Banty struts his stuff

Body language tells us a lot.

There we were, in a circle in the wide tunnel between the dressing rooms in O’Connor Park on Saturday night with manager Luke Dempsey, amenable as always, swirling around left and right to give us his thoughts on the latest Carlow defeat.

Meath manager Seamus ‘Banty’ McEnaney, in chatty mood as well, waited patiently before beckoning us over to the side of the tunnel, where he was leaning against the wall with one foot arched up against it. We could try to gun him with anything from the front, but nobody was going to surprise him from behind. His reign, if that’s what it can be called, with the Royals has honed survival instincts.