ANDY MCENTEE ARRIVED into his Leinster semi-final post-game press conference harbouring conflicting emotions.
On one hand, he was immensely proud of his team’s second-half efforts after they cut a 12-point Dublin lead on 31 minutes down to three by the 70th minute.
But there was also a sense of opportunity missed. The came a hell of a lot closer to ending Dublin’s long reign in Leinster than anybody expected, before falling six points short.
“The second half was fantastic and the effort but why give a team like Dublin an 11-point lead?” he asked.
“You’re not giving yourself much of a chance but the commitment was huge, the execution was good and skill level was good. We just left ourselves with a bit much to do.
“It’s a team game but everybody has personal satisfaction in performing. But there has to be frustration as well, on their own behalf, because…why wait until we’re 11 points down before we start having a cut? I’d say it’s a mixture of regret and a little bit of frustration, maybe.
“We always come to win the game. We came to win it not keep the score down. We wanted to be positive and the problems in the first half were that we weren’t positive enough. We didn’t take the chance; we didn’t play from in front. We didn’t make the contacts in the areas we wanted to and I think that was probably the difference.”
The 21-point thumping Meath shipped to the Dubs in last year’s Leinster final followed the 18-point beating in the decider the year before.
The All-Ireland winning club boss saw nothing in Dublin’s performance to suggest they’re on the slide.
“I wouldn’t read too much into that. I wouldn’t be rushing into too many judgements. They probably have players coming back to full fitness, and they’re still going to be a pretty good handful for everybody, I would say.
“And playing in Croke Park is a different game, a different pace of game and different surroundings, so I’m sure that will stand to them and anybody who comes up against them is going to find it tough.”
A Division 2 play-off loss to Kildare last month did little to suggest Meath had it within their capabilities to run the six-in-a-row champion so close.
Meath gathered in a huddle on the pitch after the game, when McEntee rammed home a key message.
“You’d like for the lads to believe that they belong on a stage like this,” he said of his speech to the group. “Playing Dublin in Croke Park is where most Meath people would like to be, so that’s pretty much the message.”
Had Meath been awarded a first-half penalty after Brian Fenton appeared to foul Bryan McMahon from behind inside the area, the opening 35 minutes might have taken on a different complexion.
Conor Lane waved play on and within three minutes Fenton was clipped by Mathew Costello and Dublin were awarded a spot-kick, much to the dismay of the Royals support.
“There were probably a couple of turning points in the match. We had a claim for a penalty one end and they had one at the other.
“That’s a six-point swing,” reasoned McEntee. “I haven’t seen them so I don’t really know but I was informed by an admittedly biased opinion that we could possibly have had a penalty but these things happen. That was a big turning point in the game.”
The absence of a backdoor, and the lack of opportunity for Meath to build on this performance, is a source of great frustration for their manager.
“We just didn’t get enough games this year. It’s about games. That’s the thing with Dublin the past couple of years. They get more games and it’s layer-upon-layer and if you’re not playing as many games as they are, it’s hard to close that gap.
“We’ve only had four games in the league and two in the championship. Lads did a lot of work on their own and collectively, later on. That’s it for this group for the moment and that’s disappointing.”
The42 is on Instagram! Tap the button below on your phone to follow us!
