Sligo swept aside as Meath earn first victory

Finally, at the second attempt, a NFL Div 2 victory for Meath and Seamus McEnaney and certainly the manager looked happy with this conquest over a limited Sligo side at Pairc Tailteann on Sunday. From start to finish the Royal County dominated and while the two league points will be welcome, the more significant aspect of this victory is that Banty's imprint on the shape and structure of the team is starting to emerge. After the lacklustre display against Laois, McEnaney's men needed to win this game to maintain any realistic hopes of claiming the Div 2 title and they did not fall short despite having Cormac McGuinness sent off late on. Of broader significance there was the manner in which Meath went about engineering this victory displaying a ferocious workrate that gradually eroded Sligo's brittle resistance. Every time Sligo got the ball they found most of the channels to goal closed off as the Meath half-forward line became defenders. It wasn't unusual to see Sligo players in possession surrounded by three or four Meath players with nowhere to go. Once they won the ball back, the home team used the pace of players such as Graham Reilly, Seamus Kenny and Shane McAnarney to quickly turn defence into attack Every so often Meath would get the ball up to the midfield area and, at that stage, adopt the route one approach with Joe Sheridan invariably the main target of a long punt forward. The pressure game with half-forwards becoming defenders relies on huge effort and a high level of fitness and in neither department could Meath be faulted on this occasion. The players knew a win was needed and were prepared to put in the hard graft that was required. There was also a brashness and edge about their performance that will have left the Meath supporters optimistic as their team faces into a demanding series of games starting with Antrim away next Saturday night. One of those who certainly put in a big shift on Sunday was McGuinness and he looked very downcast afterwards as he trooped into the dressing room following the warm-down. His dismissal was very harsh and the Navan O'Mahonys player can rightly claim to be the victim of some very fussy referring from Clare official Rory Hickey. McGuinness was brought to book initially for a tackle that could be deemed robust, but no more. The second card came shortly afterwards when McGuinness tried to kick the ball on the ground while an opponent was attempting to pick it up. Red followed the second yellow amid howls of derision from the stands. Eight yellow cards were shown to seven Meath players, the first two were displayed inside the opening 90 seconds - to Sheridan and Caoimhin King. As he sought to impose his authority, the match official - who refereed the game to the letter of the law - blew up for an eye-watering 59 frees (26 to Meath, 33 to Sligo). And that statistic may cause McEnaney and his management team some concern as against a more clinical side with a sharper cutting edge the consequences of conceding so many frees could have been costly. What will please the Meath management is the manner in which their team won a healthy supply of ball around midfield with Conor Gillespie indicating in his steady performance that he has a future on the team. The fact that plenty of breaking ball was harvested around the central sector meant that the forwards had a good deal of possession to work with - and this was particularly true in the opening half when Meath faced a stiff breeze. All six home forwards got on the scoresheet with McAnarney, Reilly, David Morgan, Sheridan, Shane O'Rourke as well as substitute Thomas Walsh shooting over points from play. O'Rourke also slotted over three points from frees and in the absence of Cian Ward he looks like he will be the main free-taker with one converted free from distance indicating a talent for the role. Meath's passing was, for the most part, crisp and precise although time and again, especially in the second-half, promising moves ended up in a cul-de-sacs with the ball cheaply conceded. When Meath players found their colleagues they could really make ground and they produced a gem of a move just before half-time that ended in a point for McAnarney. It all started with Brendan Murphy making a fine catch on the edge of his own square. The necklace of passes included McAnarney, Gillespie, O'Rourke and McGuinness with McAnarney coming back into the sequence to slot between the posts. It was impressive stuff. Meath created their share of goal-scoring chances with one clear-cut effort created just before the interval when Sheridan released McGuinness and his shot from close range was blocked by Sligo 'keeper Philip Greene who was penalised for handling on the ground outside the small square. O'Rourke pointed the free. Then there was Brian Farrell's goal on 14 minutes. Sheridan intercepted a pass as Sligo moved the ball from defence, Morgan and O'Rourke were involved in getting the ball back to Sheridan whose shot was blocked by Sligo full-back Conor Davey on the line. The ball broke to Farrell who had the simplest of tasks in directing the ball to the net. The concession of 'only' eight points was a big plus for the Meath defence although that shouldn't deflect from the fact that McEnaney's side rode their luck at times. Mark Breheny was desperately unlucky not to find the net when his powerful drive cannoned off the woodwork on 15 minutes. The ball broke to Adrian Marren who pointed yet it could have been much worse for Meath. David Kelly was Sligo's main threat. Blessed with blistering pace he caused plenty of problems for Kevin Reilly who, overall, gave a solid display. Kelly had a shot that whizzed wide midway through the opening half with the defence exposed. It was a real chance. Late in that opening half Sligo's Eamonn O'Hara also had a 'goal' disallowed for square ball infringement. It was a marginal decision with O'Hara punching past Murphy who otherwise looked very secure all afternoon. Brian Meade (pictured) looked like he could be an answer to the problematic half-back position although there will be greater challenges ahead for him. There will also be stiffer tests ahead for Meath. This win got their Div 2 campaign up and running in earnest. Two league points in the bag and they will hope much more to come. SCORERS Meath - S O'Rourke 0-4, three frees; B Farrell 1-0; J Sheridan 0-2; G Reilly 0-2; S McAnarney 0-2, T Walsh 0-1, D Morgan 0-1. Sligo - M Breheny 0-2 one free; A Costello 0-2 one free; D Maye 0-1 free, A Marren 0-1; S Gilmartin 0-1; C Harrison 0-1. THE TEAMS Meath - B Murphy; G O'Brien, K Reilly, C King; S Kenny, B Meade, C McGuinness; M Ward, C Gillespie; S McAnarney, B Farrell, G Reilly; D Morgan, J Sheridan, S O'Rourke. Subs - A Nestor for Farrell 61 mins; N Crawford for Ward 63m; T Walsh for Morgan 65m; C Ward for Reilly 70m. Sligo - P Greene; C Harrison (0-1), C Davey, R Donovan; K Cawley, M Quinn, P McGovern; T Taylor, S Gilmartin; M Breheny, E O'Hara, F Quinn; D Maye, A Marren, D Kelly. Subs - B Kennedy for C Davey 19mins; S Davey for Marren half-time; A Costello for Harrison 48m; B Egan for Quinn 52m; P Hughes for Maye 60m. REFEREE Rory Hickey (Clare).