Competition offers chance to bring new talent into fold
O’BYRNE CUP ties drift from the memory pretty fast and as Meath boss Andy McEntee pointed out afterwards they are an opportunity to give newcomers game time at this level as well as sharpening some of the more established players for the forthcoming NFL campaign.
‘It wasn’t an easy day to play, so we are just looking to see if there is anybody there that can add something and I think we got glimpses of what some of the lads can do, it wasn’t classic by any means,’ McEntee said.
‘We have 40-odd in training at the moment. There were 13 new faces there today, so apart from Bryan Menton, Donal Keogan, Gavin McCoy and Eoin Lynch I don’t think any of the others were there last year.
‘I though the two corner-backs in particular, David Toner and Robin Clarke, acquitted themselves very well. (Jason) Scully and Jack O’Connor showed glimpses of what they can do, they just need to finish it off a little bit better.’
The Royals next outing is this Saturday away to Westmeath and the make up of that team will likely be along similar lines.
‘There is a good few fellas who have come back from niggling injuries and there are quite a few guys who are not available, so you are going to see more of the same for the remainder of the O’Byrne Cup. Training is pretty intense now. There is a lot going on between gym work and pitch work, it is heavy going for them.
‘A lot of those lads are new to this, so this is their first real experience of a workload like that, that should be taken into account as well.
‘Guys have come back in reasonable shape, so in that regard it has been a bit of a help, but on the overall performance today it mightn’t look that way.’
Meath’s goalkeeping problems were well documented throughout the 2019 championship campaign and as a result two newcomers have been unearthed, Dominic Yorke (Meath Hill) and Harry Hogan (Longwood).
Both got game time with Yorke in particular catching the eye as he produced a couple of fine saves.
‘It was very difficult out there,’ McEntee continued. ‘It wasn’t just that the ball was carrying further, it was coming at him faster too, so his hands needed to be fairly safe. He is a good shot stopper too and he made two good saves after the break, so he acquitted himself fairly well.
‘Harry is a young Longwood man who has been playing soccer with Dundalk under-19s. Gary Rogers would be aware of him and he has played under-21 championship with Longwood too, he is actually a pretty decent outfield player too, skillful.’
Players also had to cope with the new rules, including the kickout and the advanced mark and it is something every team will have to introduce into their training regime.
‘We have done a little bit and we had three good marks today, McEntee said.
‘I’m not sure what happened when Shane Walsh won a mark, the ref blew his whistle and then told him to play on, so I’m not sure what happened there.
‘It doesn’t change training much, but we have to try to work on it. I’m not a fan of the mark. It is making it more and more like Australian Rules and you are inviting more and more clubs to come over here and pilfer our talented guys.’