A combination of decent weather, the lingering feel-good factor from last week’s win over Louth and the well-documented woes in the Kildare camp led me to decide that the time was right to bring my daughter Rosie to her first Meath match against Kildare in Navan.
When you factor in that she was born just six days before Meath’s Tailteann Cup final triumph over Down, a competition that this week’s opposition effectively relegated us to in the last game of 2023’s NFL, the choice of opposition seemed particularly fitting.
In the lead-up to Rosie’s debut at Fortress Tailteann, she acquired two things: a new set of earmuffs and in-depth knowledge of the Meath v Kildare rivalry over the last thirty years, including a special chapter on late comebacks.
As well as replacing Peppa Pig with continuous footage of the three-game sage from the Leinster Championship in 1997, I laid out to her exactly why while Meath’s rivalry with Kildare may fly under the radar, and is often overshadowed by our never-ending obsession with knocking Dublin off their proverbial perch and our continual grudge fests with Louth, the Lilywhites are often the yardstick off which the Royals judge themselves, even if we don’t like to admit it, even to ourselves.
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The two met six times in league and championship from 2010 to 2012, with Kildare winning the first five of these. While the particulars of the games themselves are mostly forgotten to history, they featured several high-profile incidents that they deserve their own exhibit in a museum (the Boyne Valley Tapestry anyone?).
In no particular order these games gave us such moments as Meath’s first outing after the infamous 2010 Leinster Final, Kildare winning in both Leinster and qualifier games between the sides in 2011 (one of which saw a 38-year-old Graham Geraghty coming off the bench after a three-year break, where he scored a goal which was subsequently wrongly ruled out) and Brian Farrell controversially being dismissed for an off the ball tussle, the Geezer/ Banty ‘belly tickling’ incident, the Seanie Johnson transfer and club hurling saga and much more.
20 March 2011; Different colours, same application. Kieran McGeeney and Séamus McEnaney get acquainted on the St Conleth’s Park touchline in a scene that coins the post-match phrase ‘belly-tickling’. Picture credit; David Maher / SPORTSFILE
Even when they didn’t cross paths the sides were locked in a perennial race to the bottom as they scrapped it out for the right to be considered the second-best team in Leinster, an honour which is comparable in its futility to Man United sneaking fourth place in the Premier League: it can be made to look good on paper, but it’s a far cry from where they should be aiming for.
Arriving late to the game we were forced to sit in Pairc Tailteann’s unofficial kids section, i.e. among 30 plus pre-teens whose continuous enthusiastic yet unwavering high-pitched squalls had me reaching for Rosie’s earmuffs.
'Guilty of acting like incompetent drug dealers'
While the first half was a cagey affair, the murmurings among the faithful at halftime were largely positive: playing against the wind we were a man down but a point up, unlucky not to be leading by more and seemingly in control.
However, in the second half, both sides showed their commitment to making the GAA a more inclusive family friendly environment: by introducing a possession-based, lateral passing game which deadened both the pace of the game and the pitch of the crowd to such a degree that it gave the perfect conditions for Rosie to have her afternoon nap, on which many among the crowd would have been happy to join her.
While retaining the ball is key in the modern game, it is only beneficial if something is produced at the end of the move. However, on more than one occasion, both sides were found guilty of acting like incompetent drug dealers – getting caught in possession and squandering a carefully planned operation, with nothing to show for their efforts but a bollocking from their bosses.
When Kildare eventually lumbered into a one-point lead with seven minutes to play, Meath hadn’t scored for 18 minutes and the outcome looked ominous. However just as they did last week against Louth, Meath added another chapter to their book of late comebacks. While Matthew Costello didn’t get the chance to add another blockbuster goal to his highlight reel, he did add an important late point which when coupled with scores from Cathal Hickey and subs Ruairi Kinsella and Aaron Lynch was enough to push Meath over the line, sending the kiddy boppers into a supersonic rapture and my eardrums into oblivion.
25 February 2024; Meath goalkeeper Sean Brennan is congratulated by supporters after his side's victory in the Allianz Football League Division 2 match between Meath and Kildare at Páirc Tailteann in Navan, Meath. Photo by Sam Barnes/Sportsfile
While Rosie seemed to enjoy her first taste of live intercounty action, on the drive home I pondered two questions: do I feel guilty for bringing her up as a Meath supporter when the bad days could outweigh the good? Kind of. Would I bring her up supporting another county? Absolutely no chance.
