Laois v Meath

[seafoid]

Is Jinxy aware of this match ? 

[thejuice]

Do you mean Hardy?

[agorm]

Laois struggled over a poor Leitrim team (Eamonn O'Hara wasn't being all that unfair when he was calling it their third string team) and Meath were a kick of the ball off the AI champions. Would favour the Trimmers even with a 6-day turnaround - today shouldn't have been mentally destructive for them.

And on the flip side Meath needed a replay to beat Carlow and Laois had a good win over Monaghan.

I wouldn't be shocked by a Laois win, in terms of talent there's not much between them. It just seems like Meath could come in the game running hot after today. It's a great chance for both to make the quarter-finals.

Meath were very poor today I thought plus Kevin Reilly gone for next week's game, reoccurance of Achilles problem.

if Meath were "very poor" then what does that leave Dublin? Meath were poor in certain aspects of the game, i.e. holding onto possession and passing mistakes. However, they showed a lot of very good characteristics in how they took on the Dubs and didnt allow many of the Dubs players to settle. The sequence that resulted in the 2 goals was a direct result from a poor hand pass. However, they showed a lot of character in how they came back into it. Of course the Dubs were not at the level they were last year but I still thought that Meath gave a good account of themselves.
For a division 3 team and where they were att the start of the season, I was not overly disappointed at the performance. Calling them very poor is relative and you are probably comparing to the great meath teams which are not there anymore. If it was kildare playing Dublin I think the Dubs would have still won by a similar margin.

For the Laois game I would like to see Banty freshening it up a bit with possibly the following team (assuming that Reilly is out and Bray in).

Gallagher,

Keoghan,
Menton,
Harrington,

D Tobin
McAnarney,
Burke,

T Walsh/ J. Sheridan,
C Gillespie;

A.Forde
D. Carroll
G Reilly

B. Farrell
J Queeney,
S Bray

The position I am just not sure about is centrefield pairing. Whether to keep Joe up there with Gillespie or to try out Tom Walsh. Either way, Joe has to come out of the square and Queeney given a chance. Joe did ok when he came out but is maybe not the player for the position for the full 70 minutes.

[thejuice]

We need to get Joe an extra pair of legs to stop him falling over. Surely that sort of science exists today.

[agorm]

We might win, we might lose, not a whole lot between these teams I think.

Trevor Giles will be busy this week in the physio room putting some of the lads back together. Anyone know a good welder who can put Kevin Reilly back together properly.

Probably won't have Reilly or Bray.

Team might well be:

Gallagher,

Keoghan,
Menton,
Harrington,

D Tobin
McAnarney,
Burke,

G Reilly,
C Gillespie;

A Forde/D Carroll
J Sheridan,
P Byrne

S Bray/M Collins
C Ward
J Queeney


Hard to analyze Laois. You look at them  on paper and you expect them to be a lot better than they seem to show.

Would you drop Farrell because of yesterdays game? Also take Carroll out of the CHF position and possibly drop him after the progress he has made and put Joe Sheridan in

I dont think Cian Ward did enough yesterday to be brought back in as the focus of the attack and main freetaker ahead of Farrell. I admit that Farrell was poor  yesterday (and was a bit windy at times) but Cian Ward did some pretty stuff but not much else.

In my opinion we have to be careful that we dont throw out some of the good facets to our game in earlier games. We do need to freshen things up but we have to be careful not to throw out some of the parts of our game that has improved this year.

[thejuice]

Perhaps,

Maybe Queeney, Farrell and Bray in the FF line. I think Peadar needs to start too.

[agorm]

I do think that Peader is best as an impact sub as he may not be at the level of fitness as the others but you could be right there, we might need him from the off vs Laois.

[laoislad]

Tullamore 3.30pm Saturday.

[Jinxy]

Glad it's in Tullamore.
Great little stadium.

[Dinny Breen]

Glad it's in Tullamore.
Great little stadium.

Except it's in Offaly <shudder>

[agorm]

Glad it's in Tullamore.
Great little stadium.

Time is $hitty, very early. Afternoon and evening gone and weather is only just getting better regarding getting things done around the place.

I dont agree with the TV dictating the times like this if that is the reason for the early start.

[Jinxy]

Glad it's in Tullamore.
Great little stadium.

Time is $hitty, very early. Afternoon and evening gone and weather is only just getting better regarding getting things done around the place.

I dont agree with the TV dictating the times like this if that is the reason for the early start.

Are you making silage?

[agorm]

Nah, not in that game. Lots of other stuff on though.

i will be there of course, just think that a later slot would be (a lot) better for many people including people working on a Saturday.

[Ard-Rí]

The amount of rubbish analysis in the GAA is ridiculous! If you win, you're a great fella, if you lose, you're shite. It used to be only the odd old man on the sideline who could be ignored, but now the very best GAA fans are falling prey to this nonsense. I was actually, though I seem to be in the minority here, impressed with our team yesterday. We were every bit as good as the Dubs, up to the 37th Minute. After that, we fell flat for a while, being 8 points down, that's understandable. They then showed great heart and determination to come back, and given another 5 mins, could have drawn level or won! If Meath were playing Dublin again next week, I'd be very confident we could beat them. What's more, I take more from the game against Dublin than the game against Kildare. There is a spirit in the team that hasn't been there for years, and I have every confidence that this team is going places.

I don't mean to dismiss Laois at all, (if we play badly we can lose to anyone) but if we are on form we should beat them 10-12 points. And I think we will be on form.

[thejuice]

Eamon Ryan seems to share your more optimistic view.

I felt the Dubs lost their way after their subs came on and eased up a bit.