O'Brien keeps Meath grounded after stunning win

Meath manager Eamonn O'Brien will not allow his players to get carried away by their impressive 11-point dismissal of defending champions Dublin in yesterday's Leinster SFC semi-final at Croke Park.

A glut of goals, five in all, helped the Royals set up their first Leinster final appearance since 2001.

But after the 5-9 to 0-13 win, O'Brien was quick to reflect on a tight first half during which the sides were level on five occasions - including at the interval (1-5 to 0-8).

"I thought that, in terms of possession, Dublin shaded the first half and probably even should have been ahead by a point or two at half-time," he said.

"It was one of those days that when things start going right for you, they keep going right for you.

"They started to go wrong for Dublin and they kept going wrong. When we got the goal, they came back down the field and Paul Flynn hit the ball off the upright. Had that gone in, the game would have been back in the melting pot.

"But it didn't and games change on small things like that and, as a result, when a long ball was kicked in, we were able to get another goal and it finished the game."

And O'Brien admitted that he was not sure what to expect from the Dublin rearguard approaching this game.

"We didn't know what to expect. We heard about the blanket defence and bringing people back but they played a more traditional type of game and when we saw the team that was picked, we saw that it probably wasn't geared towards that type of game.

"We were ready to play it whatever way it emerged, the way you have to be ready for whatever happens."

While Dublin's defence had an off day in leaking 24 points in total, it was a solid afternoon's work from the Royals' back lines and O'Brien was happy with the defending of his side.

"I had confidence in the defence. If you look at the records and what they concede, it is not too high.

"Having said that, we have Kevin Reilly back and that gives us great confidence and great solidity to Eoghan (Harrington) and to Chris (O'Connor) beside him."

Despite the devastating loss, Dublin manager Pat Gilroy believes that his side have what it takes to regroup via the qualifier route.

"We probably felt in the last couple of years that we didn't have a chance to rectify bad performances until the following year," he said.

"Now, the question is going to be asked of us and we'll see have we got the answers. I'd be fairly confident that this group doesn't feel it did itself justice. I think in two weeks' time we should get a very good reaction to it."

And the St. Vincent's clubman was making no excuses for the Dubs' defeat, knowing that a marked improvement will be required as they try to bounce back from losing their Leinster title.

"The ridiculous concession of goals...at times some of the defending was terrible. Some of our shooting was awful as well. We had 15 wides today on top of that.

"We had so much possession in the second half, yet we were destroyed on the scoreboard.

"When we hadn't got the ball, the intention was to hustle the Meath players.

"I thought we had done it well in the first half. In the second half, we were punished for some really silly errors.

"In the first half we were coming back and giving the full-back line decent cover when balls were breaking. In the second we were letting the ball break in behind and the cover wasn't there. We were punished and Meath were clinical."

Gilroy added: "I suppose the last 40 minutes of the last day (against Wexford) was exceptional football.

"The first half of today wasn't too bad either. But you can't concede goals like we did today.

"It changes the complexion of the game. We haven't conceded goals like that in any of our matches in the last two years, so it's something that we have to look at. But I said all year that this wasn't going to be easy.

"They're not going to flick a magic switch and produce it, but I think we can do better in terms of defending.

"We seemed to be in control but we gave away a goal and then, in the second half, it was just an avalanche of goals.

"Again, we're doing bits and pieces all very well but you can't concede goals like that. We have to sort that out in the qualifiers."