Ulstermen punished for missed chances

Credit must be given to this Meath team who showed typical character, fitness and resilience for the whole game. It would have taken a tremendous and sustained effort from Armagh to have won the match.

Meath are the type of team who can perform at a very high intensity for the entire game and yesterday they were able to do just that when the stakes were high.

There was no sense of panic in the Meath side and this was illustrated by Trevor Giles, when after a slow start to the match, he was able to hit his passes and his scores later in the game. That ability ran right through the team when, even when things were not always going their way, there was no sense of panic. Up to half way through the second half, Armagh were not registering the scores and that must have been very disheartening for them, especially the defence who were doing a good job in holding out.

Missing scoring opportunities like that against Meath, you do at your peril. You must put away your chances and allow yourself that breathing space at the end of the game because you know they always have that ability to keep going and to conjure up vital scores at the right time. They know how to come at you and how to get those critical points. Towards the end they were able to use their extra man cleverly and kept their heads to take what were simple scores.

I felt that when the game was still in the balance the red card shown to Ger Reid was a turning point. It was a professional foul, a reflex action that the player felt he had to make. The referee had no choice but to send him off.

When Paddy Reynolds then started sweeping up on the backline for Meath, Armagh were just feeding off scraps. It was going to take goals at that stage to save Armagh, but they never really looked like being able to produce them. I think it was a clever move from the sideline to use Reynolds as the free man. He is a very active player and he reads the breaking ball cleverly. He was the ideal type of player to use in that role once Reid had been sent off.

I think another important point in the game was the score taken by Ray Magee, who had come into the game for Ollie Murphy. Armagh dominated possession for long periods in the second half but they kicked five bad wides. Then in one breakaway by McGee, he was allowed to kick at goal unchallenged and grabbed a score which went against the run of play. I think that was an important point because it displayed the fact that when you get chances you really have to make them count if you want to win an All-Ireland semi-final.

From then on, Meath sustained the hard-running game which they are so good at. Even though they were missing some good scoring chances, they kept players running into spaces. For Armagh, Oisin McConville had a quiet game by his normally high standards. After missing one or two opportunities, he had difficulty getting into the game like he normally does. I think he got enough possession off Darren Fay to do damage, dragging him out of the middle but he didn't use the possession, although he did set up the goal for Hughes.

Diarmuid Marsden had a disappointing match. After a great goal at the beginning, which helped to settle Armagh down, he hardly featured. Was there something happening? A poor work-rate? Poor service? I'd question why he was absent from such an important chunk of the match. He was Armagh's key man in the front line. For such a class player, Marsden hardly featured apart from his goal. In effect the two main goal-getters for Armagh were ineffective.

The young Paddy McKeever took over the scoring. He showed no nerves just sheer class. You would have expected that from Marsden, not McKeever.

Defensively Armagh were very good. They was some great hassling and tremendous workrates, particularly from Jarlath Burns who helped out a lot in defence. Kieron McGeeney was also able to keep Trevor Giles quiet, particularly in the first half.

Because of the frantic pace, both teams were fit enough to close each other down and in that respect it was always going to be tight, which led to a lot of congestion in the middle of the field. It led to several melees which, unfortunately, the referee allowed to develop. I thought he might have blown in favour of the player in possession.

Overall Meath, with more economy, always looked a greater threat and were able to pick those vital scores better than Armagh. Playing with a great intensity all over the field, their fitness again told. Graham Geraghty also looked dangerous whenever he got the ball, although as the game went on he found himself isolated for long periods.

In fairness to the Armagh side, they did do their homework on Meath. They cut them out of the game and were able to create enough to win the match. At the beginning they looked potent enough and with Paddy McKeever kicking points from different angles, they looked like they wouldn't roll over.

Maybe the pace and effort from early in the match told. Armagh passed the ball well in the first half, but then threw away easy ball in the second half and were eventually made to pay.

Both McEntee brothers were sluggish about their delivery, which played into Meath's game. You've only a split second to move a ball or Meath have you closed down in numbers. That came as a shock. They wouldn't have been used to that in Ulster.

(In an interview with Johnny Watterson)