Belief the big difference as Meath come from nowhere to make semi-final

Meath players Conor Gray, right, and Seán Coffey celebrate after the quarter-final victory. Picture: Shauna Clinton/Sportsfile

The sweat is still colonising Robbie Brennan’s forehead as he sits and surveys Meath’s All-Ireland quarter-final victory over Galway. Hands up anyone who saw that coming at the start of this most unpredictable and historic of Championships.

Brennan started his summation by describing all this as “part of the plan”, and reiterating the one training sessions and one game at a time mantra that has seen them take down the Dubs and Kerry and make a first All-Ireland semi since 2009.

But these things don’t just happen.

Ruari Kinsella is sat beside the boss. The strain of the previous 70-plus minutes is hardly visible. He looks good to go again there and then as he answers the question everyone should be asking: where did youse boys come from?

“The main thing is belief, really,” said the Dunshaughlin man. “The boys who've come in have just instilled that belief into us. I feel like over the years we've had the quality, we've had the players, but the belief just wasn't there.

“We didn't have the confidence to think, ‘oh, yeah, we can beat these,’ whereas this year it's a completely different story. We've gone into every game thinking, ‘yeah, why can't we win this game?’ So, yeah, we've showed that so far in the Championship this year.

“Hopefully we keep that going.” Well, we’d be mad to bet against it now, wouldn’t we? No Leinster county other than Dublin has contested an All-Ireland decider since Meath were beaten by Galway back in 2001. This is the sort of territory we have stumbled into it now.

Brennan vowed to keep the province’s flag flying after a game backdropped by the sights and sounds of Meath fans reclaiming Hill 16 from their city brethren after so much pain and disappointment in the last two decades.

The funny thing is that it was their big loss this year – the Leinster final shortfall against Louth – that seems to have fuelled the desire and the belief that saw them withstand a seismic comeback from Galway late in this second-half.

Jack Glynn of Galway in action against Meath players, left to right, Seán Coffey, Keith Curtis, and Eoghan Frayne. Picture: Daire Brennan/Sportsfile

“I think the Leinster final probably stood to us,” Brennan explained. “We said in that dressing room that we'd be back here this year. No matter what we had to do with it, we'd get back here. And we knew then we were back and this was our opportunity.

“Like, you know, we're probably lucky. Is that what everyone says? We keep getting lucky. We were lucky against Dublin. We were lucky against Kerry. And I guess we were lucky again today. So, we'll see who we get in the semi now. And we'll have to be lucky again, I suppose.” Some individuals need highlighting.

Meath conceded 2-3 in the few short minutes where Sean Rafferty was on the sideline. His departure was, according to Brennan, due to a touch of miscommunication. His return to the fray coincided with a settling of the ship after that Galway salvo.

“Listen, in my opinion, he's the best full-back in the country. I hear other managers bigging up their players for all-stars. If he isn't an All-Star, and if [Kinsella] isn’t an All-Star, whoever picks him is not doing their job” There were other heroes, but we’ll go with just one more: Jordan Morris. All bar a point of his 1-6 came in that second-half when a game that started at a crawl burst into life. The Kingscourt man was simply electric.

“As I keep saying, there's a touch of genius about Jordan, and I've referenced before the likes of Walshie [Shane Walsh], who was out there, and maybe Paul Mannion having worked with these kind of guys. But Jordan is absolutely in that category.

“He is impossible to mark at times, literally impossible to mark, and other times you can have a little turnover, but they're what we call creative turnovers, aren't they? You're allowed to have them when you're that type of player.” 

Nothing won yet, but the good times are back in Meath, just two years after winning the Tailteann Cup under Colm O’Rourke. Brennan beamed when he thought of the garda escort down the Navan Road and the cars beeping and fans cheering.

“So, look, if anyone's holidays booked, please, God, just change them, and we'll see you in a couple of weeks with a bit of luck.”