Geraghty looking to buildform

Forrest Gump's famous line about life being like a box of chocolates can quite easily to applied to Meath's NHL Div 2A campaign so far - you just never know what you're going to get.

That level of inconsistency has been frustrating for team captain Seanie Geraghty, but as the league reaches its conclusion and their status in the division almost certainly secured because of the second round win over Wicklow, the Moylagh/Kilskyre clubman is focusing on finding momentum, starting with Carlow's visit to Navan next Sunday.

"The Carlow game will certainly be another tough test. We are getting into the last couple of games of the league now and coming out of the gap week teams are going to be more gearing up towards championship now, so everyone is getting close to championship match fitness," Geraghty told the Meath Chronicle.

"Although the Kerry result didn't go our way, at times there was a good performance there. We have shipped beatings off Kerry before, so the big challenge now for this group is to find that consistency, produce back-to-back good performances and try to get a win against Carlow.

"It has been nip and tuck between ourselves and Carlow for the last couple of years, so we need to try our best to turn them over. It is our last home game of the league, so we want to try to put in a good performance and get a win at home.

"In other years you might have drawn a line under the league and then started gearing up for the championship, but the reality is that after next Sunday we have a maximum of four games left in our year.

"You hear the word momentum used a lot in sport and because there isn't a period between the league and the Joe McDonagh Cup to try to generate that momentum we have to find it by winning games in the league, so these last two games in the league are very important for every team.

"Everyone is going to be targeting a win rather than a performance in these last two games, every team will be trying to generate that momentum going into the championship.

"Usually after the league you have a four week gap where you might get two or three challenge games, but this year when we are finished the league we are sure to have a few knocks that will need clearing up in the first week, then the second week is a prep week for the game the following week.

"That is the nature of the season this year. It is what it is and we have to deal with that. This year above all other years you need to get some form because that is the importance of finding momentum."

Finding a consistent run of form has been Meath's big problem since winning promotion to Div 2A and also to the Joe McDonagh where they have yet to win a game despite two campaigns at that level.

Geraghty is well aware that the shortened preparation time ahead of the start of the league has effected Meath's form this term, but he has seen enough patches of good hurling to suggest that there is more to come from Nick weir's side.

"It has been a mixed bag for us so far. From the outset this year we have been looking to achieve an element of consistency and to be able to build back-to-back performances," said the team captain.

"The Offaly game was one of those games where we started well, but then we lost momentum and we couldn't get it back.

"We only had a three week run-in to that game, so we didn't have as much work done as we would have liked to take on an Offaly hurler who plays at a much higher level at club level than a Meath hurler, so we needed that extra couple of weeks to get up to their level as a collective.

"We don't think there is a 16 or 18 point gap between a Meath hurler and an Offaly hurler as a collective unit, so we really, really needed those extra few weeks. We were hugely disappointed with our skill execution, the fight and our commitment to the battle waned early in the game when they turned the screw.

"The Wicklow game was all about getting back on the horse and bringing that bit of fight and bit of aggression to our play that we didn't have against Offaly.

"When we pulled into Wicklow that day and we saw the rain that was falling we knew that all fancy hurling would have to go out the window and that we would have to roll up our sleeves and work hard and win that middle third battle which we managed to do by playing some good hurling as well.

"We were disappointed we didn't create a few more goal chances, but that was a pressure game and we needed the two points. From the outset we were looking at our targets to see where could we guarantee ourselves points and that game against Wicklow was one that we identified.

"The Kerry game pretty much summed up our season and our journey over the last couple of years, where we mixed in the really good with the really bad over the 70 minutes.

"The first quarter again was a system failure. Kerry started pinging the ball about and we couldn't get to the pitch of the game. In the second quarter we played some really good stuff into a strong wind and started running with the ball a bit more and made some good inroads.

"We were still very much in the game at the start of the second-half then got it back to a point, but the next 10 minutes were the part of the game we are most frustrated with because we didn't put our stamp on the game when we were in control of it.

"We gave away silly frees, lost possession from puck outs and didn't get the ball into the right areas. Kerry were on the backfoot, but we gave them oxygen and a route back into the game and they managed to get those five or six points ahead of us again.

"They then set up their defensive shape and we couldn't get through their packed defence for the goal, so those first 15 minutes of the second-half were the most disappointing part of that performance for me because we had got back in control of the game and then let it slip."

With the Joe McDonagh Cup following quickly on the heels of the NHL, Geraghty is well aware of the importance of finishing the league strong. He is also happy with the new quickfire format as he felt the 'club' month of April didn't serve in the best interests of clubs or counties.

"The league structure itself is the same as it has been, only a bit more condensed, but the big difference this year was the prep time. We only got the three weeks to prepare, but every team is in the same boat so we won't use that as an excuse," said Geraghty.

"Personally I'd like a bit more perp time, but that's the nature of the beast this year, but it is good to be playing games and that's the main thing.

"I know the Joe McDonagh is always wrapped up fairly early in the year anyway, so I do like the idea that it gets finished early. I love playing for my club, but I hated that club month in April because it just didn't work at all.

"You ended up trying to please club football and club hurling managers as well as the county hurling manager and the person left in the middle trying to keep everyone happy was the county player.

"No one wants to have a divide between club and county, but you can't be in two places at the one time, so that's why I like this format where we get our championship played and then we can go back to the clubs," concluded the Moylagh/Kilskyre hurler and Ballinlough footballer who will be hoping to return to his parish with Div 2A status secured and a McDonagh Cup medal in his back pocket.