SHUT IT! Treble top Catriona Marie does the trick
Meath boss Mcentee blasts back at critics who are only happy when they’re slamming game
MEATH boss Andy Mcentee has slammed the “negativity” surrounding inter-county football, saying “if you don’t want it, you walk away.”
Mcentee also hit out at the perception among pundits that All-ireland champions Dublin are so far ahead that the competition is almost rendered meaningless.
He said: “I think there is huge negativity out there. There is too much talk about it, too much talk in the media and from former players about the demands of modern day inter-county football.
“If you want to play sport, your particular sport, at the highest level you’ve to put in the hours.
“John Coghlan is our physics trainer and he has an athletics background and he’ll tell you a good club athlete trains eight or nine times a week.
“So if you want to get to the highest level of your sport you have to put in the effort and the hours. There is too much negativity out there about what it takes.
“If that’s what you want, that’s what you want and you sign up for it. No one is putting a gun to anyone’s head. And if you don’t want walk away.”
He continued: “I think this negativity has been fostered by too much talk about it. It has always been the same.
“I was just talking to Pete Mcgrath there. It’s 27 years since Down won their All-ireland.
“I was involved with Meath in the late 80s and 90s but there was huge effort being put in back then too.
“That’s the way it was. That is sport. It is every sport, not just GAA. So if you want to be part of it, be part of it.”
It could be interpreted that much of what he says is aimed at his former goalkeeper Paddy O’rourke, who retired last year and has since written a blog outlining how “life is already much better”.
“How can you justify training five or six nights per week for eight or nine months of the year, without a realistic chance of winning anything? I just can’t do it anymore,” said O’rourke.
But Mcentee insisted: “I need to make it clear I wasn’t referring to Paddy there, I was talking about players who played 20 years ago and are in various media positions. I wasn’t referring to Paddy at all there. it, you
“I think everyone was disappointed with what Paddy had to say. It wasn’t just players from Meath, it was players from all around the county and the country that were disappointed with that sort of attitude.
On the fact that many, like O’rourke, can’t see the reward, Mcentee added: “That’s the same in every sport.
“If only the guys who have a chance of winning compete you are limiting yourself to small numbers.
“It’s easy for someone to say,
‘What’s the point in doing all this Dublin are too good’, but where’s the challenge in that?
“I hear former players from numerous counties including our own basically saying it is a waste of time, Dublin are going to win. I find that very disappointing.”
Wexford Meath Ladies NFL Division 3 Final
3-10 HAT-TRICK star Catriona Murray bagged 3-5 as Wexford stormed to Lidl Ladies National Football League Division 3 glory in Birr yesterday.
The Clonee attacker posted an individual tally of 3-5, powering her team to silverware at St Brendan’s Park.
Wexford suffered final heartbreak against Tipperary after a replay last year but Murray’s nose for goal proved the difference between the Slaneysiders and the gallant Royals this time round.
Wicklow Louth Ladies NFL Division 4 Final
4-17 1-12 2-8 A HAT-TRICK of goals from Marie Kealy helped power Wicklow to a comfortable victory in the Lidl Ladies National League Division 4 final at St. Brendan’s Park in Birr yesterday.
A five-point win for Wicklow when the sides met at Stabannon suggested a tight game was in store but Wicklow, beaten finalists last year, produced a devastating display, firing 2-6 without reply at one stage in the third quarter to put the result beyond doubt.