Andy McEntee: 'Having the desire and doing it on the day are two different things'

Andy McEntee lamented the “amount of contacts” Meath had managed in that embarrassing first-half or, to be more accurate, the lack of contacts managed. The result was unlimited, quality ball in to the Dublin forward line.

Meath manager Andy McEntee before the Leinster GAA Football Senior Championship Semi-Final match between Dublin and Meath at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Seb Daly/Sportsfile

Bill Murray got stuck in Punxsutawney, Sissyphus had his rock and, for the Meath footballers, eternal damnation finds its form in their repeated punishment beatings at the hands of Dublin in Croke Park.

This was as dispiriting as any that have gone before. Down by 15 points at half-time, the gap widened to 17 early in the second-half before the Dubs settled for an unofficial ceasefire and played out the remainder as a phoney war.