REILLY HAS NO FEAR OF BLANKET DEFENCE
BEING a Meath footballer has generally been a life less ordinary. Many of them played under the same manager for 23 years. Others, including Kevin Reilly, have witnessed a virtual rotating door. The latest to wear the bib is Mick O’Dowd and, fittingly, he brings in a pretty new-fangled idea. Technically, his core belief is an old one, that skill and talent can trump blanket defending and zonal marking systems, yet in the modern game it has all the hallmarks of revolution. To paint a clear picture of exactly where the modern game is at, consider that Cavan, described by Joe Brolly as the ‘black death’ because of their new defensive style, made light of Armagh’s rich Ulster Championship tradition and crushed the life out of their free-spirited approach. O’Dowd witnessed the fallout from that game yet carried on regardless, setting his team up in orthodox fashion against Dublin in the Leinster final. On the day, it didn’t seem so odd because Dublin played similarly. But this evening, at Croke Park, Meath will find out if their high-paced, attacking, man-on-man game plan truly is the way of the future or total folly. Because what’s certain is that Tyrone will put a battalion of men behind the ball and trust in their defensive formula to secure victory. It remains to be seen how Meath will fare, though defeats to Cavan and Monaghan in the League, teams that play similar styles, doesn’t augur well. ‘They were our first couple of games in the League in fairness,’ said Meath captain Reilly, whose side also lost to Monaghan in the Division 3 final. ‘We were exposed a little bit in those games. But we came up against it again against Fermanagh in the last game and they were probably the most defensive of all of them and we got over that test. ‘So I think we’re coming to grips with it. It’s going to be more difficult for our forwards. ‘I think is very important that we try to break those lines. ‘The alternative is that we take our long-range points as well. We’re capable of doing both. ‘With forwards such as Graham Reilly, Eamonn Wallace and Stephen Bray, of such pace, and lads out around the middle that can kick long-range points, we definitely don’t fear the blanket defence.’