Cusack Park mauling

Meath"s interest in the Leinster u-21 HC was emphatically extinguished by a spirited Westmeath side at Cusack Park on Saturday where Kevin Dowd"s men collected two second-half red cards. The hosts were much more in control than the scoreline suggests and Michael Dunne"s late goal added an undeserved degree of respectability. Make no mistake about this, Meath were hammered, and selector Mike Cole accepted that unpalatable fact. 'We were totally out-classed for the first 15 or 20 minutes and at that stage there was absolutely no way back for us,' he told the Meath Chronicle outside a subdued Royal County dressing room. And it was easy to understand his realistic reaction to what was a humiliating defeat by neighbours Westmeath. 'In the past, we would nearly always have had an edge on Westmeath teams, but that has all changed now,' suggested the Rathmolyon player who has served the Royal County with distinction for almost two decades. 'Part of the reason has to be that Westmeath"s senior team are playing in the NHL Div 2 and we are in Div 3, the Westmeath players have something higher to aim for and we will just have to get back up to that level and also get back into the Christy Ring Cup,' he added. Westmeath made a whirlwind start with a brace of goals in a blistering 60-second spell. Alan Devine capitalised on hesitancy in the Meath rearguard after only five minutes for the first goal and then Andrew Dermody raced away from Kildalkey"s Eoin Potterton and flashed the sliotar to the net for number two. Dunboyne"s Michael Dunne converted two frees as the Royal County struggled to get into contention and it wasn"t until the 20th minute that they hit the target from play. Rathmolyon"s Sean Dalton split the posts impressively from about 65 metres. Meath manager Dowd made a double substitution in the 25th minute in a effort to restore some balance to the play, but it didn"t make any difference. Na Fianna"s Barry Slevin and Kildalkey"s Derek Doran replaced Potterton and Michael O"Grady. Matters got worse for Metah when Devine claimed another goal close to the interval which helped wind-assisted Westmeath to a substantial 3-8 to 0-3 interval advantage. Meath resumed with Darren Kilcoyne and Darren Quinn at midfield, but they still failed to make an impact and by the end of the third-quarter the gap had widened further (0-5 to 4-9) after Dermody flashed the sliotar to the net. Meath were reduced to 14 players when second-half substitute Michael Lynch was red-carded with five minutes remaining and Killyon"s David Raleigh followed him soon after along with Westmeath"s Robbie Jackson. Raleigh had received a stern warning from Offaly referee Tony Carroll earlier, but seemed determined to make an early exit and was duly facilitated. Dunne pointed six second-half frees as Meath laboured in all departments and with five minutes remaining the Dunboyne player rifled to the net from a 20-metre free. Apart from Dunne"s accuracy from frees, the only other Meath player of note, on this occasion, was Navan O"Mahonys corner forward Michael Kelly who was a constant threat. On the positive side, many of the players will be eligible for this grade again next year. Individually, the players all have enormous potential and if they can improve their attitude and discipline, it will make a big difference. Westmeath - Jimmy Greville (Raharney); Eanna Gallagher (St Brigid"s), Conor Sleator (Brownstown), Darren Quinn (St Brigid"s); Shane Egan (Castlepollard), Eoin Price (Clonkill), Robbie Jackson (Castletown Geoghegan) 0-1; Christopher Flanagan (Raharney) 0-1, Stephen Bardon (Castlepollard) 0-2; Ciaran Curley (St Oliver Plunkett"s) 0-1, Darren Kilcoyne (Ringtown), Killian Murphy (Delvin) 0-1; Noel Conaty (Lough Lene Gaels), Alan Devine (Castlepollard) 2-0, Andrew Dermody (Castlepollard) 1-2. Subs - Mark Keegan for Murphy 38 mins; Damien Golden (Cullion) for Conaty 45m; Brian Slevin (St Brigid"s) for Curley 57m; Colin Murtagh (Ringtown) for Price 58m. Meath - Matthew Bissett (Kilmessan); Eoin Potterton (Kildalkey), Jimmy Boyle (Lough Lene Gaels), David Kennedy (Killyon); Ger Murphy (Dunboyne), Padraig Keogh (Kildalkey), William Mahady (Kiltale); Sean Dalton (Rathmolyon) 0-1, Ian Douglas (Kiltale); Malcolm Doyle (Kilmessan), Bob Doherty (Dunderry), Michael O"Grady (Dunboyne); Michael Kelly (Navan O"Mahonys), Michael Dunne (Dunboyne) 1-8, David Raleigh (Killyon). Subs - Barry Slevin (Na Fianna) for Potterton, Derek Doran (Kildalkey) for O"Grady, both 24 mins; Michael Lynch (Kilmessan) for Doyle 38m; Richie Donohoe (St Patrick"s) for Kelly 58m. Referee - Tony Carroll (Offaly).