THE MODERN context may be different but it was obvious Meath manager Eamon O’Brien was sufficiently aware of the historical difficulties his county had experienced against Offaly that yesterday’s comfortable win at O’Moore Park, Portlaoise, came as a relief.
His team mightn’t ever have been really stretched but the important outcome was that Meath will face Laois in the Leinster quarter-finals next month.
“We knew coming down that Offaly had good forwards and would cause us problems,” he said, pinned to the wall outside the dressingroom. “Maybe we worried too much about it and that can end up as a self-fulfilling prophecy. The sending-off probably altered the course of the game in the sense that it allowed us to defend more easily and build a platform for victory from there on.”
The red card in question had been shown to Offaly centerfielder John Coughlan for an adjudged elbow on Anthony Moyles.
It had taken place in the 39th minute and effectively derailed the match as a competitive prospect.
But even by then Meath were taking scores with routine efficiency and O’Brien acknowledged the input of his team’s sharp shooter.
“I thought we played well and Cian Ward kicked some superb frees that some days mightn’t have gone over, but he was on song today.”
Asked about the apparent sensation of this year’s championship, the amended hand-pass rule, O’Brien steered clear of the declamatory style that has characterised some of the responses so far although he did feel that the rule was still bedding down.
“It’s very difficult to judge when you’re far away but I though some of the ones we gave away looked like fist passes rather than hand passes because we’ve asked our lads to fist as much as possible. But as I said on the television fellas have milliseconds to make up their mind so you’re inclined to revert to what you know naturally.
“So it’s going to take a while to get used to what’s wanted and what’s right but I’m not sure we know exactly what’s right at this stage either. That’s a problem and we need to clarify that.”
His Offaly counterpart Tom Cribbin said that insistence on the fisted pass, which had been one of the rules trialled during the NFL and rejected by last month’s congress, had effectively been adopted. “The fist pass was officially rejected but I think we all know if you want to cut out hand-pass fouls that you have to keep the fist closed. It’s a lottery with the referees but that’s not their fault; that’s what they’re being told.”
He was upset at the sending-off of Coughlan and some of the other refereeing decisions, including what he thought had been a penalty award just before half-time.
“Very disappointing. You feel gutted for a team when it turns on an incident like that. Just before half-time it looked like the referee signalled for a penalty – did you ever before in your life see a referee blow up for half-time and hold the two hands out. We didn’t make any bones about that.
“I know John caught him with his forearm but I thought he was going forward and had momentum.
“The game was tough and it must have been exciting enough. I know they were kicking good scores but we still threatened when we got up front. We missed a few frees and apart from that could have been ahead at half-time. We went out in the second half thinking we could pull off this game. Just four minutes into the second half was like tearing the heart out of the team.”
