All ready for a Royal appointment

THERE were 81,890 people packed into Croke Park three weeks ago to watch Kerry’s breathtaking All-Ireland quarter-final demolition of Dublin and like every other spectator, Eamonn O’Brien departed awestruck at what he had just observed.

Six days later, O’Brien supervised his Meath players clipping the wings of Mayo and now he is primed with the task of figuring out a method to stop Kerry in next Sunday’s All-Ireland SFC semi-final. Kerry’s football touched perfection against Dublin and O’Brien admits that if they tap into that form again, then his team are in trouble.

“I was at the Dublin game and the football was almost perfect. If that Kerry team turns up, we won’t live with them. It was near perfection – in terms of execution of passes, in terms of movement off the ball, speed, creating scores and taking chances. I would have expected Dublin to battle harder. Having said that, I don’t think anyone would have lived with Kerry and the performance they produced.”

Meath will enter the match greatly encouraged by their quarter-final display against Mayo. They recovered from a debilitating start to triumph and their battling qualities were crucial to succeeding.

“I was happy the way the lads stuck in there and they didn’t panic. The game might have gone from them, but they stayed with it and we got the breaks. I know if we start against Kerry like we did against Mayo, it won’t be four or five nil behind, it could be 10 nil. It’s going to be a crucial period for us because we are inclined to start slowly.”

The presence of the established trinity of Tyrone, Kerry and Cork in this year’s All-Ireland semi-finals was of little surprise, but it is Meath who have come from a low base to be the joker in the pack. A mediocre league campaign and a flat display against Dublin in the Leinster championship offered few portents of what was ahead.

“At the start of the year I remember talking to local reporters about our first game down in Cork in the league,” recalls O’Brien. “I said that we were going to be playing one of the best teams in the country and our aim was to be competitive at that level.

“I said what we wanted was to get up and compete at that level. That’s the challenge for us now.

“We were disappointed after the Dublin match because we didn’t play well. If there was a positive to take from the Dublin game, it’s that Dublin could have put us away but didn’t. You wouldn’t be happy with the performance against Dublin, but it was good that they hung in there. The qualifiers were kind to us because we were given games that we were expected to win in the early rounds and they were home draws as well. That gave us a chance to build a bit of momentum.”

Bright spots have emerged in key sectors of the side. Young goalkeeper Patrick O’Rourke has been a model of composure and is blessed with a long, booming kickout. At midfield they have coped without Mark Ward, as Nigel Crawford continues to guide the tiller and Brian Meade has proved an able body alongside him.

“I think Patrick’s done very well,” says O’Brien. “In fairness to Patrick, he’s 19, 20 years of age and his kickout is phenomenal and it has given us some advantages.

“Coming through the qualifiers then has helped the two boys to gel as a midfield pairing and hopefully that works again on Sunday. Brian (Meade) has done well in the games coming through the qualifiers, the lads applied themselves very well in the qualifiers. We’re up against different opposition now O Sé and Scanlon they are tried and tested and have All-Ireland medals. They won’t be any easy midfield to beat.”

In his freshman years as an inter-county manager, O’Brien has been a roaring success at the helm of Meath. But he has a super grounding having worked alongside Sean Boylan during Meath’s glory days.

“With Sean we were in three All-Ireland finals, winning two of them. I can’t say precisely what I picked up, but you get used to what has to be done and you have a fair idea of what needs to be done. Things like getting the team ready, getting them focused as you can and getting them away from distractions. I know these lads have the ability to play good football and it’s all down to performing on the day. If they can do that, we will be in with a shout. If they don’t perform on the day, Kerry will win and probably win handsomely.”