McCoy's tailored Meath Hill will be ready

Shane McCoy has led Meath Hill to the final of the IFC in what has been a remarkable turnaround for the club in recent years.

Meath Hill will face Navan O’Mahonys in next Saturday's finale. It's not that long ago that their opponents were winning senior championships while Meath Hill was stuck in the doldrums of the junior grade.

They are now one game away from securing that elusive senior status. McCoy caught up with the Meath Chronicle and commenced by explaining how learnings from the 2023 campaign have helped his side in their journey in 2024.

“We felt that we peaked too early last year. We restructured this year and towards the end of the league campaign, we tailored back a bit and then ramped it up again coming towards the start of the championship," said McCoy.

"We did prepare ourselves to give ourselves a bit of sustainability in the championship this year in comparison to last year where we felt we ran out of steam and were a bit flat towards the latter stages.”

As an outsider, McCoy recognises that the standard of football at the intermediate grade at the moment is quite high. He explained how some results that they have had throughout the championships may have looked comfortable from afar, but in reality they were anything but.

“If you look back at all the match ups throughout the intermediate championship. There are no easy games. Teams like Nobber and Blackhall Gaels put it up to us this year," recalled the manager.

"They brought different problems to us and then you saw comments that we weren’t tested. I can tell you, we were tested. We were tested something serious.

"We applied ourselves well and got the result. The standard in Meath is high. We go to different senior clubs in different counties for challenge matches and we are holding our own. That shows to me that the standard in the intermediate grade in Meath is really good.”

Meath Hill had a six-point win over Ballivor in the semi-final in an intense battle and McCoy explains how he had to set his side out to match Ballivor's physicality.

“We had a lead going into the home stretch which could have been seen as comfortable. However when you look at the game against Ballivor as a whole, they came out all guns blazing, we struggled to meet and match their intensity early on and they put themselves in a great position.

"We got ourselves gathered together at the end of the first half and we got our scores on the board in the second half. It was always going to be a dogfight against Ballivor and they have four or five lads that would get in most senior setups.

"We knew that we had to nullify their qualities and kick on ourselves. We had our homework done and we thought they bullied Oldcastle a bit so we had to try and match that physicality. I never doubted our lads though and they stood up and were physical all over the pitch.”

One of the standout players in this year's intermediate championship has been Meath Hill’s forward Gary Breslin. McCoy was keen to sing the praises of Breslin for his application and dedication.

"Gary Breslin is a lad who dedicates himself to being the best that he can be. The commitment that he shows is unreal. It's reflected in his performances.

"He is well-marshalled in games and he finds a way to get scores on the board. It all comes down to his application and dedication off the pitch and I can see him developing into a much stronger player again. He is a quality footballer and he shows that any day that he takes to the pitch."

McCoy has a lot of respect for O’Mahonys and he realises that his team has a huge battle ahead of them this week.

He details several areas that his side will have to be aware of.

“Navan O’Mahonys are synonymous with Meath football. When I was playing in Louth and Armagh, we would constantly have challenge matches against O’Mahonys to see where we were at," recalled McCoy.

"They are at an intermediate level at the moment but it's not that long ago that they were winning senior championships. They are looking to bounce back pretty quickly.

"They have quality and a lot of good man markers. Our top forwards won't be afforded the space that they have been getting up til now. They have big threats in the forwards as well that can pick off points from here, there and everywhere. So there are many different elements that we will have to be aware of,” suggested McCoy.