Eric Lowndes: Dubs won’t lose sleep over Meath reverse
Dublin defender Eric Lowndes has insisted the four-in-a-row All-Ireland winners won’t lose any sleep about a mid-December challenge match defeat, even if it was to Meath.
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With Jim Gavin on the sideline and four of their All-Ireland final team in the lineup, Dublin looked set for another win when they led by two points late on.
But four Meath points without reply stole a morale-boosting victory for the hosts.
“Obviously just getting out there to play football was the main thing so we wouldn’t be too worried about the result,” said four-time All-Ireland medallist Lowndes.
“It was a fantastic occasion, it was great to to see such a big crowd and to get a game of football in before Christmas was fantastic. It was a really competitive game as well, I’d say the fans enjoyed it which was great. The main thing was to support the fund and to get behind Sean Cox. There’s a lot of other (fundraising) events coming up over Christmas as well and it would be great for others to get in and support them.”
Dublin boss Gavin handed game-time to 26 players in total against Meath, bringing on 11 players throughout the encounter.
That meant rare opportunities for the likes of Lucan’s CJ Smith, Cormac Cowley, 2017 U-21 Player of the Year Aaron Byrne, Oisin Lynch and Declan Monaghan.
Lowndes, who started four Championship games last summer and came on in the final against Tyrone, knows Gavin will be trying to uncover new talent in the coming weeks.
“Absolutely, and there’s so much talent in Dublin at the moment,” he said. “Every single player out there against Meath is out there on merit, they’ve done something at underage level, they’ve won something at underage and they’ve been there and are coming through. So any chance you get to wear the jersey you need to grasp it and try to hold onto it. Even if it’s mid-December.”
The Sean Cox fundraiser was an emotional game for Lowndes as his family have close ties to Cox’s St Peter’s club in Dunboyne.
Lowndes grew up there and his father is a selector while his brother Stuart netted for Dunboyne in their county final win.
The schoolteacher even came up against some former school colleagues who are now playing for Meath.
“It was fantastic,” said Lowndes. “There was a bit of a rivalry there personally because I went to school in Meath and stuff so it was great to get out and play against the lads. It’s always special, it means a lot to my family as well.”
