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RTÉ News
01-05-2025
- Sport
- RTÉ News
Connacht title still its own reward despite shocking draw
This column was supposed to be solely concerned with the build-up to the Connacht final. Mayo v Galway in Castlebar in a fixture as old as time, one to warm the hearts of the traditionalists. Said traditionalists will presumably be aghast to learn that there's talk of whether the teams will even be bothered winning it, given what awaits them in the group stage. The whole shape of the group phase has been upended by the seismic events in Portlaoise last weekend. First off, you'd have to pay tribute to the Meath team, for finally sticking it to the evil empire. In particular, the likes of Donal Keogan and Bryan Menton, lads who'd I have played against plenty over the course of their career, and spent their whole time in an inter-county jersey living in the shadow of Dublin. They shipped some horrible beatings over the course of those 14 long years. For them, last weekend must have been especially sweet. It's even more impressive given how their league finished, with the upheaval in the coaching team and the loss of Jordan Morris to injury. For the rest of Leinster, it can only offer some hope. I know it was bittersweet for John Heslin, who jokingly pointed out that he made his inter-county debut for Westmeath in 2011 and then retired the year before the Dubs were finally beaten. As for Dublin, it underlines again that their era of dominance in the 2010s has now passed into history. For passages in the second half, you half-assumed that they were going to press down on the accelator and overhaul the deficit sooner or later. But maybe that old assurance and efficiency is no longer in their make-up. Down the stretch, we saw mistakes of the kind you just didn't see in the 2010s - God, if only we had - loose passes, ill-advised pot-shots, forwards getting turned over in promising situations. Back in Jim Gavin's day, they were able to exert such control in games and manage their way through them. Now, they're playing a game where order and control is harder to impose. Have they adapted? Obviously, the personnel has changed substantially, even since last year. But there's still a healthy dose of experience there and multiple All-Ireland winners dotted around the field - Ciarán Kilkenny, Con O'Callaghan, Davy Byrne, Niall Scully, Cormac Costello, Paddy Small. The quality should still be there to dispatch Meath but their decision-making was off-key at the pivotal moments and there was an air of panic in the closing stages. And look, we saw the warning signs in the league. They took sizable beatings away from home against Armagh and Tyrone and were fairly well beaten by Donegal. Even against Kerry, they gave away a massive lead against the wind and it took a huge effort to reel it in. O'Moore Park didn't witness the only humdinger of the weekend, with Armagh seeing off Tyrone in Clones, another prediction I got wrong last week (you'll give me Louth, at least). McGeeney's team are wearing the mantle of champions well. Rather than rob them of hunger, it seems to have just given them a sense of composure and assurance, which they were accused of lacking for so long. When you consider the Dubs lost 16 of their 28 kickouts in Portlaoise, the Armagh stats in this area are sensational. 96% success rate!! Tyrone did, partly, facilitate this by being too passive, failing to press high enough and offering them too many short ones. Another missed opportunity for them in Ulster but they showed enough that they'll be dangerous in the All-Ireland series. Mayo seek to halt four in a row With all that acknowledged, maybe the Dubs are not such a horrible third seed to draw for this week's winner in MacHale Park? Whatsapp exploded yesterday with lads wondering aloud whether you'd be better off losing the Connacht final. Will Mayo and Galway throw out the Masters team? Could I be sent for? We had a similar scenario last year - albeit the draw wasn't as outrageously bad - with people wondering whether it'd be better to lose the Connacht final. Kevin McStay rubbished it in the aftermath. I still think the whole narrative is nonsense. The draw is the draw - and it's pretty hellish. (The Connacht champions managed to get the worst possible team in every pot! What are the actual odds of that happening?) The counter-point is that the loser doesn't get it much easier. The Ulster champions and then Tyrone as a third seed. And then there's the simple reality that if you want to win the thing out, you're going to have beat the big teams at some stage. I think maintaining the winning habit and the confidence and momentum that flows from that is better than approaching a game half-heartedly - regardless of what's coming down the track. That's even leaving aside the carrot of a Connacht medal itself, which is always of huge value out west. For Mayo, there's a particular imperative to stop Galway winning a first four-in-a-row since the 1960s. Our own five-in-a-row from 2011 to 2015 suddenly feels a long time ago. My only Connacht final against Galway in Castlebar was back in 2014, at a time when we felt we could bully them. We won handily that day but within a couple of years, Galway had their act together and turned us over in Connacht three years running. My favourite Connacht final was the 2021 game in Croker, when we came from five down to win by six in the second half. At the time, we thought we had re-established supremacy in the province but it's turned out to be a false dawn. Four years on, there's a definite anxiety in Mayo that Galway are in danger of stretching away in the province. Their dismissal of Roscommon - as we know, always a dangerous game in the province - was impressive, all the more so in the absence of Shane Walsh and with Damien Comer just making a cameo appearance. With the squad they've assembled and their recent experience in finals, Galway are definitely in Sam-or-Bust territory. For Mayo and Kevin McStay, a Connacht title may carry more weight at present. A lot will hinge on Ryan O'Donoghue, who's been well shackled by Johnny McGrath in recent games. Ben O'Carroll, a rare bright spark for the Rossies the last day, showed that the best way forward is to drive and run at McGrath as often as possible. The supporting cast on the forward line will need to step up, the likes of Darren McHale and Fergal Boland are well able to slot over points, as are Jordan Flynn and Mattie Ruane from out the field. However, the dearth of two-pointers so far is an issue. Mayo didn't manage a single two-pointer in their two Connacht games so far and they weren't exactly sailing over during the league either. In the Leitrim game, the maligned Steven Poacher simply sat his defence inside the arc and offered Mayo the two-point opportunities, believing - correctly - that they wouldn't take them. The contrast with Galway is jarring, given their wealth of shooting options from two-point range, even if Walsh is likely to be missing again. The midfield area was a bloodbath for Roscommon in Salthill. Here, I'd expect Mayo to be more competitive - and considerably less naive. I can't imagine Céin D'arcy will be allowed rule the skies again. Aidan O'Shea will surely have licence to drift out to middle and contest the kickouts, where he'll be a wrecking ball to match the Galway fetchers. Mayo need to show real tenacity and aggression in the contact area in the middle third and they need to be ravenous on breaking ball, which is a huge facet of the game, as Meath demonstrated last Sunday. When they get it, boom it on quickly and create some chaos up top. With all that's on the line, I'd be backing Mayo to bring the requisite energy and aggression, though on form, the head says that Galway will get over the line by two to three points. And onward to the Group of Death.
Irish Examiner
29-04-2025
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
When Meath call came, Bryan Menton could not resist retirement U-turn
When Bryan Menton got a call from Meath coach Conor Gillespie last autumn, he presumed it was a fact-finding mission. "I genuinely thought he was ringing me to ask about young players in Ashbourne, about who were the up and coming lads on the scene," recalled Menton. "I thought they were happy for me to be retired on my armchair." Menton hadn't played for Meath since the Andy McEntee era ended in 2022, missing Colm O'Rourke's two seasons as manager, but new boss Robbie Brennan figured he was still the best midfielder in Meath. Menton, for his part, didn't take much convincing, reasoning that it was probably the last time he'd get such a call. He has been a key figure throughout Brennan's reign so far, starting all nine of their league and Championship games and, crucially, helping them to claim a landmark win over Dublin last weekend. Menton was part of the panel in 2010, when Meath previously beat Dublin, but didn't play so this was his first experience of actually defeating the auld enemy. "It was definitely burnout," said Menton, explaining why he retired in the first place. "It was an intense kind of six years with Andy there and I kind of saw a clean break opportunity. "I was genuinely retired until I got the call back and at 33, turning 34, that call isn't going to come again. It was very tempting because I liked the setup, I liked the youth that was coming through, so I was absolutely willing to give what I had." Menton recalled that call from Gillespie, a former Meath colleague. "He said he was interested in me coming back and deep down I was really happy with the set up for Meath so it didn't take too much convincing," said Menton. "In fairness to Laoise, the other half at home, she said, 'You're going back, this is the last time you'll be asked'. She could tell by me that I was itching to go back and to give it another go." Asked if it was a regret that he'd never beaten Dublin when he initially 'retired', Menton shook his head. "It wasn't a regret when Dublin were that strong," he reasoned. "I wouldn't say it was a regret, it was more disappointing at the time that we weren't able to beat them. "But Dublin were not only very strong in Leinster - they were maybe the best team in the history of the GAA. It was an unfortunate era to be playing them." Menton said he was confident when he looked around the dressing-room ahead of last weekend's provincial semi-final. "There is a lot of talent in Meath, an awful lot, and you can see it in the young lads coming through," said Menton. "They have really good attitudes too. "They are willing and able to step up straight away, the likes of Eoghan Frayne being captain so young. Himself and Ciaran Caulfield, they were 21, 22 years of age and they are in the captaincy, vice-captaincy roles. "So there is massive talent coming through. I won't be able to play with a lot of them probably but I'll take it one game at a time."
Irish Times
23-04-2025
- Sport
- Irish Times
Meath increasingly desperate to shake off the yoke of Dublin dominance
In his first interview as Meath manager in the summer of 2022, Colm O'Rourke plainly set out some bold terms of reference. 'Ultimately, we have to beat Dublin. That was the measurement of Meath when I was playing and that hasn't changed,' O'Rourke told The Meath Chronicle. He stepped down two years later – walking away as the fourth successive Meath manager who had failed to register a victory, moral or otherwise, over Dublin. One of the direct casualties arising from Dublin's ownership of Leinster football has been a thorough deconstruction of the Dublin-Meath rivalry. It is now 15 years since Meath last defeated Dublin. The rivalry has become a relic of the past, a story kids in Meath have heard but never seen. READ MORE If it's not yet a dead rivalry, then it's certainly a dormant one. The Royals have not beaten Dublin in a competitive game of senior football since June 2010. There have been longer periods of hegemony in the rivalry but never has one side suffered as many successive defeats. Meath are on a nine-game championship losing run to their neighbours – the sorriest streak in the history of the derby. During that time there have been six double-digit defeats, including a record 21-point victory for Dublin. The Dubs have won those nine games by an accumulative total of 108 points, an average of 12 points per game. As one county enhanced its identity, another lost theirs. Dublin have also defeated Meath in two league games and two O'Byrne Cup matches (one after a penalty shoot-out) during that period, so in total they have won the last 13 senior intercounty fixtures between the counties. Since 2002, Meath's only championship win over the Dubs remains 2010. Stephen Cluxton is the sole playing link from that day 15 years ago. Bryan Menton was an unused sub. Dublin's Michael Darragh MaCauley and Bryan Menton of Meath in action in 2012. Photograph: James Crombie/Inpho In his programme notes for the league match between the sides in 2023, O'Rourke lamented the fading rivalry. 'If Dublin are trying to rediscover past glories we in Meath have disappeared in the rear-view mirror and recent clashes with Dublin has meant an endless series of humiliations,' he wrote. 'Yet the greatest empires eventually fall and nothing lasts forever. To compete against Dublin, without even thinking of beating them, requires a sea change in our competitive instinct, a return to old values of heart, courage and honesty.' Sentiments many in the county might share, but nostalgia and reality haven't proved compatible bedfellows for Meath football in recent years. The counties meet in a Leinster semi-final at O'Moore Park, Portlaoise on Sunday in what will be the first Dublin-Meath championship fixture outside of Croke Park since 1980. Stand tickets are already sold out. Dublin are 1-10 favourites to make it 10 championship wins on the bounce over the Royals and add Robbie Brennan to their list of vanquished Meath managers. Across the border, their neighbours continue to wonder when it will ever end. A DORMANT RIVALRY – DUBLIN'S NINE-GAME CHAMPIONSHIP DOMINANCE 2012: Dublin 2-13 Meath 1-13 (Leinster final) Two goals in the closing stages of the first half – by Bernard Brogan and Denis Bastick – swung the momentum firmly in Dublin's favour. Pat Gilroy's side led 2-7 to 0-5 at the interval. Jamie Queeney netted a goal late in the second half for Seamus McEnaney's Meath but the Dubs held on for victory. 2013: Dublin 2-15 Meath 0-14 (Leinster final) Meath led 0-9 to 1-4 at half-time but Dublin turned the screw after the break with Paul Mannion's goal proving to be a decisive score in the contest. The Royals managed only five points throughout the second half while the Dubs amassed 1-11. 2014: Dublin 3-20 Meath 1-10 (Leinster final) Bernard Brogan's first-half goal helped the Dubs to a nine-point interval advantage. Kevin McManamon added a second Dublin goal shortly after the restart and Eoghan O'Gara added a third late on. Mickey Newman netted for Meath. The game ended in controversy after Meath manager Mick O'Dowd claimed Mickey Burke had been the victim of a biting incident but following a subsequent investigation no disciplinary action was taken. Dublin's Bernard Brogan scores the opening goal against Meath in the 2014 Leinster final at Croke Park. Photograph: Cathal Noonan/Inpho 2016: Dublin 0-21 Meath 0-11 (Leinster semi-final) Dean Rock scored 0-10 for Dublin as they marched towards the provincial decider. It had been competitive up to half-time when the Dubs led 0-11 to 0-8 but Jim Gavin's men ramped up through the gears after the resumption of play and eased to another victory over their neighbours. 2019: Dublin 1-17 Meath 0-4 (Leinster final) The opening salvo in the match report by Gavin Cummiskey in The Irish Times summed it up: 'Here lies a Leinster final and provincial football championship in all but name.' It was a grim day at Croke Park for Meath. Dublin led 0-5 to 0-1 at half-time. Con O'Callaghan bagged a second-half goal and Meath finished the game with just four points and two scorers, Mickey Newman and Bryan Menton. 2020: Dublin 3-21 Meath 0-9 (Leinster final) A record 21-point victory for Dublin over Meath on a night when the 100th anniversary of Bloody Sunday was marked at Croke Park. The Dublin goals were scored by Dean Rock, Seán Bugler and Niall Scully. The Dubs led 2-13 to 0-2 at the break. On what was a poignant night for the GAA, it also proved to be a sobering one for Meath football. Dublin's Dean Rock scores a goal against Meath in the 2020 Leinster final. It proved a dark night for Meath football as the Dubs registered a record 21-pt win over their proud rivals. Photograph: Bryan Keane/Inpho 2021: Dublin 2-16 Meath 1-13 (Leinster semi-final) Meath staged a late rally to unsettle the defending champions. Dublin led 2-11 to 0-6 at half-time with the goals coming from Cormac Costello and Con O'Callaghan but a green-flag score by Mathew Costello shortly after the restart sparked a Royal revival and coming down the straight the gap had been reduced to just three. However, late points by Costello, Brian Fenton and Ciarán Kilkenny halted Meath's comeback. 2022: Dublin 1-27 Meath 1-14 (Leinster semi-final) Dean Rock tucked away a first-half penalty to help Dublin lead 1-17 to 0-5 at the interval. Game over. Meath had two players red-carded late on with Jack Flynn and Jordan Morris both sent off. It was another routine win for the Dubs. 2024: Dublin 3-19 Meath 0-12 (Leinster quarter-final) Seán Bugler's first-half goal set the Dubs on their way to a 1-8 to 0-6 lead at the turnaround. Con O'Callaghan and Paul Mannion added goals in the second half as Dublin breezed to a ninth consecutive championship win over Meath.
