‘It tops the lot' – Meath star Eoghan Frayne reveals highlight from All-Ireland fairytale ahead of semi-final vs Donegal
September marks 26 years since the county's last All-Ireland victory as they slipped away from the top table.
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Meath footballer Eoghan Frayne poses for a portrait during a Meath Football media conference at Bective Stud in Balgil, Navan
Credit: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile
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Eoghan Frayne, left, and Jordan Morris of Meath celebrate after the All-Ireland quarter-final against Galway
Credit: Daire Brennan/Sportsfile
A Leinster title came in 2010 but the was followed by 15 seasons of
Dublin
dominance in the province.
But growing up in the
Royal
County powerhouse of Summerhill — home of All-Ireland winners Mark O'Reilly, Mattie Kerrigan, Mick and Pádraig Lyons — Frayne dared to dream.
Winning the Tailteann Cup two years ago brought hope to the beleaguered county but playing for Sam Maguire last
summer
was a major
reality
check.
Legend Colm O'Rourke was
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Louth,
Kerry
and Monaghan swept Meath aside and faith in their credentials dipped again before Robbie Brennan took the reins.
And the Dubliner has masterminded a first run to the All-Ireland semi-finals since 2009 with
But whatever the result at
The 22-year-old said: 'You still dream about that stuff, even if it's not within grabbing distance. You still think you can get there.
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'If you ask any young lad in one of the weaker counties, I think they'd still imagine themselves there. You don't think you can let that stop you.
'You still like to imagine yourself there and we're lucky enough from Summerhill — you have Mark O'Reilly, you've Mattie Kerrigan, Mick and Pádraig Lyons.
Watch RTE pundits' contrasting reaction to full-time whistle of Tipperary's epic win over Kilkenny
'You've lads who have been there. Even Conor Gillespie, who would have played with Meath at the time, like, he would have been a hero of mine growing up.
'I would have seen it when I was younger, clips of the Meath team from the 90s and that gives you motivation to try to get back there.'
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Frayne starred in that triumph in Portlaoise with a 0-11 haul.
Ending a 15-year hoodoo against their old foes was a watershed moment, even if they
The Wee County won their first Delaney Cup in 68 years, but Meath were far from finished.
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They navigated the dreaded group stages undefeated and took another massive scalp by
A fortnight ago, Frayne's fellow forward
Jordan
Morris was the Meath hero as he plundered 1-6 to
And the Royal skipper revealed that trimming of the Tribe has been the highlight so far.
Frayne admitted: 'I suppose Galway was probably the best out of them because considering it was an All-Ireland quarter-final and it's been so long since Meath were in an All-Ireland semi-final, so I'd say it tops the lot of them.
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'It was just great, especially the way the game went and when Galway got the second goal, we were under pressure and had to fight back and then ended up winning by a point. It was definitely a relief to get over the line. It was a crazy feeling and the Meath fans . . . once the final whistle went and the roar out of them was great.
'There were so many Meath fans and that definitely made an impact.
'I remember when Seán Rafferty turned John Maher over on the halfway line, the roar. That makes such a difference during the game.
'That can give you such a boost on the pitch and that can change momentum easily and the amount of Meath fans there, it was class.'
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KEEPING COMPOSURE
And the Royals have used that support to inspire them in some sticky situations too.
Galway turned the game on the hour mark when goals from Maher and Liam Silke put them two ahead.
But man of the match Morris fired a late 1-2 tally to settle it.
Frayne reckons their great escapes are down to cool heads and a never-say-die attitude.
He said: 'I suppose keeping your composure is one part of it.
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'I don't think it's easy enough to . . . when some things aren't going your way, to be just like, 'This game has gone out of our reach' and throw the towel in kind of.
'I think we just don't panic. There's a lot of level-headed lads in the group and they don't get too high or too low.
'That can have a huge impact on the result of the game.
'And then our preparation leading up to games, it's huge as well. The new rules . . . you could easily fall behind or easily gain a lead with the way two-pointers are.
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'So I don't think there's any game that you can give up on until the final whistle has gone, the way the rules are. You can see with two-pointers, a ten-point lead in the new rules isn't that much.
'It's not giving up, going until the end, keeping your composure and trying to get the
next
ball after the next one. We keep going.'
A lot of that belief comes from their boss. Brennan has been there and done it with Kilmacud Crokes.
He led them to club All-Ireland glory in 2023 and his first campaign in the Meath hotseat has been the stuff of dreams.
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Frayne said: 'It's been great. He's definitely brought an
energy
to the group and given us a huge lift.
'Before the Galway game, he filled us with confidence which I think the group needed.
'Confidence makes a big difference. If you put him into any team in the country he'd fill them with confidence.
'There's not that much in the skill set between a lot of teams but once you have a good work-rate and you have a bit of confidence, you can win games and luckily we've won a good few this year so I can't speak highly enough of him.
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'Robbie coming in gave us a huge boost. Yeah, it's going all right so hopefully it keeps going that way.'
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