Byline: Shane McGrath
LV BarretteWHEN Eamon O'Brien pulls his players into a huddle at 3.30 tomorrow afternoon, will he issue them with last words of inspiration or ear plugs? Louth's lap of honour after being trounced by Dublin seven days ago ended cutely, with the few thousand Dubs' supporters still on Hill 16 lauding them with cries of 'championay, championay'. They were the people's winners, the men left with honour at the end of a cruel tale. And the story requires villains. If the public were Louth supporters last Saturday, then Meath have only their county-people on their side tomorrow. Right? Well, not quite. Cork and Roscommon lift the curtain on the second double-header of the weekend, and one wonders just how interested they will be in tipping boos all over Nigel Crawford and his team-mates.
MBT Walking ShoesMeath are supposedly one of football's least popular teams, but booing has never been popular in Gaelic games. The rapid nature of hurling and football make jeering Rolex difficult but this is not a problem in soccer, where the pace of the game is slower and the easily-offended have time to make voluble their difficulties with a given player. Meath have been helped by the CCCC's scheduling, too. Were they sharing a bill with Dublin, then the most outlandish supporters in the land would certainly make a decent stab at bringing booing into football. But Meath will have no need of the ear plugs. They are not the country's most popular team, but what's new there? Same reputation, different reason.
CAPTION(S):
O'Brien: reputation
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