Stunned Meath made to rue poor display
MEATH boss Ger Robinson was as shell-shocked as anyone following his charges’ dismal showing against Dublin in the Leinster U-20 last-four clash at Parnell Park on Saturday.
Hopes were high going into the game that Meath could replicate their U-17 provincial final win of three years ago over their arch rivals.
However, those hopes had floundered long before referee John Hickey blew his final whistle. Defeat was disappointing, but it was the manner of it and the poor performance that had alarm bells ringing, with 13 points separating the teams at the final whistle.
‘We are all a bit shocked in there to be honest, we are trying to work out what happened,’ Robinson said afterwards.
‘We trained well, we prepared well, the lads were fairly energetic and were really looking forward to this game. We stressed how important it was to get a good start, but for whatever season we couldn’t lay a glove on them, we couldn’t get to the pitch of the game.
‘There is a massively disappointed dressing room in there, not just losing a game but the manner of the defeat.
‘The Dublin manager Tom Gray has just been in the dressing-room there and said he saw us playing five or six times and knows that’s not our performance. It is just so disappointing that it happened today.
‘We put a lot of effort into this, the players especially, and we will all have to reflect on what went wrong over the next week or two.
‘It is a seriously talented group of players. Every team has an off day and unfortunately ours was today.’
Robinson confirmed that Meath had won the toss and decided to play into the strong breeze in the opening half.
‘We opted to play against the wind, the same as last week against Wexford, but I don’t think it was the winning or losing of the game. But to give a goal and a point away in the opening three minutes, you are going to be up against it.
‘We did up the intensity in the second half but struggled to put anything worthwhile together. We created a few half goal chances, but even if we had converted them I don’t think it would have made much of a difference.
‘We are a lot better than that, but we didn’t turn up today and we all have to take responsibility for that.’