Mickey Burke
By John Harrington
No-one was more stung by Meath’s heavy defeat to Kildare in the Leinster Semi-Final than veteran defender Mickey Burke.
The Longwood clubman lives a stone’s throw from the Kildare border so there’s no team worse to lose to as far as he’s concerned.
What made it an all the more painful an experience was the fact that he believes Meath were largely their own worst enemies on the night because they committed so many errors.
“We turned over the ball too much between kicking it away and getting turned over in possession,” says Burke.
“I think they scored 1-9 in the first-half and out of that seven points came from us kicking it away or getting turned over and them coming up the field and scoring or winning a free.
“That's just criminal stuff, really. They're basics, but if you give the ball away against top teams they'll punish you at the other end of the field.
“We just have to be better. We thought we'd prepared really well, but you can have days like that.”
Burke was one of Meath’s better players on the day as he carried out a diligent man-marking role on Kildare danger-man Niall Kelly.
He followed him everywhere he went, held him scoreless, and managed to score a point himself.
Mickey Burke
As a team though Meath defended poorly on the day, and Burke accepts that’s an area they need to improve on ahead of Saturday’s All-Ireland SFC Round 2A Qualifier against Sligo.
“We'll have to defend better as a unit, there's no doubts about that,” he says.
“The full-back line weren't being protected, but it's a team defensive effort moreso than six backs.
“Dublin, Kerry, all the best teams are getting huge numbers back and attacking at pace. We just have to that better now throughout these qualifiers.
“It's going to be sticky on Saturday against Sligo and I'm not just saying that. Sligo are no fools and it will be tight.”
Meath showed some good flashes of form during the League and the 27 points they racked up against Louth in the Leinster quarter-final was a serious score, so they have undoubted quality.
Burke is convinced of it, and hopes Saturday’s match against Sligo can be a launch-pad for greater things to come.
“Lads are looking forward to it. We want to get a run going again,” he says.
“Back in 2009 we had a fantastic run and got to the All-Ireland Semi-Final. We got four or five games and it was brilliant, a great buzz, so hopefully there will be a big crowd in Navan this weekend and we can build up some momentum.
“I don't think we've had a home game since 2011 in the championship and that's a bit of a help as well.
“Meath people love their football, they really do, so it’d be good to give them something to shout about. They're fanatical about their football and they do follow you through thick and thin.
“It's just a football-crazy county and when you have success for so long in the 1980s, 1990s, and early part of the noughties and then my generation not having much success, it mustn't be easy for them.
“Maybe it's a little bit like Man United at the moment. They knew nothing but success and now they're only finishing fourth and fifth kind of a thing.
“I just hope with the talented young players we have coming through, the backroom we have, and the effort that we're putting in that we'll turn it around.”
