A bridge too far

Ultimately it was a bridge too far for Meath. Eamonn O'Brien's side's trawl through the backwaters of the All-Ireland SFC qualifiers took an obvious toll on Sunday as Kerry deservedly booked their place in the final with an unconvincing display at Croke Park. There was no annihilation that many pundits expected, but there were occasions, especially in the second-half, when it was embarrassingly easy for Kerry as they held Meath scoreless for 22 minutes. Kerry, without hitting the peaks they achieved against Dublin in the quarter-final, always looked comfortable and with Tommy Walsh having a huge impact as a substitute they were the better side. Meath can count themselves unlucky on a few occasions. There were a number of refereeing decisions that didn't help their cause and with Stephen Bray forced off in the sixth minute with a shoulder injury, the attack lacked the necessary bite. Referee Gearoid O Conamha awarded Kerry a dubious penalty after Colm Cooper took an Eduardo-esque tumble under minimal pressure from Anthony Moyles and Darren O'Sullivan converted the kick despite losing his footing. Towards the end of the first period O Conamha failed to take action when Brian Farrell was clearly struck in the face and the officials also managed to award a '45' to Kerry when Declan O'Sullivan's goal-bound shot was clearly deflected wide by Cooper. It is those crumbs of solace that Meath fans can point to and offer as excuses, but in fairness no excuse can cover up the fact that Kerry were the better team. The Kingdom's defence was magnificent as they restricted Meath to just 1-2 from play, with Cian Ward's goal coming in the last minute of the game. They also lorded midfield and with Walsh a constant threat after his 28th minute arrival Kerry possessed the greater attacking threat. Very little went Meath's way. Both Anthony Moyles and Paddy O'Rourke looked nervous as Kerry put them under significant pressure. Passes went astray and clear-cut scoring chances were squandered. In midfield Kerry swarmed with Darragh O Se and Seamus Scanlon receiving significant assistance from Paul Galvin, Killian Young, Mike McCarthy, Tadhg Kennelly and Tomas O Se to snuff out any chances Meath had of picking up breaking ball. Nothing can be taken away from what Meath have achieved this year. While reaching another All-Ireland SFC semi-final is significant, it was the manner in which it was achieved that will offer the excellent Meath supporters some solace. Each and every one of the Meath players restored the pride in wearing the jersey. The brand of catch and kick, direct route football ensured many exciting games and while the championship ended the way it started, with a disjointed display, there was plenty in between to enthuse about. It was a pity that on their biggest stage of the year Meath looked nervous. It took them 14 minutes to find their first score and just like the Mayo game they were already four points behind at that stage. Another 11 minutes followed before Cian Ward tapped over a second score. There was also 22 barren minutes in the second-half and it is just not sustainable to produce that many scoreless spells and expect to beat a team of the calibre of Kerry. The day started badly for Meath and got progressively worse. A hopeful long ball into the square caused all sorts of problems for Moyles. Firstly he failed to claim possession, then both he and Eoghan Harrington swung wild boots as Cooper drifted past them and finally Moyles reached out an arm that prompted the Kerry player to collapse to the turf. From O Conamha's point of view it was a clear-cut penalty, other views suggested Cooper dived. Either way Darren O'Sullivan's poorly struck kick went straight down the middle with O'Rourke hardly covering himself in glory. Stephen Bray was forced out of the action and replaced by Mickey Burke. The captain's absence was a huge blow, but it is doubtful that even with his outstanding talents he could have conjured a Meath win. After falling behind to the early goal, Cian Ward struck the upright with a free and Farrell missed the follow up. Sheridan gave the ball away to allow Cooper stretch Kerry's lead and the Kingdom could have been further clear if Cooper hadn't got in the way of Declan O'Sullivan's shot. Sheridan made amends for his earlier wayward pass by brilliantly setting up Farrell for a fine score, but Kerry continued in the ascendancy as O'Rourke did well to deny Declan O'Sullivan before Darren O'Sullivan tapped over from the loose ball. A fortuitous free against Scanlon allowed Ward point from 13 metres, but Meath were not at their best as David Bray scuffed a great chance by fisting wide when in a decent position. Passes were going astray and on at least four occasions in the opening half over-hit passes drifted harmlessly out over the end line as Meath's endeavours to be creative hit a brick wall. A needless foul by Burke on Declan O'Sullivan gave Cooper a handy free to make it 1-3 to 0-2, but Meath gave themselves a perfect boost before half-time when Ward pointed a free after Sheridan was fouled and then the Wolfe Tones man lofted a superb sideline between the posts to close the gap to 0-4 to 1-3 at the break. Games are often won and lost on the smallest details and had matters worked out differently in the opening minute of the second-half then there might have been a different outcome. In that one minute Caoimhin King kicked an awful wide when in a good position and from the kick-out Kerry worked the ball downfield, Kennelly delivered a long pass which Walsh won easily over Moyles' head before despatching beyond O'Rourke. In that early second-half moment Meath went from almost being just 0-5 to 1-3 behind to actually trailing by 0-4 to 2-3. It was effectively game over. Kerry grew in confidence as Walsh was left unmarked to put six points between the teams. A poorly directed free by Crawford allowed Kennelly stretch Kerry's advantage and although Sheridan responded with a good point it was Kerry who always looked comfortable with Cooper adding another free after Meade had needlessly fouled Declan O'Sullivan. Walsh left Moyles stranded again to tag on his second point before Ward pointed from another sideline to give Meath some glimmer of hope. However, as the contest wore on Kerry were more competent around the middle and won the crucial breaking ball. Darren O'Sullivan's sideline ball was dropped by Cormac McGuinness, but O'Rourke did well to keep the ball out. Meath threw everything into trying to find a way through the Kerry rearguard, but all to no avail. Kennelly stretched the Kingdom's lead to 2-8 to 0-6 at his ease, but as time was running out Meath started to create more chances. Sheridan's great drive came back off the upright and both Jamie Queeney and Sheridan were denied goals by the excellence of Diarmuid Murphy's reactions. Farrell tapped over a 13-metre free in injury-time and with the two minutes of additional time elapsed Ward capitalised on great work by Sheridan to find the net. Defeat ended Meath's great odyssey, but there is no disgrace in going down by four points to a Kerry side that had annihilated Dublin by 17 points in their previous outing. SCORERS Kerry - T Walsh 1-2; Darren O'Sullivan 1-1, 1-0 penalty; C Cooper 0-3, two frees; T Kennelly 0-2. Meath - C Ward 1-4, two frees, two sidelines; B Farrell 0-2, one free; J Sheridan 0-1. THE TEAMS Kerry - Diarmuid Murphy; Marc O Se, Tommy Griffin, Tom O'Sullivan; Tomas O Se, Mike McCarthy, Killian Young; Darragh O Se, Seamus Scanlon; Paul Galvin, Tadhg Kennelly, Donncha Walsh; Colm Cooper, Declan O'Sullivan, Darren O'Sullivan. Subs - Tommy Walsh for D Walsh 28 mins, Aidan O'Mahony for Young 50m, Micheal Quirke for D O Se 59m, Paul O'Connor for Cooper 59m, Bryan Sheehan for Declan O'Sullivan 66m. Meath - Paddy O'Rourke; Chris O'Connor, Anthony Moyles, Eoghan Harrington; Seamus Kenny, Cormac McGuinness, Caoimhin King; Nigel Crawford, Brian Meade; Peadar Byrne, Joe Sheridan, Stephen Bray; David Bray, Brian Farrell, Cian Ward. Subs - Michael Burke for S Bray six mins, Jamie Queeney for Kenny 44m, Niall McKeigue for D Bray 48m, Mark Ward for Crawford 53m, Kevin Reilly for King 57m. REFEREE Gearoid O Conamha (Galway).