The weekend's football taught us very little. The big guns marched on without too much trouble and the second tier teams looked decent without looking like they could ever trouble those in front of them. Among the latter, perhaps the most could be learned from Meath.
The 2-19 to 3-12 win over Wicklow was no less than would have been expected and they are now through to a Leinster semi-final against Westmeath, a game which many would expect them to win through to a second consecutive Leinster final. On paper that all sounds rather positive. However, it is what will (probably) await them in Croke Park that will be of worry.
Last year the margin was 16 points. And if Dublin get past Kildare in the other semi-final, you'd have to worry about Meath's chances of keeping things in any way respectable. So what has happened to the gritty steel of the Sean Boylan led teams of the nineties and early 2000's?
The Celtic Tiger, that's what. The economic boom to end all economic booms has been blamed for an awful lot but to blame it for the descent into mediocrity of Meath football is certainly intriguing.
For Martin McHugh, however, that is exactly what has happened. Speaking on Morning Ireland earlier today, the Donegal man was asked about the less than competitive nature of the Leinster Championship. Given that they were the last team to dominate the province, McHugh was asked how things have slipped so far.
They're a big county, they have a big population and they're traditionally a very strong gaelic county. Maybe the players aren't coming through, maybe through the Celtic Tiger they had it too good. Meath teams always dug deep and worked hard.
Unfortunately, McHugh wasn't pressed on that rather intriguing insight but a quick bit of searching brought up the fact that this isn't the first time McHugh has raised the critique.
McHugh blames the Celtic tiger for Meath going 'soft'."manual labours on farms weren't being done..tough breed of player disappeared."
— Fergal Lynch (@truefergallynch) May 23, 2012
You hear that Meath people, all that commuter belt money has made you soft.
