the doubts swirled in Fay's mind. Right in that moment, something snapped in him.
"Talk about panic on a football pitch. I says to Mark O'Reilly, "Look, I'm being roasted here, you may have a go." That's what happened. I made the switch myself onto [Derek] Savage. The high standards I set for myself was my downfall that day."

[orangeman]

http://thescore.thejournal.ie/meath-darren-fay-four-kings-1176933-Dec2013/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

Very interesting insight into the 2001 semi-final against Kerry and the final against Galway.
Honest as a footballer, honest as a man.

Less than a minute after the restart, Joyce gets in behind him and blazes over the bar with the goal at his mercy. Not long after that, Savage passes to Joyce who dodges one way, slips Fay, and scores. His second point from play. A defining moment.
"It was the first time ever in my playing career that someone had scored twice from play off me."
Suddenly, the doubts swirled in Fay's mind. Right in that moment, something snapped in him.
"Talk about panic on a football pitch. I says to Mark O'Reilly, "Look, I'm being roasted here, you may have a go." That's what happened. I made the switch myself onto [Derek] Savage. The high standards I set for myself was my downfall that day."

I've just been reading the same. Good read. Very honest account alright.

[longjohnsilver]

THE ALL-IRELAND semi-final against Kerry stunned the world of football. The scoreline says it all: Meath 2-14 Kerry 0-5.

No Kerry player scored more than a single point

Galway 0-17

Meath 0-08

Galway have won the All-Ireland football final by nine points, thrashing hot favourites Meath 0-17 to 0-08.

The Tribesmen were even able to overcome some shocking shooting in the first half, with Padraig Joyce in particular guilty of some very bad misses.

Meath started the brightest, and took an early 0-2 to 0-0 lead, but Galway came back and after 12 minutes had levelled the scores.

It was level at half time, and the scene was set for a quiet Meath to burst into action.

It never happened however, and with Joyce looking his old deadly self and Ollie Murphy, Graham Geraghty and Trevor Giles all off-colour, Galway began to establish a grip on the game.

Nigel Nestor was sent off in the 56th minute for a second bookable offence, but two minutes later Meath were thrown a lifeline.

With the scores at 0-13 to 0-8, they were awarded a penalty after John McDermott was tripped in the square.

But Trevor Giles' shot went low and wide and with it any chance of a comeback by the Royals.

The win put the disappointment of last year's All Ireland final replay defeat behind Galway, as they collected the Sam Maguire Cup for the ninth time.

In doing so, the Tribesmen gave a ringing endoresement to this year's All Ireland qualifying series, becoming the first team ever to collect the prestigious silverware after being knocked out of their own provincial championships.

Padraig Joyce was in outstanding form for the winners, scoring 10 points with nine of those coming during the second period, when Meath were torn asunder.

Meath's prospects were not helped on the resumption when they lost talismanic forward Ollie Murphy who retired with a hand injury.

The teams were level five times during the opening period but Galway will feel that they should have been ahead at the break coinsidering that they kicked eight wides to their opponents' two.

However, Meath had no answer to a rampant Joyce in the second period as Galway played their way to the Sam Maguire for the second time in four years.


There are not many teams who have scored 0-08 in an All Ireland Final.
The 'World of Football; may have recovered from being 'stunned' in rather a short time that year.

[Jinxy]

Just one of those days when the team was flat.
I think we went in level at half-time but I never thought we were going to win the game.
We just looked like we were stuck to the ground.
A bit like Kerry did against us.

[Canalman]

Was in at the semi final. There was some serious serious oléing done in the 2nd  half of that game and while understandable ( it was Kerry after all ) it didn't do Meath any good heading into the AIF.

[Jinxy]

I often wondered what sort of training they did between the two games.
Maybe Sean felt they needed to be brought back down to earth after the Kerry game so he worked them hard.
I've no basis for that I'm just speculating, but it's hard to explain the lack of energy they seemed to have on the day.

[longjohnsilver]

I often wondered what sort of training they did between the two games.
Maybe Sean felt they needed to be brought back down to earth after the Kerry game so he worked them hard.
I've no basis for that I'm just speculating, but it's hard to explain the lack of energy they seemed to have on the day.

What was the feeling like in the County between the two matches? There may have been an air of expectation amongst the supporters that might have filtered through after such a decisive win against Kerry.

[Jinxy]

The assumption would have been that Kerry were better than Galway, having beaten them in last years final.
We hammered Kerry therefore we should beat Galway handily enough.
Basically it was all Kerrys fault.

[Fuzzman]

I just read a similar article on yahoo.ie called Fay: 'Meath football started showing an arrogance and it's never recovered from it'

I was going to ask the question. Was that Kerry's biggest ever defeat in the AI?