No disguising Meehan's pleasure

The Caltra man has played in bigger games but Sunday's win was huge on the injury front, writes KEITH DUGGAN

HE HAS played in bigger games before but there was no disguising Michael Meehan’s pleasure after Sunday’s facile victory for Galway in Roscommon.

The Caltra man heaved his gear bag on to the Galway team bus and then stood in the car park fiddling with a pair of headphones as he answered questions about a significant afternoon in his return to full fitness.

He only played for 25 minutes but scored two points and set up a goal during that period and, most importantly, finished the game. His problematic ankle felt ginger afterwards and he admitted he would be treating it with ice and had planned a dip in the sea at Blackrock in Salthill.

“It is a long road and I’m not even there yet. It is a continuous thing, minding this for me. There is a club championship next weekend so I need to start planning my week now to see what I can and can’t do to play then.”

This time last year, the forecasts on Meehan’s future in the maroon jersey were ominous. He hadn’t played a full game for the county since 2010 when he lined out against Cork in the league. Since then he had to cope with three serious injury setbacks to his shoulder, knee and ankle. The left ankle has proven the most stubborn and Meehan has accepted it is a problem to be dealt with rather than fully fixed.

He says he still takes painkillers before games but that is a stark improvement on last summer when he was forced to do the same twice a day, every day. Then, he would take occasional peeps into Galway training sessions and come away feeling frustrated that he couldn’t contribute.

In the meantime, a series of visits to specialists did nothing to make him optimistic. “That was a very real possibility. The professional opinions I got were very guarded in what they were telling me. They never said don’t try it so that was enough for me to see what I could knock out of it. I still need to take painkillers before games.”

Meehan’s return was just a rumour during the league and a few weeks ago Alan Mulholland suggested there was an outside chance he might be available for the Roscommon game.

As soon as he took the field, he was tasked with chasing corner back Seán McDermott along the tramlines as the Roscommon man sought to give the ankle a rigorous test.

“Of course, he was,” laughs Meehan. “I know Seán well. I have had a few battles with him down the years. It was no harm . . . it got my second wind up a bit too. You are going to have little battles like that outside the bigger picture too and that’s what makes it interesting.”

But he passed that impromptu sprint test and proceeded to show that full range of his gifts over the next half hour, even chipping a free for good measure. “Well, it was brought in for back chat so it made it a bit easier. I had two sessions a week and I was confident I could play a part today. That was only 25 minutes so it won’t be too sore tomorrow. I probably limit the time I spend on my ankle in a training session, though. I probably don’t do any more than an hour from start to finish.

“That said, a full match at championship pace is probably beyond me. I will probably play a full match with the club next weekend and I am hopeful that as the summer goes on I will build up a tolerance. I have only a fraction of the cartilage in my ankle that I should have and that protects the bone. So it is pain and stiffness.”

Meehan has been a household name for a full 10 years and the hectic football schedule must have contributed to his current predicament. The peculiar thing is that it takes more of his time now just to do less training.

“Absolutely. I am training more now in terms of putting in time. It is not running around a pitch: it is working physio and stretching and working with the rehabilitation coach. That side of things is huge to me. I still do two training sessions a week and that is where I am.”

Patience must be the chief virtue where Meehan is concerned. When he returned to training a few weeks ago, he was immediately struck by the positive atmosphere. “Everyone was training hard and working for each other. We felt like we had been building towards a team performance so we are thrilled: 3-15 is the best score we have put up in a long time. He has no idea about when he will be ready to start a game for Galway and is not that preoccupied by the idea either. Limited minutes are like gold dust in comparison to the frustration of last year.

“I am a good bit away yet. The Sligo game is three weeks, that’s not far away. But it all depends on the game. If you have a ding-dong game you can burn out after 20 minutes. It depends on the pace of the game. I am not concerned about that. I want to train during the week and then play at the weekend: that is all I am looking at. It will be slow but I’m not rushing.”