Definitely win
SIMILAR to fifteen years ago our senior footballers year has ended in Navan, where we put up a brave battle but failed to ultimately get the job done.
It was always going to be a tough proposition away from home, however there will be regrets as it was a game we could have won.
Meath certainly aren’t the super power they once were but are still a decent side, albeit suffering in the confidence department after their defeat to Kildare, and will be happy that they limped over the line after David Kelly had a chance to bring it to extra time when his goal-bound shot was deflected off the line and his follow up blasted over for a consolation point. If that goal chance went in, it was no less than Sligo would have deserved as they went toe to toe with Meath in what was a very negative game of football. For any neutral at the game it will not live long in their memory as both sides set out to eliminate the scoring threat of the opposition. As mentioned last week Meath has averaged 20 points per game in all competitive outings up to last Saturday where Sligo limited them to 14 points in this game.
Even before the ball was thrown in Meath tried to take the physical approach with Brian Power picking up a yellow with an altercation with my brother Mark before the game started. A potential turning point in the game came about ten minutes from half time when the same player just after being warned for the second time by the referee took Mark clean out of it again in open play after Mark had gathered the ball which at the least should have been yellow but the referee decided to just point the finger again at him as opposed to sending him off. Meath took that player off at half time as a precautionary after realising they got off the hook.
Sligo had the benefit of a very strong wind in the first half but Meath settled a little better going three to one up before Sligo settled and started to play much better with Gerard O’Kelly Lynch very prominent with surging supporting runs deep into the opposition half, one of which returned a goal, after good work by Paddy O’Connor, that gave Sligo a three point lead turning at the break.
Some will criticise that even with the wind we played defensively with no focal point in attack, with Stephen Coen well isolated by the sitting four Meath defenders most of the time with Pat Hughes dropping too deep when needing him inside.
Personally I feel that it is too easy to state the obvious, as Meath had everyone behind the ball which made it difficult for us to either break the line or get quality ball into one of our players.
Niall Murphy did however score one excellent long range point with the wind which bypassed the whole Meath team and I felt that we should have tried to get Murphy into similar positions to try and repeat this tactic in the first half with the elements. In front of a huge crowd in Navan Sligo did battle manfully but I always feel that the team that scores more against ‘a strong hard to play into wind’ usually wins the game, and that is how it turned out as Meath scored six points against our three points when playing into the elements. We struggled to penetrate in the second half and rarely broke the gain line where Meath had at times every one of their players behind the ball even when we were leading in the second half such was their set up.
The game cried out for a line breaker and Niall Carew did introduce Kyle Cawley and Kevin McDonnell for this job but they found it difficult in a packed area that at times had 29 players in the Meath half.
When asked after the game to analyse the year from a Sligo point of view, I feel 2017 will be a year of some regrets, as we had an opportunity of promotion after securing three points from Armagh and Tipperary in the first two league games but dropped points that we expected to win. We did go to New York and secure a win in a game that many expected us to lose such was the talking up of the home side. But the word ‘regret’ is again used after a solid game against Mayo and again last Saturday in Navan as both games could have been won.
It was also a disruptive year for Niall Carew as he had to contend with a number of injuries and never had a full panel of players to choose from.
With the seniors not in action for the next 6 months the players’ focus will revert to club action, however the supporters can get behind the minors who contest the Connacht Final in Salthill this Sunday against a fancied Galway side.
The Minors qualified after winning a thrilling game for the neutral against Leitrim last Wednesday night.
This was an end to end game where when it looked like one side was about to take control the other would bag a goal to turn the tide again. However, when it mattered it was Sligo that had the desire and resilience to both qualify for the Connacht Final and All-Ireland quarter-final.
REGRET IS AGAIN USED AFTER A SOLID GAME AGAINST MAYO AND AGAIN LAST SATURDAY IN NAVAN AS BOTH GAMES COULD HAVE BEEN WON