'A huge day for us'... O'Rourke heralds win as the springboard for Meath to go on to better things

In his office in St Patrick's Classical School in Navan, Colm O'Rourke used to have a big sign behind his desk. It was a well-known saying from the writer and 18th century poet Alexander Pope. "To err is human, to forgive divine."

O'Rourke, of course, spent his career teaching in the Navan school, ending up as principal and when he took over as Meath manager he has clearly sought to introduce many of the methods he used when supervising a school of young men. Focus on the positives, the possibilities. Allow young men to express themselves and make mistakes and learn from those mistakes. Don't try to control them; to restrict them. Forgive.

In the build up to the Saturday's Tailteann Cup final one of Meath's newest, yet most consistent players this year, Sean Coffey made reference to all that. "We're allowed to make our mistakes," he said.

Since he took charge O'Rourke has in just about every interview he has done, time and again, sought to emphasise how great, yes great, this group of Meath players are. Their attitude, their workrate, their commitment to the cause, their homespun down-to-earth decency. He did it again after Saturday's game when he spoke to reporters.

"We spent a night at Pairc Tailteann the other week when all the supporters came in, parents and kids could meet them. Every single person who talked to me afterwards spoke of how nice the lads were. It's a great tribute to them. They spent an hour in the rain signing autographs taking photographs, it was just wonderful to see."

Then he referenced how the win over Down on Saturday could have a much broader impact further down the line. "I think that (winning the Tailteann Cup) is going to inspire a new generation of Meath players just like some of the victories of the '80s inspired another team. That class of people haven't had heroes before. Now they have."

When O'Rourke entered the media centre he wore a broad smile. He bounced more than walked into the room, clearly happy out with how his first campaign as manager had ended - with a piece of silverware. Meath had won but it was still in the melting pot until Jack O'Connor fired home his last second goal. "It was like Waterloo, as Wellington said, it was a close run thing," was how he put it. The narrowness of the contest didn't diminish the delight.

"This is as satisfying as anything I have ever been involved in," he outlined. "Memories dim with age but I suppose nothing replaces the All-Irelands that I won in the 1980s with Meath and the championships won with Skryne but this is a huge day for us."

He was asked about how in 1984, under Sean Boylan, a re-emerging Meath took a big step from relative obscurity when they defeated Monaghan to win the Centenary Cup. That was a big step in the right direction for that team. Saturday's triumph, it was suggested, could be the start of something significant also for this group of players. He agreed.

"I got a lot of belts in the head since then so I don't remember much about it," he added with a smile as the jovial nature of the media briefing continued. "You'd want to call in Sean Boylan and ask him but definitely that win was the springboard for us to go on to better things. For any group of players success is always a great thing for them. It will make them hungrier for more."

O'Rourke had reason to be pleased. He and the team had come a long way since that day back in April when Offaly knocked them out of the Leinster Championship. That defeat in Tullamore has been followed by five straight victories in the Tailteann. He talked about how so many players had performed well on Saturday name-checking Donal Keogan, Padraic Harnan, Adam O'Neill, Sean Brennan before adding how "I could go through the whole team I didn't see much fault with any of them." That spotlight on positivity remained undimmed.

Yet along the way O'Rourke has taken some criticism, some sideswipes aimed at his direction. He hasn't taken it personally, although you get the sense some of the barbs got to him. That they hit home.

Among the criticism was the Meath couldn't defend and O'Rourke was "naïve" as he sought to employ a kicking game when modern football is all about possession. He had, with a note of self-depreciation, referred to himself as that "stone age fella" because of his approach but certainly on Saturday Meath defended well, denying a Down attack (that had scored 15 goals in their Tailteann campaign before Saturday) from finding the time and space they sought.

"We knew after the goal threat they had shown against Laois (when they scored eight goals) that anything other than absolute, total concentration to the cause wouldn't be enough - and we got that in spades," he said. Positive.

Later, returning to the same theme, he added. "Everyone has their opinion, I'm listening to that kind of stuff a long time, I don't get upset over it, we knew we were on the right road. I thought it would take even more time to get a team together but we are doing that. If we got into the Sam Maguire two months ago we probably weren't ready. I'd love if we could get into the quarter-finals or into the group stage now because we have improved so much."

Another theme he has referenced time and again throughout his campaign has been the turnover of players. On Saturday he pointed out how from the team that played Cork in the opening round of the league only five started on Saturday. "We've introduced a whole lot of new players and it's their first taste of success and I think they will be hungry for more."

Before leaving the media centre, O'Rourke indicated once again how Saturday's win might be behind some of his other great days with Meath such as the All-Ireland final triumphs of 1987 and '88, but it wasn't that far behind.

"It has been the most fantastic experience to get involved with such a committed group of players. I've been involved in management at club and schools' level for 40 years but the commitment of theses fellas has surpassed anything I have been involved with."

Praise indeed and another indication of the positivity inherent in O'Rourke's approach. An approach Mr Pope himself would, no doubt, find favour with if he was still around.