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Irish Examiner
4 days ago
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Eoghan Frayne: Meath's aim has to be to win the All-Ireland
Meath captain Eoghan Frayne has refused to place any limits on how far the Royal County can go in the Championship, insisting their ambition is to win All-Irelands. The quarter-final draw has paired beaten Leinster finalists Meath with last year's All-Ireland runners up, Galway. They will face off on Sunday afternoon at Croke Park (1.45pm) in what will be a repeat of the 2001 All-Ireland final which current Galway manager Padraic Joyce played in, scoring 10 points. From Meath's perspective, they will be hoping that beating Kerry in this year's Championship isn't a bad omen having lost that 2001 final to Galway immediately after defeating Kerry at the semi-final stage. This Sunday's Meath versus Galway game will precede the Kerry versus Armagh quarter-final (4pm), a repeat of last July's semi-final which the Orchard County won after extra-time. A draw wasn't required to pair off Kerry and Armagh in what is a repeat of the 2002 final as holders Armagh had already played Galway, Dublin and Donegal. Meanwhile, on Saturday, Dublin will return to Croke Park (6.15pm) to take on Tyrone in the lead act of another intriguing quarter-final double bill. Ulster duo Monaghan and Donegal will be first up on Saturday afternoon (4pm). Of the eight teams left in the race for Sam, Meath have been installed on the longest odds, 40/1, having only won the Tailteann Cup two years ago. Attacker Frayne, speaking at the launch of RTÉ Sport's action-packed summer campaign, stopped short of guaranteeing a return to the glory years for Meath but said their young group is ambitious. Asked what is the ceiling for his team, Frayne said: "I don't know, hopefully winning All-Irelands. That has to be the aim, your goal can't be to just beat Dublin in the Leinster championship. "You have to be looking further than that. Everyone wants to be winning All-Irelands and Leinster championships, so hopefully we can get there." Frayne, who has started all 14 of Meath's league and Championship games this season and returned a whopping 1-72, shrugged when asked if the Galway draw was a positive one. "We're happy enough, it's going to be a tough game and that's fine," he said. "I don't think there's any easy games no matter what draw you get. "So we're happy enough, it's going to be a good test but we haven't been in an All-Ireland quarter-final in a good few years so we're really looking forward to it." All eyes will be on what matchday squads both sets of management teams announced later this week. Connacht champions Galway are sweating over the fitness of Shane Walsh who suffered a shoulder injury in Sunday's preliminary quarter-final defeat of Down. Damien Comer didn't play in that game at all. Meath, meanwhile, should have Mathew Costello available again after a hamstring injury which kept the Dunshaughlin star out of their group win over Kerry. "Mat's just about coming back, he should be alright to go," said Frayne. "I think everyone else is either a long-term injury that you'd know about, or fit. So I think we're good enough, yeah."
RTÉ News
4 days ago
- Sport
- RTÉ News
Meath's lofty ambitions fuelled by tyros raising the bar
Meath will be hell-bent on reaching an All-Ireland football semi-final this weekend, but whatever transpires this weekend at Croke Park, 2025 has been a qualified success for the Royals. Ending Dublin's dominance in Leinster was a shock to most outside the camp, while reaching the quarter-final stage was achieved with just a third-ever championship victory over Kerry. For the first time in their history, they have lowered both Kerry and Dublin colours in the same season. Robbie Brennan's team got to sit back and watch others scrap it out at the weekend, with Galway now focussed on bringing the Meath journey to a conclusion on Sunday (live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player). For all the highs, there is the obvious disappointment of a provincial final defeat. Getting Dublin out of the picture was only half the job and it was Louth who put new colours on the Delaney Cup. Team captain Eoghan Frayne says for all the focus now on Galway, there is no getting away from the progress made this season. "It's been a great year," he said at the RTÉ Sport summer launch. "We had some massive wins. At the same time we lost the Leinster final as well which was a big one. You're judged off silverware." Brennan spoke in the dressing room to his charges after the loss and delivered a message that resonated with a group looking to continue an upward trajectory. "He just said, 'You can only be really disappointed if you don't believe that you'll be back here again'. "It was kind of just, 'look, we've made serious progress so far, there's no point throwing it away really'." Frayne saw bits and pieces of Galway's win over Down on The Sunday Game. The video analysis will be served to the players this week, but there are no nostalgia pangs for a fixture that would please the traditionalists. He wasn't born when the sides met in the 2001 All-Ireland final, a match between counties who carved up three of four titles between them around the turn of the century, and has no memory of the 2007 qualifier where the Royals turned over the Tribesmen in a Round 4 qualifier in O'Moore Park en route to an All-Ireland semi-final appearance. Events in Páirc Esler served to highlight the importance of two-pointers; Down's second-half comeback turbo-charged by two successful efforts a little over a minute after the resumption, while Shane Walsh illustrated yet again why he is arguably the best in the business from outside the arc. It's little surprise that Frayne is a fan of the orange flag – his effort against Kerry was his 10th so far of the campaign – and he feels it is vital to make hay with the right people on the ball. "It's not that big of a kick and if there's a slight breeze, it's actually not that hard to score them if you're any way accurate at all. "They're exciting, and it's great to see lads shooting from distance. If you get two or three in a row, it's a huge momentum swing. "We're just lucky enough to have some good skilful natural footballers and I think the new rules kind of shows off the skills of the players which we're lucky enough to have." It pleases the Summerhill man that they have the 1.45pm Sunday slot – "I'd rather an earlier game than an evening game, I like to get going straight away" – in what will be just his third game at Croke Park for Meath. Last year's defeat to the Dubs and the provincial final reversal at the hands of Louth means there is motivation to right that particular wrong, though it's easy to forget he only made his senior bow two years ago. One of Brennan's first move was to appoint Frayne as the new team captain. He notched 0-11 in taking down the Dubs and the performance levels suggested the responsibility wasn't weighing heavy on his shoulders. Did it all happen faster than he had expected? "Down the line, maybe it was a goal of mine to captain Meath, just from maybe being minor and under-20s captain, it would have been a nearly natural progression," he says. "I feel that I'd always wanted to be and I would have been working towards that. But then when it came along, I was obviously shocked that it came so soon. "But I didn't have to think twice about it. I was always going to say yes. It's obviously a great honour for me, especially when I'm 22." The Maynooth University student has Ciarán Caulfield (22) as vice-captain and it shows Brennan's decision to put his faith in the coming crop of players, marrying that in with the experience of the likes of Bryan Menton and Donal Keoghan. "They've been doing it long enough, they don't need to be worrying about all that stuff now, they just kind of need to focus on themselves. "Robbie wanted to give more responsibility to lads that are starting off rather than giving it to the same fellas that are further on in their career." Éamonn Fitzmaurice is among those who believe that the Royals harbour a real shot at turning over a Galway side with plenty of mileage on the clock in recent weeks and likely to be short of a clean bill of health. A place in the last four would be dreamland stuff for supporters, but Frayne has loftier ambitions again. Asked what the ceiling is for this group of players, he said: "Hopefully winning All-Irelands. That has to be the aim, your goal can't be just to beat Dublin in the Leinster championship. "You have to be looking further on that as well at the same time. Everyone wants to be winning All-Irelands and Leinster championships, so hopefully we can get there." Watch two All-Ireland Football Championship quarter-finals, Meath v Galway and Armagh v Kerry, from 1.15pm on Sunday on RTÉ 2 and RTÉ Player. Follow a live blog on and the RTÉ News app. Listen to commentaries on Sunday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1. Watch highlights on The Sunday Game at 10.15pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player.
The Irish Sun
4 days ago
- Sport
- The Irish Sun
Meath GAA handed injury boost as Eoghan Frayne reveals key star ‘should be good to go' for All-Ireland quarter-final
MATHEW COSTELLO looks set to return to the Meath team for Sunday's All-Ireland SFC quarter-final clash with Galway. Attacker Costello missed the Advertisement 2 Mathew Costello is set for a return from injury for Meath Credit: Thomas Flinkow/Sportsfile 2 Captain Eoghan Frayne confirmed the news Credit: Tom Beary/Sportsfile But Royals skipper Eoghan Frayne reckons the 2023 Tailteann Cup Player of the Year will be good to go next weekend. The clash will be a repeat of the 2001 All-Ireland final which Speaking at the launch of RTÉ Sport's summer coverage, Frayne reckons it is looking good for Dunshaughlin man Costello. Frayne said: 'Mat's just about coming back and he should be all right to go. Advertisement Read More on GAA 'I think everyone else is either a long-term injury that you'd know about or is fit. I think we're good enough.' Boss Robbie Brennan already ruled attacker James Conlon out for the rest of the campaign with a hamstring injury. But it remains to be seen if Ronan Jones or Jack Flynn are available to play any part around the middle third after spending several weeks out with hamstring injuries. Galway have arguably got even bigger problems. Advertisement Most read in GAA Football Damien Comer missed out on any game time again last weekend when the Shane Walsh went off with a shoulder injury after Tomas O'Se calls out GAA's mid-season rule change but fellow Sunday Game pundit disagrees He said: 'We're happy enough. It's going to be a tough game and that's fine. 'I don't think there's any easy games no matter what draw you get. We're happy enough and it's going to be a good test. Advertisement 'But we haven't been in an All-Ireland quarter-final in a good few years so we're really looking forward to it.' Meath have been installed on the longest odds of the eight teams left in the race for Sam. The Leinster runners-up are 40-1 shots despite already beating Dublin and Kerry. Frayne stopped short of guaranteeing a return to the glory years for Meath but revealed the group has big ambitions. Advertisement Asked what Meath's ceiling is, Frayne replied: 'I don't know, hopefully winning All-Irelands. 'That has to be the aim, your goal can't be to just beat Dublin in the Leinster Championship . 'You have to be looking further than that. 'Everyone wants to be winning All-Irelands and Leinster Championships, so hopefully we can get there.' Advertisement
Irish Daily Mirror
4 days ago
- Sport
- Irish Daily Mirror
Key Meath star poised for return for All-Ireland quarter-final clash with Galway
Mathew Costello is poised to hand Meath a massive boost by returning in time for the All-Ireland SFC quarter-final clash with Galway. Costello missed the shock group victory over Kerry that earned the Royals their place in the last eight of the championship due to a hamstring injury. The key forward had already missed a chunk of the league campaign due to hamstring issues. "Mat's just about coming back, he should be alright to go," said Meath skipper Mathew Frayne. The Summerhill man is relishing the prospect of facing Galway. It is the eighth championship meeting of the counties in total, and the first in 14 years. Meath, in fact, have won their last two meetings - in the 2007 and 2011 All-Ireland qualifiers. "Yeah, it's a good draw," Frayne said. "We're happy enough. It's going to be a tough game. "I don't think there's any easy games no matter what draw you got. We haven't obviously been in an All-Ireland quarter-final in a good few years so we're really looking forward to it now." He has already watched the highlights of Galway's preliminary quarter-final win against Down on The Sunday Game. "I haven't fully looked into it yet. We'll get stuck into them this week and look over them and see what we can do," Frayne remarked. "We kind of would have taken anyone. I don't think there's much between any of the teams that are left. It's harder to call games now with the new rules than it was before. I think it's kind of brought teams down to an equal level. "But yeah, it's obviously exciting times for us. It's great to be in an All-Ireland quarter-final." RTÉ launches over 90 days of national and international Sport: Women's Euros, Women's Rugby World Cup, European Hockey Championships, GAA Championships, World Athletics Championships, Irish Open, Horse Racing and much more free-to-air on RTÉ across all platforms
Irish Daily Mirror
4 days ago
- Sport
- Irish Daily Mirror
Meath's sliding doors moment as they prepare for All-Ire quarter-final v Galway
Meath skipper Eoghan Frayne says that beating Dublin meant that the Royals were in no mood to let their season slip away after the hammer blow of their Leinster final defeat. That breakthrough triumph over the Dubs was followed by the loss to Louth, and that could have been the signal for Robbie Brennan's young side to start thinking about other summer plans. Instead, they got their act together and beat Kerry and Cork in the group stage to set up Sunday's All-Ireland SFC quarter-final against Galway. Frayne describes it as a "great year" to date with those massive wins banked - but with the big asterisk of that loss to Louth. "You're judged off silverware so we were disappointed with that," he said. "But we've come on a long way this year so hopefully it keeps going. It could have gone two ways, really. It could have been the end of our season and it could have fallen apart. "Or we could have recognised, as we did, that it's not the end of the world and there's plenty more games to go and we kind of did that. "Everyone was of the same mindset that after beating Dublin, which hasn't happened in a good few years, we were kind of like, 'there's something here, there's no point throwing this away now' and giving up at this stage of the year. "So we kind of just got on with it straight away. There was no dwelling on it. We got back training straight away and tried to forget about it as quickly as possible and things have gone decent enough since. "It hit some lads differently than others. Maybe the older lads on the squad might have thought that it was kind of their last chance. The younger lads, and there's a good few in the squad, I suppose they kind of brushed it off, or it doesn't hit them as hard, so probably it takes a few days." Frayne believes the FRC's new rules have worked in favour of Meath, who have a number of players who are comfortable taking on longer range shots for two pointers. "There obviously is a huge reward for getting them. You could see in some of the games, there's no lead nearly big enough now," he said. "If you get two or three two pointers, it's a big chunk of scores that you can get in a short period of time. If you get two or three in a row, it's a huge momentum swing. So yeah, definitely it could come down to it. I think it's definitely something worth going after." Royals command is sitting lightly on Frayne's shoulders. Only 22, he was handed the reins by Brennan at the start of the year - a rapid promotion for a player who only made his intercounty debut two years ago. But the Summerhill man had been captaincy material coming through the underage ranks. "Definitely came quicker than expected," Frayne said. "Maybe down the line it was a goal of mine to captain Meath - just from maybe being minor and 20s captain, it would have been a nearly natural progression. "I would've been working towards that but then when it came along, I was obviously shocked that it came so soon. But I didn't have to think twice about it. I was always going to say yes. It's obviously a great honour for me, especially when I'm 22. I was delighted. It's been a great honour so far." Ciarán Caulfield, also 22, was made vice-captain. Frayne reckons Brennan made his leadership picks to put more responsibility on the younger players and to take that pressure off the older team members. The skipper says that Brennan has made the players feel "10 foot tall" while the older cohort have taken the pressure off him a lot. "It's been a team effort," he said. "It's not just laid all on me. "There's good lads in there helping out as well and everyone's kind of driving it, it's not just left to me. So that's definitely important. I didn't want to get caught up in the whole captaincy sort of thing and then it kind of affects my performance then. "Because that's the most important thing. I still have to focus on myself and get the best out of myself, but also try to get the best out of other lads as well." RTÉ launches over 90 days of national and international Sport: Women's Euros, Women's Rugby World Cup, European Hockey Championships, GAA Championships, World Athletics Championships, Irish Open, Horse Racing and much more free-to-air on RTÉ across all platforms
