Royals keep that losing feeling on the road

The race to win a seat at the top table appears to have been run as far as Meath are concerned following Saturday night's devastating NFL Div 2 defeat by minnows Antrim at Casement Park. Coming into their Div 2 campaign Meath were expected to fill one of the two promotion spots, but that aspiration lies in tatters as the Royals imploded on the road again and slumped to their second defeat in three games. To emphasise the troubles that are effecting Meath they had two players sent-off - Brian Meade and substitute Tom Walsh - they kicked 14 wides, missed a late penalty and conceded eight points from frees. The lack of discipline is becoming a big problem for Seamus McEnaney's men. The manager blamed the interpretation of rules and the awarding "soft" frees, but the truth is that Meath are giving opponents every chance through careless tackling and sloppy defending. Not only is the poor tackling allowing the opposition register simple points from frees, it is also resulting in red cards with three Meath players sent-off in the last two games. On Saturday night Meade, who is not the solution to the centre-back problem, was booked in the 26th minute for a poor tackle and with 21 minutes remaining he was issued with a second yellow for pulling back Kevin Niblock as he shot for goal. Meade can have no complaints. There is no doubting he is a talented footballer and when employed as a midfielder or a half-forward he has proved very effective, but as a centre-back he was exposed by Antrim. When Meade was red-carded McEnaney's men were on level terms, 0-9 each, but once the Rathkenny man departed so do did any chance of victory for the visitors. Referee Padraig Hughes gave Meath an opportunity to claw themselves back into the game with five minutes remaining when he awarded an innocuous penalty following a tug on Graham Reilly's shirt. With Meath trailing by 0-10 to 0-14, Joe Sheridan's powerful low drive struck the butt of Sean O'Neill's left post and the ball was cleared to safety. Two minutes later Meath were reduced to 13 players when Walsh, who had replaced Conor Gillespie just three minutes earlier, was handed a straight red card following a late challenge on Antrim's best player Tony Scullion. To add further gloom on an already abysmal evening it later emerged that Kevin Reilly will miss a couple of weeks after he pulled a hamstring and Graham Reilly will have an operation to sort out a niggling groin problem which will rule him out for at least a month. It was as frustrating an evening of football as the Meath supporters have had to endure for many years. Saturday's performance will rank alongside the horror of shocking displays against Limerick and Wexford in 2008, Wexford in 2007, Dublin in 1995 and Tipperary last year. This level of football is not what is expected from the Leinster champions and if this form continues then relegation is very much on the cards. A repeat of Saturday's performance will ensure defeats by Donegal, Kildare, Derry and Tyrone. It had all looked so promising in the opening 19 minutes when Meath raced into a 0-6 to 0-1 lead, but instead of being boosted by the confidence of that brilliant start, they started to make silly mistakes. Over-elaboration from defence and a ponderous approach to attacking left Sheridan and Shane O'Rourke on the periphery. Both men were closed down by several Antrim players every time they gained possession, but with others obviously free as a result, Meath couldn't produce the decisive passes. With the Sheridan-O'Rourke avenue shut down, Meath looked short of ideas. Graham Reilly was a constant threat when he ran at the Antrim defence and he was Meath's best player. Unfortunately, when Meath needed a steady head and someone to kick a couple of points in the closing stages, the St Colmcille's man became afflicted with the malaise that affected his colleagues, he choose the wrong options. He used his pace superbly to get into decent positions, but he kicked a couple of terrible wides in the closing stages when he might have been better served to try to create a goal chance. Another player who was having a good evening until he effectively fouled himself out of the game was Mark Ward. The giant O'Mahonys midfielder won a lot of ball during Meath's dominant spell and he picked out a range of superb passes. Once again his wayward tackling ensured he quickly found his way into the referee's notebook and McEnaney had no option but to replace him at half-time. The loss of Kevin Reilly just three minutes into the second-half also served to disrupt Meath. The O'Mahonys full-back was having a fine game and his awareness in defence would certainly have helped Meath restrict Antrim, but when he was forced off it gave the hosts a huge boost. It had all looked so promising for Meath early on. O'Rourke (free) and Niblock traded scores in the opening 90 seconds, but the next 18 minutes belonged to Meath as they carved Antrim apart with some outstanding football. A superb pass from Mark Ward helped set up David Morgan for a brilliant point before a brace from Graham Reilly stretched the lead to 0-4 to 0-1 by the end of the first-quarter Sheridan made his sole contribution before O'Rourke kicked a second free to give Meath their 0-6 to 0-1 cushion. After such a bright start, Meath faded and Antrim took over. The outstanding Scullion galloped forward to kick two outstanding points either side of Paddy Cunningham's first free. Cunningham ended with nine points, eight from frees. He tagged on two more in the opening half to add to Sean Burke's fine effort which gave the hosts a 0-7 to 0-6 interval advantage. Meath had a couple of goal chances in the latter stages of the half, but O'Rourke's palmed effort was easily stopped by O'Neill and Sheridan drove a low shot wide. Within five minutes of the restart Meath had their noses in front again. Cian Ward made an instant impact after replacing Brian Farrell and Graham Reilly kicked his third point of the evening. Cunningham again drew the sides level from another free, but an outstanding point from O'Rourke edged Meath into a 0-9 to 0-8 lead with 24 minutes left. Then it all went wrong. Terry O'Neill pointed at his ease to restore parity and a minute later Meade departed. Cunningham converted the resultant free to make it 0-10 to 0-9. Cian Ward's free drew the sides level again, but then Antrim took over with Cunningham adding quick points to make it 0-14 to 0-10. The drama of the closing minutes included Sheridan's missed penalty, Walsh's red card and two awful wides by Graham Reilly. Cian Ward tagged on a free with two minutes remaining, but it wasn't enough as Meath slumped to their second successive NFL Div 2 defeat on the road this year alone. SCORERS Antrim - P Cunningham 0-9, eight frees; T Scullion 0-2; S Burke 0-1, K Niblock 0-1, T O'Neill 0-1. Meath - S O'Rourke 0-3, two frees; G Reilly 0-3; C Ward 0-3, two frees; J Sheridan 0-1, D Morgan 0-1. THE TEAMS Antrim - S O'Neill; A Healy, A Douglas, K O'Boyle; T Scullion, J Crozier, T O'Neill; K McGourty, S Burke; A Gallagher, K Brady, C Murray; P Cunningham, K Niblock, B Herron. Subs - R Johnson for Crozier 19 mins, M Dougan for Niblock 57m, M Sweeney for Brady 70m. 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 - N Crawford for M Ward half-time, C Ward for Farrell half-time, B Menton for K Reilly 38 mins, A Nestor for Morgan 42m, T Walsh for Gillespie 64m. REFEREE Padraig Hughes (Armagh).