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2 NEWS August 3, 2007 | Gaelic Life This Week Kelly’s eye Antrim star Sean Kelly looking for silverware at Croker PAGE 7 Corey can Versatile Vinnie making an impact PAGES 16 + 17 TheRant The team I hate to love Head to Head How Tyrone and - Meath match up Minor mater Tyrone on All-Ireland trail Meath’s single-minded approach means they should be admired PAGES 20-21 No quarter Eight men who can lift their sides PAGES 11 + 12 GaelicLife 14, John Street, Omagh, Co. Tyrone BT78 1DW Telephone: (048) 028 8241 5083 Email: editor@gaeliclife.com; comment@gaeliclife.com; Web: www.gaeliclife.com EDITOR: Maurice Kennedy, T: (048) 028 8241 5083, E: m.kennedy@gaeliclife.com JOURNALISTS: Chris McCann, T: (048) 028 8241 5094, E: c.mccann@gaeliclife.com Alan Rodgers, T: (048) 028 8241 5091, E: a.rodgers@gaeliclife.com Ronan Scott, T: (048) 028 8241 5093, E: r.scott@gaeliclife.com ADVERTISING: Terence Ward, T: +44 (0)7989354530, E: advertising@gaeliclife.com Greg Neville, T: (048) 028 8241 5094, PAGES 27 + 28 Done and dusted The Sledger’s not surprised at Donegal’s demise PAGE 46 E: advertising@gaeliclife.com Angela Rogan, T: (048) 028 8241 5094, E: advertising@gaeliclife.com PRODUCTION: Gerry Morrison, T: (048) 028 8241 5090, E: g.morrison@gaeliclife.com Competitions FIND OUT WHO IS OUR Face in the Crowd COMPETITION WINNER - SEE PAGE 26 FANTASY »LEAGUE Every nation and every sport has teams that you are supposed to hate. I’m not talking about the kind of knee-jerk reaction that over-hyped glamour sides like the Dublin footballers, the New York Yankees or Manchester United inspire in those of us who can see that the emperors clothes are all too often a facade. I’m referring to the sides practised in the dark arts who seem to actively court a reputation as relentless, ruthless performers. Teams who’ll do whatever takes to make sure they’re on the right end of the scoreline come the final whistle. In American football you have the Oakland Raiders, rugby has the Springboks, and soccer Leeds United - the unpopularity of these teams is rooted not in jealousy but, rather, their uncompromising attitude to their chosen sport. In football we have Meath. While the characteristics these teams display alienate much of the sporting public there is a twisted minority, of which I am a member, who admire their singleminded ‘damn the lot of ye’ approach. In the same way that I’ve always preferred Argentina to Brazil, I’ve always preferred Meath to the likes of Kerry or Dublin. To me, the Royal county has always been like the lost tribe of Ulster. While the likes of Laois and Kildare play pretty but ultimately ineffective football Meath have always went for the jugular. Meath in Leinster have been the GAA equivalent of a pre-operative transsexual, a man trapped in a lady’s body. Take a look at their players, beasts of men. Meath footballers don’t go in for bleached highlights and white boots, it’s a short back and sides and the traditional Puma King all round. The closest a Meath player has ever come to a stylistic flourish was when Colm O’Rourke used to sport a support brace on his dodgy left knee. Indeed I think it would suit all hands if we could come to some kind of trade where Ulster absorbs the Royal county, giving Ulster 10 counties and Leinster 11 rather than the current 9/12 split. Perhaps it’s because intercounty football played in the Meath style reminds me so much of the often brutal world of Derry club football where the ability to withstand a belt is almost as important as the ability to thump the ball over the bar but I can’t help admiring them. I know that no right thinking person should really harbour any affection for the Royal county but to reverse the old adage, they’re the team I hate to love. STYLE ICON...Colm O’Rourke’s knee brace is the closest thing to fashion statement in Meath football
Gaelic Life | August 3, 2007 NEW BREED...The current Tyrone side no longer carry the psychological scars sustained in their’s 1996 semi-final defeat by Meath By-gone battles not an issue says ex-boss Ball Infamous semi-final of no relevance to current Tyrone side BY RONAN SCOTT r.scott@gaeliclife.com THOSE Tyrone fans who want to hype tomorrow’s All-Ireland quarter-final against Meath as a chance to exact for revenge for the beating they took in 1996 need to get their facts right. The Red Hands already wasted their opportunity to rectify that result only six months after the infamous ’96 game when Meath came to Clones to play in a National League relegation play off. In a game that lacked the controversy of their previous match, Tyrone managed to keep the All- Ireland champions scoreless for the first 14 minutes but two goals from Stephen Dillon and Evan Kelly were pivotal in the 2-9 to 1- 9 Meath victory. Danny Ball was manager that day, the last man to coach Tyrone against Meath. “At the time the game wasn’t really about the incidents of ‘96. Although there were a lot of people unhappy that Martin O’- Connoll was playing,” he said. Eleven years may not be enough to dull the majority of Tyrone fans’ memories but Ball admitted he can barely remember the team that played that day, never mind the score line. What he does remember is the relationship he had with the then manager of Meath Sean Boylan. “I still regard him as a friend even after the game in 1996 I will always hold him in high esteem. From ’96 people would say that Meath did wrong but to be honest Tyrone had the same opportunities to win and they didn’t take them,” Ball said. “Times have moved on since then. Tyrone are a different team than they were in ’96. I would be very surprised if Tyrone allowed Meath to do what they did in 1996.” One of the reasons why people recall the ’96 game but have allowed the ‘97 defeat to slip their memory is that the League has never DANNY BALL ... Wounds have healed Tyrone are a different team than they were in ’96. I would be very surprised if Tyrone allowed Meath to do what they did in 1996 been held in the same regard as the Championship. “The league was not really that important back them. The only interest in it was in the result afterwards. These days games are on TV more and there is more public interest in the matches. How many live games are on TV this weekend Back then all you got was the headlines,” he said. Ball also explained that memories from either game, ’96 or ’97, will not have any factor on tomorrow’s performance. “It won’t have any special significance. Brian Dooher played an important role back then but I can assure you that he will not be thinking about that game. It will be the furthest thing from his mind. So much has passed since then that it won’t matter,” he said. History aside Tyrone are in the driving seat to reach this year’s final. Currently the bookmakers have priced them at 9/4 to win the title and they are odds on to beat Meath and that is without players like Stephen O’Neill and Dooher. “In my opinion they haven’t really played well up to now. If they play well for 70, even 60, minutes then I have no doubt that they will win. You have to look at how Meath have done so far. They drew with Dublin and then lost the replay. Tyrone have already went down to Dublin and beat them,” he said. However there are a few aspects that worry Ball. He said his main concern was with Meath’s forward line and how Tyrone will mark them. Furthermore the lack of players available could have a negative effect on the Red Hands. “Injuries may take their toll, and that means that the strength and depth of the team will be important. But I’m not that confident about that. However, as long as we have 15 players who want to reach an All-Ireland semi-final then we should be fine,” Ball said. O’Kane Plumbing and Electrics LTD 46 Dunamore Road, Cookstown, BT80 9NT, 028 867 51049 NEWS 3 Aussie exodus can’t be stemmed claims coach BY RONAN SCOTT r.scott@gaeliclife.com STEVEN McVeigh, the coach of the St Louis Kilkeel team that Aussie rules starlet Martin Clarke played on, has revealed that there is nothing the GAA can do to stop an exodus of players down under. In the same week that Nickey Brennan slammed AFL clubs who said they may up their recruitment drive for Irish players, McVeigh admitted he would actively encourage footballers to make the switch. “It would be hard for me, as a teacher, to stop them from taking those opportunities, it’s a chance for young players to see the world. For the better players it would be hard for them to turn down that type of opportunity,” he said. Last year McVeigh watched Australian rules side Collingwood lure Martin Clarke down under. “For Martin, if he had have stayed he would have been in great demand from a lot of teams and if he had have stayed he would be playing a lot of football. I think Martin was ready for a new challenge. But I have to say that this is only going to happen to players who have Martin’s ability,” he said. Clarke is one of five Irish boys plying their trade in Australia, along with Tadgh Fennelly, Colm Begley, Setanta and Aisake O’hAilpin. Some clubs in Australia have intimated that if the International rules series is dissolved then they will recruit even more as it easier to get good players from Ireland than through their own draft system. “I know that two or three years ago there was trials on and the players that went down didn’t go there for fun. It was a serious opportunity. A lot of them are taking a year out to go away travelling before they go to university. If they can see the world then I would be totally for that. If you ask me, the likes of Colm Begley and Martin Clarke are making the right decision by going away.” Yet according to McVeigh it’s a bit early to start locking up our sons. “What I would say is that I have spoken to Gerry Skelly who organises things for the training camps and he would maintain that the amount of players going to Australia is only a trickle. The loss of Gaelic football players to soccer is a lot greater. The similarity would be that young people are enticed by an opportunity to play sport at a higher standard,” he said. SOLAR PANEL INSTALLATION GRANT FUNDING AVAILABLE CONTACT BRIAN: 07825 326672 TOP SUPPLIER OF BATHROOM FURNITURE!!!
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Page 45 and 46: Gaelic Life | August 3, 2007 LADIES
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