Narrow defeat for Meath

There was nothing on offer for Meath from this NFL Div 2 game against Armagh at Crossmaglen on Sunday because they were out of the running for promotion and safe from relegation. With the Meath footballers providing the second match on a double bill at Crossmaglen the results from all other games were known before throw-in and with Kildare beating Fermanagh and Laois overturning Wexford which meant Meath were safe from the drop. There was still a remote chance of claiming a league final spot if Meath had won, but with a vastly inferior scoring difference it would have been next to impossible for Eamonn O"Brien"s side to achieve promotion. Despite having nothing to play for Meath put it up to their hosts who still had their destiny in their own hands and knew they needed to win if they were to keep their slim hopes of a final spot alive. As the contest ticked into injury-time Meath trailed by 0-13 to 1-11 and were on the front foot. Armagh were pinned inside their own '45" and both Joe Sheridan and Stephen Bray had chances to restore parity. However, in those final minutes Armagh proved why they are the best side in the country to close out a game. They broke with lightning pace from defence and posted points from the superb Martin O"Rourke and Joe Feeney to secure victory and maintain their ambitions. The defeat leaves Meath with a lot to work on, but O"Brien and his players shouldn"t be too downhearted because they displayed enough tenacity and commitment to push Armagh all the way and with a little more sharpness and care they could have won. The biggest disappointment from Sunday"s loss and the most important thing that needs to be addressed at training between now and the Leinster SFC tilt against Dublin on Sunday, 7th June is the propensity to surrender possession too easily. Many of Armagh"s crucial scores came from handling errors or carelessness from Meath players. The game-defining goal arrived when Brian Meade lost possession in attack four minutes before the break. Armagh burst from defence and following a cracking move full-back Finian Moriarty blasted a great goal. That error was symptomatic of many of Meath"s problems. They looked good when they strung a few moves together and they defended solidly for the most part, but careless handling and a lack of concentration at crucial junctures cost them dearly. At least four other scores came from Meath coughing up possession. Armagh were allowed to stretch their 1-5 to 0-7 half-time lead when Meade again lost the ball. On another occasion Armagh punished Meath when a sloppy pass to Anthony Moyles was intercepted. Cian Ward and Mark Ward both made basic errors in the space of a minute and Armagh pointed twice. Another worrying aspect of Meath"s play is that they are struggling to create clearcut goal chances. Only one goal from six league outing tells a story of how Meath have struggled to put games to bed. When you consider that Armagh and Monaghan have eight goals each and Kildare have four it doesn"t take a genius to figure out why those sides are still in with a chance of reaching the league final. A goal was the difference between Meath and Armagh on Sunday and while Meath only had a couple of half chances that were scrambled clear or well blocked, Armagh took their sole opportunity with venom. Meath supporters have seen a steady improvement in the team since the opening defeats by Cork and Fermanagh and few of those that witnessed those setbacks would have said back then that Meath would be in with a chance of beating Armagh deep into injury-time. However, that is how it was. Meath defended well, although not with the same discipline from earlier games, and they once again showed great heart, courage and determination. Cian Ward is revelling in the centre-forward role and captain Stephen Bray is pivotal to all good Meath attacks, but only two of Meath"s starting forwards scored and that is a worry. Nigel Crawford and Mark Ward had a few decent moments at midfield and both were on target, but it was an intriguing contest against Kieran Toner and the excellent Charlie Vernon. Defensively, the work put in by Seamus Kenny and Shane McAnarney was exemplary, but O"Rourke, Steven McDonnell and Tony Kernan were too hot for Meath to handle while Joe Feeney tested Kevin Reilly on his return to the full-back role. It had looked good for Meath in the early stages. Playing with the aid of a strong breeze into the old army barracks end, Crawford, Cian Ward (free) and Bray inspired the Royal visitors into a 0-3 to 0-1 lead by the ninth minute. A dubious decision by referee Gearoid O Conamha deemed Reilly had over-carried and McDonnell closed the gap to a point, 0-2 to 0-3. Cian Ward restored the two-point cushion with one of the best points of the day, before both sides missed straightforward frees. Meath failed to clear their lines and Armagh opened the second-quarter with a point, but a very patient attack resulted in Bray making it 0-5 to 0-3. Then the tide turned against the Meath men. Meath surrendered possession cheaply and following a fine move O"Rourke pointed. That score was followed by Moriarty"s goal from a great sweeping move which involved O"Rourke, McDonnell and Feeney. A minute later Tony Kernan pointed and in the space of six minutes Meath went from a two-point lead to a 0-5 to 1-5 deficit. Mark Ward settled the ship with a fine point and a well-struck Cian Ward free closed the gap to 0-7 to 1-5 at the break. Meath needed a good start to the second-half, but instead it was Armagh who looked more threatening. Caoimhin King was denied by a good block from Barry Shannon before McDonnell and Aaron Kernan stretched Armagh"s lead to 1-7 to 0-7. It was developing into an interesting contest as Meath managed to get back to within a point with two scores from Cian Ward (one free), but Armagh had enough about them to move 1-9 to 0-9 ahead with Aaron Kernan replicating Cian Ward"s scores. Bray and McDonnell (free) traded scores before points from Cian Ward (two) and Brian Farrell and one from Armagh"s Ryan Henderson left the outcome on tenterhooks with Armagh leading by 1-11 to 0-13. Bray and Sheridan squandered late chances, but it was Armagh who were at their clinical best in the closing stages as the outstanding O"Rourke and Feeney sealed the win with injury-time points. SCORERS Armagh - S McDonnell 0-4, two frees; A Kernan 0-4, two frees; F Moriarty 1-0; M O"Rourke 0-2; T Kernan 0-1; R Henderson 0-1; J Feeney 0-1. Meath - C Ward 0-7, three frees, one '45"; S Bray 0-3; N Crawford 0-1; M Ward 0-1; B Farrell 0-1. THE TEAMS Armagh - Philip McEvoy; Brendan Donaghy, Finian Moriarty, Barry Shannon; Tony McClelland, Ciaran McKeever, Aaron Kernan; Kieran Toner, Charlie Vernon; Stephen Kernan, Martin O"Rourke, Brian Mallon; Steven McDonnell, Joe Feeney, Kevin O"Rourke. Subs - Tony Kernan for K O"Rourke 13 mins, Ryan Henderson for Mallon 57m, Vincent Martin for McKeever 59m. Meath - Paddy O"Rourke; Chris O"Connor, Anthony Moyles, Eoghan Harrington; Seamus Kenny, Kevin Reilly, Derek Flood; Mark Ward, Nigel Crawford; Shane McAnarney, Cian Ward, Brian Meade; Stephen Bray, Caoimhin King, Rory Maguire. Subs - Joe Sheridan for Maguire half-time, Chris O"Connor for Flood half-time, Peadar Byrne for McGill 39 mins, Jamie Queeney for Meade 57m, Brian Farrell for King 61m. REFEREE Gearoid O Conamha (Galway).