Lee Keegan Couldn't Resist Dig At Kerry Cute Hoor-ism In Meath Praise

Meath have been one of the stories of the championship summer, defeating Dublin, Kerry, and Galway on their way to the All-Ireland semi-finals.

Each of those three victories was historic in its own right. Beating Dublin ended the Dubs' vice-like grip on the Leinster championship. Beating Kerry made them the first team since Tyrone in 2008 to beat both the Kingdom and the Dubs in the same championship season. Knocking Galway out at the quarter-finals secured a first semi-final spot in 16 years.

It has been a remarkable season for fans of Meath, who could not have predicted just how superb their performances would be up to this point.

Even after beating Dublin, pundits doubted the Royals' resolve, especially after they failed to convert it into a Leinster championship victory. Likewise, the win over Kerry was widely hailed as a famous upset, without impacting most punters' predictions of how the quarter-final against favourites Galway would go.

Meath have spent the summer proving people wrong, and it is becoming less of a surprise on every occasion.

In this week hailing the wonderful summer Meath have enjoyed, Mayo legend Lee Keegan threw in a not-so-subtle dig at the old adage about so-called "cute hoor-ism" in Kerry football.

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Writing in his RTÉ column, Lee Keegan said it had been a pleasure to see a stalwart of Gaelic football prove punters wrong time and time again this summer.

He mentioned the reaction to their wins over Dublin and Kerry, and could not resist a dig at how the Kingdom faithful had responded to the All-Ireland round-robin defeat.

It's great to see a traditional football county with their history and fanbase back in the big-time.

They've spent the summer proving people wrong. The Dublin win was historic and widely celebrated but the commentary afterwards was partly driven by how far the Dubs had fallen.

The shock win over Kerry was framed primarily as a 'Kerry in crisis' story in the aftermath with Darragh Ó Sé telling us that the prevailing mood down there was that they were as well off out of the thing. I understand that the pessimists have done a 180 on that since then.

It's a tongue-in-cheek remark, but Keegan is not the first to make such a point.

A highly publicised article by Joe Brolly made a similar point about the complete dejection in Kerry after the end of their round-robin group. Jack O'Connor admitted that Brolly's article had been used as motivation by the Kerry players before the quarter-final.

Even if Brolly's article mightn't have been well received in the county, it is a widely held belief about Kerry football that they may portray themselves as more down-and-out than they may be in reality - it is something the likes of Pat Spillane have even acknowledged in the past.

The demolition of Armagh in the last eight will have removed any doubts about where this Kerry team stands, and they will have a mighty chance to reach the final when they take on Tyrone on Saturday (5pm).

Then, on Sunday, it is the eagerly anticipated clash of Donegal and Meath, with Croke Park looking set to sell out for the first championship meeting of the sides in six years (4pm).

It could be one upset too far for Meath but if they do conquer Donegal, you would be hard pressed to bet against them going all the way to Sam.