Two-footed forwards, towering midfielders and a thriving coaching culture: The Meath revival
Paul Keane
YOU NEED TO get to Pairc Tailteann at least an hour before throw-in for Meath games these days, to be sure of a space in the large car park.
A couple of the nearby housing estates in Navan have even appointed their own ‘stewards’, to patrol for dump-and-run merchants.
They used to take these giddy days for granted in Meath, back when they were winning League, Leinster and All-Ireland titles, but not any more. Meath beat Roscommon on Sunday and you could make a strong case for it being their most significant win since 2019, when they last escaped Division 2.
They’ve beaten Down a couple of times since, including in the 2023 Tailteann Cup final, as well as Cork, Kildare and Clare yet it’s only a few weeks ago that Roscommon’s Daire Cregg was talking up his team’s All-Ireland credentials. And Meath haven’t doled out a reddening like Sunday’s to an All-Ireland contender in a long time.
Sean Boylan was in the reserved section of the main stand looking on, next to Graham Geraghty, as Robbie Brennan’s crew outscored the Rossies by 2-10 to 0-5 in the second-half to move joint top of Division 2 with only three games to go.
Jim Gavin was there too, probably remembering when Boylan, on the sideline, and Geraghty, in attack, orchestrated similar beatings, sometimes at Dublin’s expense.
So is this the crest of a wave that will inevitably break and turn to foam or something more tangible and, crucially, sustainable for a county desperate for success again?
There is enough to suggest that a county which took its eye off the ball during Boylan’s glory era of four All-Ireland wins between 1987 and 1999 is investing heavily in sustainability.
Last Wednesday week, Meath GAA academy head Paul Garrigan convened the first meeting of 2025 of club pathway managers at the county’s training centre in Dunganny. Each pathway manager is responsible for ensuring that the Meath football coaching curriculum is delivered in the underage sections of their clubs.
Regular coaching workshops throughout the year, both within clubs and on a regional basis, ensure that nobody is in any doubt what way the county wants its football to be played.
At one regional workshop last year, for example, Garrigan spoke passionately about the importance of bringing through more two-footed players, particularly in attack. Bilateral training activities like the two-ball work, which Mick Bohan used so successfully with various Dublin teams, were recommended to bring about these improvements. Club coaches from the U13 to U19 grades have access to an app which contains recommended sessions for all areas of development.
The club football pathway programme was only launched two years ago but the early signs are positive and there is a strong sense of a county moving forward in an organised and structured manner.
Eamonn Armstrong’s loss to the AFL is a blow. He was still a Leaving Cert student when he tore Louth asunder in last season’s Leinster U20 final. The Duleek Bellewstown clubman is perhaps the brightest talent to come out of Meath since Conor Nash, who also left for the AFL.
But Armstrong wasn’t the only U20 star on that 2024 team which eventually lost an All-Ireland semi-final by a point to Kerry. Jamie Murphy impressed too and is one of the two-footed forwards that Meath are keen to foster. He was on the DKIT team that won the Trench Cup this month. So were Hughie Corcoran and Liam Stafford, two more talents.
Ciaran Caulfield, already established with the Meath seniors, captained DCU to the Sigerson Cup title. There were seven Meath players on the DCU and UCD panels that contested the final. For a long time, Meath players were a rarity in the Sigerson Cup.
Colm O’Rourke, in charge of Meath last year before controversially departing, was adamant that turning all of the county’s potential into prizes was a long-term project, maybe a five-year job.
He left under a cloud last August, complaining that the county board had made his position untenable. In a potshot at officialdom, he said he was “very positive about the future if things are done right but I wouldn’t have much faith that that will happen”.
Brennan has managed to pull things together quicker than expected.
He praised the academy structure after Sunday’s dismissal of Roscommon.
“You can see from Sean Rafferty and Dukie (Conor Duke) in our team now that these fellas are ready if they get their chance and there’s plenty of others ready to go as well,” said Brennan.
His greatest success to date has been convincing the county’s best players to play. Mindful of the increased responsibility on midfielders under the new rules, Brennan has brought back towering duo Jack Flynn, the 2023 Tailteann Cup final Man of the Match, and former captain Bryan Menton. They’ve started all four games this term and lorded it, ruling the skies. Dunsany’s Leinster club JFC finalist Eoin Harkin is back too, as is Seamus Lavin. It’s hard to know why O’Rourke didn’t move heaven and earth to get all four involved last summer.
Meath have huge power now in that crucial middle third, including sky-scraping midfielder Conor Gray and former AFL player Cian McBride. Dunshaughlin man Duke, another U20 from 2024, has been a great addition on the breaking ball. He clipped over two two-pointers against Roscommon too.
“It’s basically like having a three or a four-man midfield at the minute,” said Flynn. “The long kick-outs are really suiting us having the three or four big men in there. Then we have more on the bench to come in, the likes of Daithi McGowan and Conor Gray, it’s really helping us.”
Meath’s best forwards are finally all fit too: Eoghan Frayne, Shane Walsh and Jordan Morris, with Mathew Costello set to return against Westmeath on Sunday after a niggle.
All-Ireland minor winners in 2021, and current Leinster U20 title holders, Meath would appear to have the players, the potential and, crucially, the plan in place to get back to the top level – and to stay there.
Truthfully, anything less would be a failure for a county of 220,000, with 60 clubs, which isn’t overly burdened by the pull of hurling, soccer or rugby. As O’Rourke said before he took over, there is no reason why Meath can’t be the Kerry of the east.
The 42
