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48
COLUMNIST
August 3, 2007 | Gaelic Life
JOE BROLLY
Injuries may hamper Tyrone but Meath are
not as good as they’d have us believe
The man with
an opinion on
everything…
Are the current Meath crop
the real deal
comment@gaeliclife.com
Waning of invincible legacy
COLM O’Rourke told me during
the week the Meath
squad are utterly convinced
they will beat Tyrone. Commenting
on the draw for RTE, Anthony
Tohill said they were the
team everyone wanted to avoid.
This mystique of invincibility
that surrounds Meath teams is
very helpful psychologically.
Meath players believe it, and other
teams fear it. But are the current
team wearing the emperor’s
new clothes Put another way, do
they have an arse in their
trousers The never say die aura
is the inheritance of big Colm’s
team. But they were a great side,
with great forwards, a mean defence-minded
back six, and a midfield
pairing that combined no little
skill with commendable ignorance.
Their legacy lingered
through the nineties, when two
Meath teams of significantly lesser
quality won All-Irelands. The
1996 success in particular was
down to their refusal to accept defeat,
when Mayo ( in performances
that have created an exactly opposite
legacy for Mayo teams)
outplayed them in both games
and in both contrived to blow winning
leads.
Where does this Meath team
stand Well, I think they are not
as good as they want us to believe.
The right side of their defence is
extremely vulnerable, having lost
their first choice corner and wing
backs to injury. Their midfielders
are very large but not particularly
mobile. Crawford is an eternal
disappointment, but Ward
showed against Galway he has real
potential. Neither are particularly
good on the breaking ball,
preferring to catch cleanly. Up
front, Shane O’Rourke has the potential
to be a very fine, perhaps
even great county footballer, but
it must be remembered he is only
nineteen and this match will be
his fourth game for the seniors.
Brian Farrell has a big reputation
but lacks pace and tends to be
selfish. He was more or less
anonymous against Galway and
won’t worry Tyrone.
Darren Fay remains the best
full back in the land, and can play
it any which you choose. An aerial
bombardment will be meat and
drink for him, and his pace and
LEGACY OF
INVINCIBILITY...
The exploits of
Colm O’Rourke
and his
team-mates
nearly two
decades ago
mean that
Meath possess
an aura of
invulnerability
that lingers to
this day
footballing ability means that he
can man mark the quickest forward.
In his last outing he held
Michael Meehan to one point. It is
vital that he be moved off the
square, and this is one of Tyrone’s
specialities. Man for man, the defenders
aren’t great, but Colm
Coyle has dealt effectively with
this problem by picking the outstanding
Anthony Moyles at centre
half forward, but instructing
him to drop back and sweep along
the half-back line.
This is a tactic that proved remarkably
successful for Armagh,
with John McEntee adopting the
role to great effect. Moyles’ presence
has helped to close down the
centre of the defence, so drastically
cutting down on goal opportunities.
Dublin are the goal kings,
and in the course of 140 minutes
were able to manufacture a single
goal against them. In their six
games to date, they have conceded
only two goals, and one of
these came from a Galway penalty
that should never have been
awarded. Thirdly, their midfielders
are giants, both 6’5’’, so Tyrone
will have to work extra hard
to disrupt them and get the ball
on the deck for their ruck rovers
to pounce.
If I were in charge of Meath, I
would station Geraghty and the
6’5’’ Shane O’Rourke on the fourteen,
with Bray and Farrell playing
off them in a square formation.
Meath’s natural game is the
long ball, but in the championship
to date they have not pumped
long ball to the danger zone. Instead
Shane O’Rourke has been
roving out around the forty, Geraghty
has been doing the same,
and although long ball is being
kicked in it is not going up the
middle, being directed instead towards
Bray and Farrell as they
break out. The two goals against
Galway came from a miskicked
pass by Shane O’Rourke deflected
by a Galway man into the path of
Bray, and a quick free to Bray
when the Galway defence was
asleep.
The Achilles heel of this Tyrone
team has always been the early
high ball to the square. Just ask
Stephen McDonnell, Ronan
Clarke, Colm McFadden, Vincent
Corey etc. In the space of ten minutes
in the Ulster final, Vinnie almost
turned the game on its head,
scoring a point, setting up a goal
and point, and narrowly missing
the goal that would have drawn
the game. Tyrone might think
about playing a sweeper along the
21-yard line in front of the full-forward.
I would be inclined to play
Joe McMahon at full back if Geraghty
moves in, and keep Conor
Gormley at centre half. A sweeper
in front of the full-forward, coupled
with Tyrone’s terrific defensive
screen will make life very difficult
for Meath.
It is a great pity that
Stephen O’Neill has
struggled so badly with
injury. He is one of the
great jewels in the
GAA’s crown.
Tyrone have always been about
the sum of the parts rather than
the parts themselves and are constantly
striving to perfect total
football. However, they have have
been shorn of their two superstar
forwards Brian McGuigan and
Stephen O’Neill. It hasn’t affected
them to date but it is fast approaching
the time when you
would expect this to begin to bite
since even Mickey Harte’s genius
must have some boundaries. It
was hoped that Owen Mulligan
might take up the slack, but he
has not been able to make the
transition from star forward to to
superstar forward.
It is a great pity that O’Neill has
struggled so badly with injury. He
is one of the great jewels in the
GAA’s crown, and we have been
deprived of seeing him in his
prime. Fergal Logan told me recently
that in a club game against
Stewartstown the Clan Na Gael
man gave a “sublime” performance,
kicking points at his ease
from all over the field.
Hopefully, he can feature at
some stage. At least Stephen’s absence
has been anticipated and
the team has learned to cope
without him. However, if Brian
Dooher doesn’t play this will be a
huge blow. Hopefully, he will surprise
us all and come out fighting
fit from the start. If he does, Colm
O’Rourke might be eating another
hat come Saturday evening . . .
● Joe Brolly also writes for the
Ireland Mail on Sunday
Ireland’s Best Bread
Eight times All-Ireland Winners
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