Plenty of positives from win against Sligo

The big games keep rolling for Meath minor footballers and after Saturday's impressive All-Ireland MFC semi-final victory against Sligo they have a trip to Croke Park for the decider on the horizon this Saturday.

The quick turnaround is not something that manager Cathal O Bric or his backroom team are too concerned about.

Instead, they can look forward to another big challenge and for the players, it's an opportunity to sample the Croke Park atmosphere.

The final ticket was secured at Breffni Park in the rain and some sunshine on Saturday as the Royal Couny produced a clinical display that was more than adequate to deal the challenge provided by Connacht champions Sligo.

Never one to get too carried with any result, the manager was in a buoyant mood when addressing the media at the Cavan venue.

"I'm absolutely delighted with that result, it's great to get to an All-Ireland final, now we have to win it," he stated.

"The boys really put their shoulders to the wheel when we went down to 14 players early in the second-half.

"We had to improvise and solve a problem that had been put to us on the pitch and I think we did that successfully

"The character that the boys displayed, you would have to be impressed with that aspect of the game"

"There was great composure by the team and the leadership, especially by the more experienced players from the 2020 panel, was exceptional.

"Players like Liam Kelly, Tomas Corbett, Sean Emmanuel and Jack Kinlough and a number of other lads.

"Corner back Conor Ennis made some fine breaks from that position and it lifted the siege a couple of times.

"I also thought that Christian Finlay provided great leadership up front, especially when we went down to 14.

"Christian's early goal was a big boost for us and it gave us a platform to build on, Sligo had missed a goal chance a minute or two before that.

"We had planned to get the ball into our front two and we felt we could get scores that way, Paul Wilson made the run for the first goal and we were able to stretch out the lead to seven points at half-time," he added.

The second-half was only five minutes old when a major problem arose with the dismissal of Oisin O Murchu on a second yellow card.

Meath had extended the lead to eight at that stage of the game and they remained composed until the second water break by which time they were ahead by 1-14 to 1-5.

"We were well in control, even with the 14 players and I felt we dealt with the problem, but then after the second water break Sligo raised the tempo and got in for a goal," stated O Bric.

"Suddenly there was only four points in it with about five minutes to go, but we were able to stick to our game plan, we kept the ball, moved it around and made sure we didn't waste any possession.

"Our overall strategy was important, we didn't concede too many frees because we felt Sligo wouldn't pose as big a threat from play.

"They have one of the best free-takers in the country in Luke Marren and we didn't want to make it easy for them in that context.

It was a good performance and if we can improve on that for this Saturday against Tyrone then we have as good a chance as they have of winning the All-Ireland title," he concluded.