Facile victory marks first round success

 

Meath 1-25

Carlow 0-8

TEAMS can only beat what is put in front of them and that is exactly what Meath did in comfortable fashion with a 20-point Leinster SFC hammering of an awful Carlow outfit at Croke Park on Sunday.

Very little will be learned from the experience by either manager. Carlow boss Paul Bealin had declared before the contest that he would know better where his side were at after the game and now he knows, they're amongst the worst in the country.

There is no disguising how bad Carlow are, but credit must go to Meath for the professional manner they went about the job. They didn't relinquish control at any stage and were still full of running at the end.

It is easy to be buoyant when you're winning and Meath will have greater tests, but the signs are encouraging. Nobody is going to get carried away by such a huge margin of victory, especially the players and management team.

The pleasing aspect of Meath's performance, and there were many, was the way they reacted to having five players suspended and two key men injured. The strength in depth is healthy and Colm Coyle will have learned that he has players capable of performing on the big stage.

He utilised the full panel at his disposal and everyone will have planted seeds of thought in the manager's mind for inclusion in the quarter-final against Wexford on Sunday, 1st June.

Brian Meade made the biggest claim for retaining his place with an excellent display at midfield. He covered for the suspended Nigel Crawford, but proved that the Dunboyne man will find it difficult to win his place back when he returns, if Meath overcome Wexford.

Meade started nervously, conceded three frees and gave away possession, but once he settled he lorded midfield with some superb fielding and excellent awareness and distribution.

Rumours that Mark Ward was going to be dropped proved to be unfounded and he partnered Meade in the middle, but Meath were always in control in almost every sector of the field.

The only times Carlow looked a threat was when they got the ball into Daniel St Leger. The 19-year-old gave Darren Fay a strenuous test, but once the Trim man settled he found the measure of St Leger and had a comfortable time.

Meath were solid at the back. Kevin Reilly was reliable at centre-back and both corner-backs Chris O'Connor and Cormac McGill were very assured. Michael Ahern had little to do, but when he was called upon he did well to parry JJ Smith's second-half effort over the bar.

While the midfield and defence did their job in a no-nonsense fashion and with plenty of composure, it was their attacking options where Meath were most impressive.

Peadar Byrne was the only attacking player that didn't score, but it wasn't for the lack of trying.

He kicked a couple of wides late in the game, but his non-stop work rate and creativity would have been sadly missed had he been missing.

The other five starting attackers were joined on the scoreboard by a midfielder, two of the defence and two substitutes, so overall it was a great scattering of scorers for Colm Coyle and something he has looked for all year.

Another pleasing aspect of the massive total is that 1-19 came from play and it could have been a lot more if Meath really were being pushed to the end.

When Meath hammered Carlow in the opening round of the Leinster SFC in 1996 they posted 0-24 on a day that saw a lot of new faces.

Hopefully a similar run can be embarked on, but Coyle will not let his side get carried away because Carlow were as bad as any side Meath have faced in the Leinster SFC.

While the issue was never in doubt, Meath did endure a nervy few minutes at the start when Carlow lorded the possession for the first 10 minutes.

Bealin's side won the early breaks and caused problems even before St Leger won possession in front of Fay and pointed after two minutes. Carlow had a score and three wides to their name before Meath's first attack yielded a Cian Ward point off his left foot.

Carlow were still pressing, but their shooting let them down. Five wides in the opening nine minutes drained their ambition and enthusiasm and as Meath settled they became more in control and overwhelmed the south-easterners.

Stephen Bray, Alan Nestor and Joe Sheridan made it 0-4 to 0-1 before Cian Ward pointed the first score from a free in the 13th minute. Another long distance free from the Wolfe Tones man followed before Joe Sheridan's second score made it 0-7 to 0-1.

Smith's free kept Carlow in touch, but when an excellent move involving Meade, Graham Geraghty and Byrne fell to Joe Sheridan the Seneschalstown man put the game beyond doubt with a cool finish beyond John Brennan.

Bray and Cian Ward traded points with St Leger and Smith (free) before a barrage of scores from Cian Ward (two frees), Joe Sheridan, Caoimhin King, Geraghty and Meade secured a 1-15 to 0-4 interval lead for Meath.

Carlow must have prayed to be put out of their misery, but they responded positively with an Alan Curran point within 16 seconds of the restart.

With the game wrapped up, Meath were slow to start the second-half and it was corner-back O'Connor who showed the way with two points in the third quarter.

Carlow were looking for goals to add some respectability, but they could find no way past Aherne and blasted other chances over the bar.

Meath continued to dominate even after Coyle had taken off his top scorers Cian Ward and Joe Sheridan. He could even afford to withdraw man-of-the-match Meade and gave debuts to Graham Reilly, Terry Skelly, Damien Sheridan and Eoin Reilly.

Two points in succession from Smith and Eric McCormack left Carlow 0-8 to 1-18 adrift, but they failed to score in the last 16 minutes as the return of Brian Farrell brought the Nobber man two points and helped Meath close out the game comfortably.

SCORERS

C Ward 0-7, four frees; J Sheridan 1-3; S Bray 0-4; G Geraghty 0-2, C O'Connor 0-2, A Nestor 0-2, B Farrell 0-2, two frees; G Reilly 0-1, C King 0-1, B Meade 0-1; Carlow – J J Smith 0-3, two frees; D St Leger 0-2, E McCormack 0-2; A Curran 0-1.

THE TEAMS

Meath – M Ahern; C O'Connor, D Fay, C McGill; E Harrington, K Reilly, C King; B Meade, M Ward; A Nestor, C Ward, P Byrne; S Bray, J Sheridan, G Geraghty. Subs – B Farrell for J Sheridan 46 mins, D Sheridan for M Ward 46m, G Reilly for C Ward 48m, E Reilly for Meade 51m, T Skelly for Reilly 56m.

Carlow – J Brennan; E Doyle, J Hayden, P Bambrick; P Cashin, M Nolan, A Curran; D Byrne, P Walsh; B Carberry, J Murphy, B Murphy; E McCormack, D ST Leger, J J Smith. Subs – B Farrell for Hayden 25 mins, J Roche for Nolan 26m, S Rea for J Murphy 39m, R Sinnott for Doyle 61m, K Nolan for Curran 65m.

REFEREE

Gearoid O Conamha (Galway).