Reilly getting used to Dubs hammerings, but says Meath can regroup
Graham Reilly has no concerns about Meath coming up short for their All-Ireland SFC round-four qualifier the weekend after next.
Despite losing to Dublin by 16 points and the fact no team in 10 years has recovered from a Leinster final loss to make the quarter-finals, Reilly is insistent that Andy McEntee’s team will be right for whoever they are drawn against.
The St Colmcilles man, who admits he feels “used to losing to Dublin”, said: “We set out to achieve things, to get to Division 1, to get to a Leinster final, and our third goal was to get to Super 8s.
"So we’ll have a bit of down time now for a couple of days and then we’ll regroup during the week and we’ll go at it again.
“This team is different, it’s a different group. I really believe that, no matter who we get, we’re going to put it up to them and that we’ll be ready.
Look, the next step for us [is round 4], we’ll forget about this, it’s going to hurt for a couple of days, but we know we have to regroup and be ready to go for whoever we draw in round 4.
Sunday marked a fourth provincial final defeat for Meath veteran Reilly.
“I hate to say, it but you nearly get used to getting beat by Dublin by so much. It’s not a nice feeling. That’s my fifth Leinster final, I’ve lost four.
“Obviously, I’ve won one against Louth, but I’ve lost four and all four have been against Dublin.
"They’ve all been by quite a wide margin, so it’s not easy to take. As a group we just have to regroup and go again.”
After making four points from over 20 scoring opportunities, there are no prizes for guessing where Meath have to improve against either Armagh, Clare, Kildare, Mayo, Tyrone or Westmeath.
“In the first half, we had 11 shots, got one point. Dublin had nine shots, and got five points. That’s the difference between All-Ireland champions and a Division 2 side.
“I know we’re in Division 1 now, but we’ve got to be able to step up to that level. If we have 11 shots, we’ve got to be able to take five or six scores.
"It’s as simple as that. I know myself that I hit the post and I was also an inch or two wide, so maybe the ball just didn’t want to go over for me.”
