Meath romp home

WHERE have all the Meath supporters gone? Summer kicked-off last Sunday with the Royal County's Leinster SFC 1-25 to 0-8 victory over Carlow in glorious Croke Park sunshine, but the traditional Meath following were conspicuous by their absence.

There were probably fewer than 7,000 Meath fans in the 21,707 who turned up at GAA HQ. That is very disappointing considering the great year and hours of entertainment the team provided in last year's run to the All-Ireland SFC semi-finals.

There can be few reasons for non-appearances. Some people can be excused for legitimate claims, but for those fans who decided not to travel to Dublin because they felt it would be 'a waste of time' or believed that the grass needed cutting should be reprimanded.

After the debacle and unfair treatment the Meath players and management received arising out of the so-called Parnell Park brawl, the fans should have been out in force to show solidarity on the most important day of the footballing calendar, so far.

However, Croke Park way (aka Clonliffe Road) was eerily quiet in the build-up to the encounter against Carlow. Okay, so the standard of opposition wasn't much to write home about, but the players still deserve our support. Almost seven months of training boiled down to 70 minutes, but the fans were missing.

There was a weak refrain of 'Come on you Royals' deep in the belly of a deserted Hogan Stand, but that hardly raised a flag. A gauge of the crowd was made when Graham Geraghty's name was announced and again when the 1999 All-Ireland winning captain scored his first point, both brought the loudest cheers of the day.

Should Meath progress, and it seems more positive now that they will, then a potential Leinster SFC final against Dublin is on the cards. Then the scramble for tickets will begin. You can be sure that if the Meath v Dublin provincial decider does transpire then there will be 50,000 Meath men, women and children looking for a way in.

So who is to blame? Many will argue that €25 is too steep of a price to pay for entry to watch the one game of football they were interested in? If you want to see the hugely inflated egos of the English Premier League in action you will pay way above those odds.

Another bone of contention is that juveniles were only admitted for the €5 entry fee at the Cusack Stand. That necessitated mothers and fathers hauling their kids halfway around a three-quarters empty stadium to gain admission.

The majority of the Meath supporters were based in the Hogan Stand, so some parents and children made their way round to join their comrades despite having to enter the ground at the Cusack Stand side. A little bit of logic wouldn't have went astray, but then again GAA and logic are not words that have been found in too many sentences together lately.

Despite the lack of support, Meath overwhelmed their opponents with a devastating display of clinical finishing and whole-hearted commitment. Excuses for such an easy win can and will be offered. Carlow are the worst team competing in the senior championship in Ireland. They finished just above London and Kilkenny in NFL Div 2 and while the league is completely different to championship the gulf in class was enormous.

Manager Colm Coyle gave first starts to four players, Michael Ahern, Brian Meade, Cormac McGill and Alan Nestor and he also handed debuts to three substitutes Graham Reilly, Terry Skelly and Damien Sheridan. Meath finished the game with six players who never experienced championship football before and that is encouraging.

The future looks promising, but nobody is going to get carried away. Those that were there will testify to just how awful Carlow were and a much greater test lies ahead when Meath face Wexford at Dr Cullen Park on Sunday, 1st June where the ground capacity could be under pressure. Anyone for tickets?