McEntee pleased to escape with victory in Carlow

O'Byrne Cup football on the first Wednesday evening in January is hardly the type of game managers will pay much attention to, but Meath boss Andy McEntee was pleased as his experimental side came away from Dr Cullen Park with a narrow 0-9 to 0-7 win.
At this time of the year it is all about getting game time under the belt and assessing the strength of the panel ahead of what is sure to be a very competitive NFL Div 2 which kicks off on Sunday 28th Januarty with a tricky away trip to Roscommon, so McEntee was pleased to get the win which maintains the possibility of further games in the O'Byrne Cup.
Trailing by a point with just four minutes of the regulation 70 remaining Meath looked destined for a defeat which would have rendered next Sunday's clash with Wicklow in Pairc Tailteann moot, but late scores from Ben Brennan and Donal Lenihan got McEntee's men over the line and the manager was delighted to get the win and he was also pleased with the performance of some of his debutantes.
"We got out of there with a win, but it wasn't pretty. It was never going to be pretty I suppose, but the positives for us is that when we were a point down against a well-organised, well-drilled team who play a very effective defensive game we eked out a win," McEntee told the Meath Chronicle.
"We probably controlled the last 12 minutes of the game and we deserved the result, but I'm glad to get out of there with the win.
"In all fairness the players who came off the bench had an impact on the game. Brían Conlon had an impact as did Sean Tobin and Crouchy (Mark McCabe), I think everyone who came on showed something and gave us a little bit more pace and momentum.
"Defensively we won some vital ball late on in the half-back and full-back line. Seamus Lavin came out with a few decent balls, Shane (McEntee) won a few really dirty balls there in the centre-back position, Brian Power and Mickey Burke also did well.
"At that stage of the game when you want players to stand up I think, by and large, most of them did and we got the win.
"I'm delighted for some of the debutantes. We had a couple of really good saves from Andy Colgan when the game was very much there for the taking for Carlow. We had a goal chance ourselves, but it looked like it was over the line before Brían (Conlon) touched it, but with a little bit more accuracy that would have finished the game off for us as well," he said.
The outcome of last Wednesday's game hung in the balance right up to the final whistle, but McEntee was pleased with the way his side coped with Carlow's defensive strategy and he praised his team's patience to get the job done, but admitted there is still plenty of room for improvement.
"Did we squeeze them out of it or did they retreat a little bit too much? It is hard to know because they were competing pretty well up to the latter stages, but I think when we stepped it up and forced them to kick the ball long we started winning breaks and that was key, we kept the ball wide and we stayed patient," said the Meath manager.
"We had three or four handpasses that went astray in the first-half and another couple at the start of the second-half, they are basic things that you don't expect at this level.
"We did miss a couple of scores and we had chances to go further clear, but I think we had 10 wides, so that doesn't surprise me that it ended up being so close. It was very slippy out there and a lot of lads found it difficult to hold their footing."
Meath will now face Wicklow, who lost by 11 points to Carlow last Sunday, in Pairc Tailteann on Sunday at 2pm knowing that a win will secure a place in the semi-finals and another competitive game before the start of the league.
"We want games, so we will be looking to beat Wicklow in Navan on Sunday. We will have a look at the players who played tonight, we still have another 15 players at home doing a bit of training tonight, so there will be changes no doubt, but at the same time we are mindful that we want to win the game," concluded the Meath manager.