Meath Forum

Intermediate Championship

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Anyone writing in nonsense here about Ballivor being a hurling team is from the area with a chip on their shoulder and looking to create some sort of siege mentality. Nobody outside of Ballivor looks at them like that. Anybody who's ever faced them will know they've always produced quality footballers and you never got anything easy against them, even when they had some barren years.

They've been senior before and but for being so competitive on the hurling side of things may well never have come back down. Good luck to them from here on in, they will be underdogs again based on Meath Hill's form to date but that will suit them down to the ground.

The_Ripper (Meath) - Posts: 182 - 23/09/2024 10:17:54    2571401

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For 3 of the 4 semi-finalists, it would be a massive achievement to win an Intermediate Championship - Meath Hill and Castletown are very small clubs in rural North Meath, both with some really good young players who have been involved in Meath underage set ups over the last couple of years. They're reaping the rewards now.

For Ballivor, it would be a similar achievement - a small parish mixing it with the big boys.. People need to stop with the hurling club mentality, and it seems to be coming from inside Ballivor. Nobody outside of Ballivor cares. Ballivor produce good players, and whether they also play hurling or have players who play hurling for other clubs is absolutely irrelevant

All 3 of these clubs played Junior football in the not so recent past (Castletown 2022, Ballivor 2020 and Meath Hill 2017), so again - a massive achievement for all 3 to get so far.

For O'Mahony's it's a good chance for them to return to where they probably should be, but it won't be an easy task. Just like Moynalvey, they are far from perfect, and Castletown are absolutely capable of upsetting them. Their reputation does stand to them though, they're still a massive name in Meath football.

Meath Hill will be favs in the other game, Ballivor bullied Oldcastle and were really pragmatic in their approach. They will be very hard to play against, and I said before - Meath Hill's achilles heel is their discipline. If they can't keep it together, they're not going to win. But I expect the North Meath side to be too strong and advance to the final.

But two really fascinating semi-finals, and we get a good story no matter who wins.

hyperache (Meath) - Posts: 235 - 23/09/2024 11:51:36    2571425

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Replying To winatallcost:  "Agree. The senior especially the top 10 teams or so are miles ahead of intermediate. The winners this year will likely struggle as soon as they go up. Junior and intermediate much more closely aligned. There are probably 3 or 4 teams in intermediate not much better than junior b level but only one team will be relegated. Oldcastle seem to struggle at business end when going gets tough.
How did Jason Scully play? As a county player, would be expecting him to be leading the way there."
Scully was quiet, though made a few bursts where he won frees inside the 45. Ballivor did a good job on him. He took an awful lot of hits off the ball. Had as much involvement as O'Halloran and McKeon, the two other county players on show. McKeon and Garrigan cancelled eachother out, the only score McKeon got from play was when someone else was on him. Ballivor deserved the victory, they left a few scores out there and they have a lot of experience in the team. I fear for them against Meath Hill who are a similar style team to Oldcastle but they won't get away with the same off the ball stuff in Pairc Tailteann with proper linesmen. Adam Gannon and Keith Keoghan will be big additions if they are back for the semi final.

royal11 (Meath) - Posts: 99 - 23/09/2024 13:07:06    2571444

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Replying To royal11:  "Scully was quiet, though made a few bursts where he won frees inside the 45. Ballivor did a good job on him. He took an awful lot of hits off the ball. Had as much involvement as O'Halloran and McKeon, the two other county players on show. McKeon and Garrigan cancelled eachother out, the only score McKeon got from play was when someone else was on him. Ballivor deserved the victory, they left a few scores out there and they have a lot of experience in the team. I fear for them against Meath Hill who are a similar style team to Oldcastle but they won't get away with the same off the ball stuff in Pairc Tailteann with proper linesmen. Adam Gannon and Keith Keoghan will be big additions if they are back for the semi final."
McKeon may not have scored much from play, but he was very prominent in most of Ballivor good moves. Off the ball stuff will definitely be harder to get away with in Pairc Tailteann. I actually think Oldcastles defence was okay bar the goals being leaked. It's their attacking up front that let them down..they really struggled to break down a packed Ballivor defence.

I expect both semi finals to be close. NOM and Meath Hill favourites for those games based on recent results, but it's all going to be on the day! Meath Hill the only undefeated team left I believe? How can you not love the intermediate championship!

trueblue1995 (Meath) - Posts: 40 - 23/09/2024 13:28:18    2571447

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Mckeon started most attacks but you must remember it was o halloran cutting out the ball time after time and carrying it out through the hands to the half way and laying it off to Mckeon. On the scully point he got a lot of abuse hit off the ball and was still Oldcastle most prominent player. You could tell who were the county players playing Scully O halloran Mckeon.

Mmmeath (Meath) - Posts: 14 - 23/09/2024 14:39:27    2571464

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