Boylan puts Meath display down to ‘just one of those days’

IT seems a lifetime ago since Meath were the side renowned for their never-say-die quality.

A few more performances like yesterday’s and that well-earned reputation will be in danger of becoming a myth.

The stats will make uncomfortable reading for Sean Boylan this morning.

After a dogged first-half display they vanished from the game alarmingly. . Not a single score in the final 25 minutes, none whatsoever from play in the entire second-half.

It won’t take Boylan long to read the signs in the cold light of day, but he seemed determined not to be sucked into any searching examination of his team’s demise after the final whistle.

“It was just one of those days,” the Meath manager replied when quizzed on his side’s slow death in the second period. “You can put it down to defending, you can put it down to missed chances on our part, or whatever. We could have had a couple of goals but we didn’t get them.”

In fact, were the words coming from the mouth of someone other than Sean Boylan, you could be forgiven for detecting a tone of acceptance at their lot, a certain air of resignation.

“We missed six or seven in the first half but that’s the way football goes and the wind was a factor in the first half,” he said. “We had our go and it didn’t work out and in two weeks’ time, 13 days or whatever it is, we’ll have a go again.

“We worked incredibly hard in the first half and we had chances and they didn’t work out for us.

“For a long time we had the edge in midfield but we didn’t seem to capitalise on that. That’s the thing. It’s how you use your chances. Some of our lads have had a fair bit of success, but when you’re fighting that uphill battle you need all the breaks you can get.”

The biggest cheers they got yesterday were for the introductions of old hands Ollie Murphy and Graham Geraghty, heroes from years past but still expected to lift their team from the abyss.

Given the nature of last year’s similarly limp exit from the qualifiers against Fermanagh, it’s fair to ask if this Meath team, a mixture of those famous faces and raw youngsters, have it in them to haul themselves up for a longer run through the back door this summer.

“I think we can come back,” Boylan replied. “Yes it was disappointing in the second half but maybe we even played a lot better football than we did the last day in the first half and if we can do it for that length of time, maybe we can lift it for longer the next time.”

The only time Boylan’s voice dropped the monotone was in discussing the return of Geraghty since last August when he received a hefty suspension from the county board.

“You do what you think you have to do, try something different, because at that stage all you have is a couple of minutes left. It’s nice to see him back at Croke Park again. He’s been sidelined for long enough.

“I hope we see him on a bigger day, hopefully towards the end of September.”