Forward firepower the key to victory

The expected easy Leinster SFC first round win was duly delivered by Meath at Portlaoise on Sunday as they cruised past a hapless Offaly side that had to play the final 32 minutes with 14 men following the dismissal of John Coughlan. That red card, following a reckless and dangerous tackle by the former Dublin minor player on Anthony Moyles, was the key moment of the game and it enabled Meath settle into a style and formation to which Offaly had no response. Even if Coughlan hadn't been so irresponsible, Meath would probably still have won because they were clearly the better team. However, such was the defensive frailties that the margin of victory might not have been so large. Any win in a Leinster SFC encounter is more than welcome, so to start the campaign with a 10-point victory over a team that had an Indian sign over Meath in the last two outings is sure to build confidence. Meath will have to be wary of over-confidence because this was not the smoothest performance possible and there were as many causes for concern as there were reasons to be cheerful. Nigel Crawford capped his 50th championship appearance with an outstanding performance of drive, passion and commitment. The full-forward line contributed 14 points while Joe Sheridan also had a colossal outing bagging 1-3 with another perfectly good 'goal' disallowed. The note of caution must be pinned on the defence which struggled to get to grips with Offaly until the final quarter when the exertions of operating in searing heat took a toll and Meath were able to cruise to victory. Throughout the afternoon Niall McNamee caused countless problems. Eoghan Harrington never got to grips with the Rhode man and he was responsible for setting up both of Offaly's goals. Those two scores exemplified the problems Meath had in defence. For Brian Connor's strike after 21 minutes everyone seemed to be drawn to McNamee in an effort to close him down. Connor raced into space where he was picked out brilliantly by McNamee and despatched a clever finish beyond Paddy O'Rourke. The second goal came from a speculative punt forward by Ciaran McManus which Harrington allow drop into the waiting arms of McNamee, behind him. After keeping the ball in play McNamee picked out Ken Casey across the small square and he finished with ease. Basic defensive errors had Meath doubting themselves. They played some outstanding football in the opening period and picked off fine points, but the concession of those two goals left them just two points ahead at the break, 0-11 to 2-3. That two-point lead could just as easily have been a deficit as McNamee was denied a goal by a fine save from Paddy O'Rourke and Niall Darby was atrociously wayward from some very straight forward frees. It was those let-offs and the brilliance of Cian Ward, Shane O'Rourke and Sheridan that ensured that Meath were not left licking their wounds with regret on Sunday evening. Meath were boosted by Coughlan's dismissal subsequently, one of the few decisions Longford referee Derek Fahy managed to call correctly. Meath never looked in danger as Moyles covered in front of the full-back line and cut out any potential threat McNamee was able to raise for the remainder. The contest was entertaining in dribs and drabs. Fahy made a hash of many decisions including blatant errors in his interpretation of the hand pass rule and he also over-ruled an umpire to allow a Casey 'point' stand when it had clearly drifted wide. There were many incidents of unnecessary whistle-blowing that interrupted the flow of the game. The lack of intensity in the contest for the final quarter also contributed to the dearth of excitement, but Meath are through to the next round with an explosive forward display that will cause Laois a few sleepless nights. The possibility of playing Laois in the quarter-finals looked anything but clear-cut in the opening 12 minutes as Offaly matched their more favoured opponents. Casey gave an early indication of the trouble he would cause Chris O'Connor when he forced the Ballinabrackey man to foul and Darby converted the free. A foul on Cian Ward allowed the Wolfe Tones ace restore parity four minutes later and when Sheridan converted superbly following a patient build up to put Meath ahead for the first time, they didn't trail subsequently. McNamee exposed Harrington to bring Offaly level, but that was as close as they got for the remainder as a wayward sideline by Richie Dalton allowed Bray knock over the first of his two points. The first of Fahy's dreadful rulings on the hand pass gave Darby a simple chance to point from Gary O'Brien's 'error', but he pulled his 26-metre free wide. Buoyed by that reprieve Sheridan, Bray, O'Rourke and Cian Ward extended Meath's lead to 0-7 to 0-2. Defensive frailties gave Offaly hope with their first goal. Sheridan tailed a shot wide before he had that 'goal' chalked-off for a non-existent push, but Meath were dominant with O'Rourke, Cian Ward (free) and O'Brien making it 0-10 to 1-2. O'Connor's illegal hand pass saw Darby nail a superb free via the bar and the upright, but Meath responded positively. Paddy O'Rourke's kick-out was flicked on by Mark Ward to Sheridan who blasted over. Casey's goal set Meath back and after a couple of near misses for the Offaly men, the Royals had to settle for a 0-11 to 2-3 interval lead. Casey's disputed point a minute after the restart narrowed the gap to the minimum and Meath were wobbling. Cian Ward steadied them before Coughlan handed the initiative to Meath. Another superb pointed free from Cian Ward was cancelled when Casey converted a free after O'Brien was penalised, again for an illegal hand pass, but that was Offaly's last score for 16 minutes. Cian Ward (three frees), O'Rourke (two) and Crawford made it 0-19 to 2-5 to put the game beyond doubt with 15 minutes still remaining. The rest of the contest was tame with John Reynolds and Anton Sullivan pointing either side of a Brian Farrell free for Meath to close Offaly's account. Joe Sheridan put the icing on the cake with a fine goal when he capitalised on Crawford's excellent delivery and finished well while lying on the ground. All that was left was time for Farrell to sting Alan Mulhall's fingers with a drive, but Meath were already in the winners' enclosure by that stage. SCORERS Meath - C Ward 0-8, seven frees; J Sheridan 1-3; S O'Rourke 0-4; S Bray 0-2; G O'Brien 0-1; N Crawford 0-1; B Farrell 0-1, free. Offaly - K Casey 1-2, one free; B Connor 1-0; N Darby 0-2, frees; J Reynolds 0-1; N McNamee 0-1; A Sullivan 0-1. THE TEAMS Meath - P O'Rourke; C O'Connor, M Burke, E Harrington; G O'Brien, A Moyles, C King; N Crawford, M Ward; S Kenny, J Sheridan, G Reilly; C Ward, S O'Rourke, S Bray. Subs - P Byrne for Reilly 53 mins, B Farrell for C Ward 62m, C Gillespie for M Ward 62m, B Meade for S O'Rourke 63m, J Macken for Kenny 68m. Offaly - A Mulhall; C Kiely, S Brady, P Sullivan; S Sullivan, R Dalton, K Slattery; C McManus, J Coughlan; N Darby, B Connor, S Ryan; K Casey, J Reynolds, N McNamee. Subs - A Sullivan for Darby 47 mins, A Lynam for Ryan 48m, B Geraghty for McManus 59m, R Brady for Connor 60m, S Lonergan for Kiely 70m. REFEREE Derek Fahy (Longford).