When the Meath senior hurlers got within a half dozen points of an Offaly side who the previous September had been beaten by Clare in the Liam Mac Carthy Cup Final and Kilmessan’s Anton O’Neill was awarded RTE’s Man Of The Match – and especially with the Royal County having already defeated the Faithful and Wexford* in the league, there were genuine hopes the green and gold stick men could compete at a comparatively higher level.
Feelings only bolstered in the next round of the league when those who were then under the direction of gentleman John Davis drew with a Dublin team who were then not too far off the Kilkennys, Wexfords and Offalys of the world.
Alas, at the time, that promise didn’t amount to anything. However, the inception of the tiered competitions in hurling – McDonagh, Ring, Rackard and Meagher Cup – has enabled and indeed seen our hurlers make commendable progress relative to their previous positioning in the overall rankings in the game.
Winning the Nicky Rackard Cup once and the one named after the greatest hurler of all time – Christy Ring – on three occasions.
However, in the context of Sunday’s NHL defeat against Laois, it must be acknowledged that, on each of the three occasions Ringy has been captured, the jump to Joe McDonagh level has always been a bridge too far.
Which, in one way, very simply exemplified the chasm there was between the victors and the vanquished at O’Moore Park. Where Laois – and to an ever increasing extent Kildare – have been able to hold their own against teams at the ‘next’ level, Meath are not at that stage yet.
Not that there is a single thing wrong with that reality either. Ironically, perhaps the current situation was best summarised by Kildare football manager Brian Flanagan in the aftermath of his side’s defeat to Meath.
The Round Towers clubman reasoned that (Meath) “Are about two years further on in their developmental journey than we are”. The same caveat absolutely applies for the Meath hurlers comparative to where Laois and/or Kildare are at in their respective journeys of hurling betterment.
Laois made their most noteworthy move in that regard some years ago with the appointment of the great Eddie Brennan as manager. Whoever let the Graigue-Ballycallan genius leave the role needs their head examined. As do the cull police who did away with the Preliminary Quarter Finals of the All Ireland SHC. The irony of that being that both Laois and Kildare have proven themselves more than capable of competing at a higher level than they were most recently at.
To the extent that both Clare manager Brian Lohan and his Dublin counterpart Niall O’Ceallachain would, it would be ventured, concur that the Lilywhites gave their respective sides – both of whom seem destined to contest the Div. 1B Final – their sternest test of the season to date.
Along similar lines, the same explanation could absolutely be affixed to Meath’s outing against Laois. And yes, the O’Moore men resoundingly put the latter back in their place as it were. Talk of the Royals being in the mix for promotion being very much of the sort which Con Houlihan would have labelled wild and whirling words. Even though prior to Sunday it would actually have been statement of fact.
That said, disappointment at such not transpiring should be lessened by a garnish of context. Remember, it’s not all that long ago Meath would have been looking over their shoulders in fear of squeaky bum time from the perspective of making the drop. So it would have to be acknowledged that Johnny Greville’s side have indeed made considerable progress from last year’s league campaign.
The sting in the tail, though, is pondering what might have been if any of the vast array of gifted stickmen who seem to have disappeared from county duty were in the fold.
* Ten months after Meath beat Wexford in O’Growney Park, Athboy, the Yella Bellies won the All Ireland. So effectively defeated two All Ireland champions within a year.
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