Royals finish with a flourish

Finishing with a flourish has been a trademark of Meath teams over the last three decades and last Sunday at Pairc Tailteann they maintained that trend with a NFL Div 2 final round victory over Kildare to claim fourth spot in the league. There was some element of luck about the win as Brian Farrell's fortunate goal with seven minutes remaining gave Meath their biggest lead of the afternoon, 1-13 to 0-12 and left Kildare with no way back. Farrell contributed a vital 1-2 to Meath's cause following his 51st minute introduction for his first competitive appearance of the year and his return will be one of the major positives manager Eamonn O'Brien will take from what was an otherwise disappointing game and campaign. With nothing only pride at stake, both sides fielded experimental sides, but it was Meath who utilised their panel to greater effect with O'Brien making eight changes from the team that lost to Donegal in Ballybofey just two weeks earlier. The manager's hand was forced by long term injuries to Niall McKeigue who could be out for four months and David Bray who will miss the season with a cruciate knee injury. O'Brien also had to consider his team without the injured Cormac McGuinness and Ollie Lewis and the suspended Brian Meade. Those absentees provided opportunities for James Macken, Shane McAnarney, Graham Reilly, Conor Gillespie, Gary O'Brien and Niall Mooney. While much of the game was played at a pedestrian level there was plenty of intensity in the final 20 minutes as both sides strived to cross the finish line in front. Ultimately it was Farrell's lucky goal that proved decisive. It was that type of luck that has deserted Meath throughout the league. While you must make your own luck at times, there were occasions in the campaign when nothing seemed to be going Meath's way, but that wasn't the case on Sunday. Much of the defending was seat of the pants stuff. Clearances barely made their mark, while some of the robust tackling was treated with a blind eye by Laois referee Eddie Kinsella. Meath were fortunate that ace freetaker Johnny Doyle had an off day. The Kildare marksman did finish with eight points to his credit and he gave the Meath full-back line a difficult time. However the Allenwood forward was unusually wayward from placed balls, kicking five frees wide from well within his range. Those missed chances ensured Meath were always in the game and when giant goalkeeper Paul Flood, who had one eye on the in-rushing Joe Sheridan, mis-judged Farrell's speculative centre to allow the ball sail to the net it was advantage Meath. With the cushion of a four point lead, Meath grew in confidence while Kildare's decent effort up to that point faded. It is hard to gauge this display ahead of the Leinster SFC campaign. Only seven or eight of Meath's starting 15 are likely to start against Offaly on 23rd May and O'Brien still has not solved several problems that continue to linger. Eoghan Harrington and James Macken endured a very difficult afternoon. The full-back position continues to be a major cause for concern and while Anthony Moyles did well at centre-back he was stretched too often as he covered a lot of ground. Graham Reilly enhanced his prospects with a decent display that yielded two points, but he needs to work on his defensive attributes and should be getting into better positions to contest the breaking balls. It was at the breakdowns where Meath suffered and invited most of their problems. Seamus Kenny was Meath's most consistent performer in that sector, but for long periods of the contest Daryl Flynn and David Whyte lorded midfield. Joe Sheridan underlined his importance to the team with another typically robust display. He tagged on three points and was a constant threat. Jamie Queeney and Shane O'Rourke also had good games, but performed in patches and need to find more consistency. Meath's attacking threat will improve if the ball is released quicker into the forwards and also if Stephen Bray is deployed closer to the goals where he can inflict greater damage. The 2007 Allstar had another disappointing game on Sunday. Instead of being an attacking threat he was forced further out the field to forage for possession. With nothing at stake the first-half lacked a competitive edge. Meath opened the scoring with a Queeney '45' before two points from Doyle gave Kildare an eighth minute lead. Successive scores from O'Rourke, Queeney and Mooney pushed Meath clear again. That pattern continued with Doyle, Hugh McGrillen and Ronan Sweeney trading scores with Sheridan (two) and Queeney (free) to maintain Meath's lead 0-7 to 0-5. In the closing four minutes of the half Kildare upped the tempo and took a 0-8 to 0-7 interval lead with Sweeney and Doyle (two) on target. The predictable flow of the game continued after the resumption with Reilly drawing Meath level and then Barry Regan edging the hosts in front before Flynn responded for Kildare. Sheridan made it 0-10 to 0-9, but by the end of the third quarter Kildare were 0-11 to 0-10 ahead with points from Sweeney and Doyle. When Doyle tapped over a free following a foul by O'Brien on James Kavanagh Kildare looked in a strong position, but again Meath rallied with Farrell (free) and Reilly restoring parity, 0-12 each. An O'Rourke free gave Meath a slight advantage before Farrell's huge slice of luck put Meath in the driving seat, 1-13 to 0-12. Farrell and Sheridan both added points either side of another Doyle score to bring the curtain down on an uneventful game that matched an uninspiring league campaign. Meath - D Lyons; S McAnarney, J Macken, E Harrington; G Reilly (0-2), A Moyles, G O'Brien; M Ward, C Gillespie; S Kenny, J Sheridan (0-4), N Mooney (0-1); S Bray, J Queeney (0-3, one frees, one '45'), S O'Rourke (0-2, one free). Subs - B Regan (0-1) for Ward half-time, P Byrne for Mooney 51 mins, B Farrell (1-2, two frees) for Queeney 51m, C King for O'Brien 57m, M Burke for Moyles 65m. Kildare - P Flood; G White, H McGrillen (0-1), E Bolton; K Cribbin, B Flanagan, M O'Flaherty; D Flynn (0-1), D Whyte; J Kavanagh, A Rainbow, R Sweeney (0-3); A Smith, E Callaghan, J Doyle (0-8, five frees). Subs - P Kelly for Flanagan 19 mins, K Donnelly for Rainbow 60m, P O'Neill for Callaghan 62m. Referee - Eddie Kinsella (Laois).