Losing away is a hard habit to break for Royals

The road to redemption started at Newbridge on Sunday, but despite a vastly improved performance, Meath find themselves bottom of NFL Div 2 following their seventh successive away defeat. Meath went into Sunday's game with criticism and damning condemnation of pathetic displays against Antrim and Donegal ringing in their ears and set about restoring pride with a better display. Sunday's game couldn't have been any worse than the two that preceded it and while Meath were significantly more dangerous there is still a long way to go if Seamus McEnaney hopes to avoid relegation and the possibility of a very short summer. Some of the failings that afflicted the horror shows in the last two rounds were still evident. Meath kicked nine wides, dropped four efforts into goalkeeper Shane Connolly's hands and were still unconvincing in some of their defending. What was significantly better was the obvious improvement in attitude. Some of the Meath players were stung by comments from former Royal County legends and their response was to put in an honest shift. Nobody can be faulted for a lack of effort on Sunday. Some basic errors were made - poor handling, sloppy passing and careless footing - but every player fought for the cause and that should help build confidence. Kildare proved to be a decent outfit. During a cumbersome and sometimes boring first-half the hosts looked very beatable as Meath enjoyed periods of dominance. However, Meath struggled to make that dominance count with missed chances and miscommunication resulting in fewer scores on the board than the small band of travelling supporters might have expected. It wasn't until Johnny Doyle was left unmarked to tap home a simple goal in the 22nd minute that the game sparked into life. Kildare tagged on points from Eoghan O'Flaherty (free) and the outstanding Robert Kelly to open up a 1-4 to 0-3 lead and then Meath came alive. That fighting spirit and willingness to work hard will have pleased the manager, as will several of the individual displays. The most notable of the Meath performers came in defence. Kildare had some gems in their attack and caused problems, but apart from a few lapses in concentration players like Bryan Menton (pictured), Shane McAnarney and Eoghan Harrington had good games. McAnarney had his hands full with the returning Doyle. The Allenwood player did enjoy some excellent moments, but he was well shackled by McAnarney and was troubled by the Clann na nGael man's willingness to get forward. Menton went through a mountain of work from centre forward and apart from two or three instances where his inexperience let him down he was one of the bright spots from this performance, but Meath still lost. They never really looked as if they would win and end their miserable away record. Every time they managed to close the gap to a point or two, they allowed Kildare break down field and tag on another point. Even when Shane O'Rourke got in for a simple goal to close the gap to 1-9 to 1-10 with 13 minutes remaining, it was Kildare who went straight back down the field and settled themselves with a free from Doyle. It was that inability to sustain pressure on Kildare that ensured Meath were always second best, but at least on this occasion they were in the race. During the dour opening quarter the indications were that it would be a very poor race. Joe Sheridan opened the scoring from a '45' after two minutes and moments later Meath were let off the hook when Caoimhin King cut out a threatening move. Brian Farrell got away from Hugh McGrillen to double Meath's advantage, but subsequently the Kildare player improved and so did the Lilywhites. Brendan Murphy did well to prevent O'Flaherty's dipping shot from finding the net, but from the resultant '45' O'Flaherty pointed to get his side up and running. Shane O'Rourke pointed a free after a foul by McGrillen on Farrell, but despite being in charge Meath couldn't pull clear as Kelly narrowed the gap to the minimum by the end of the opening quarter. Then came Kildare's decisive scoring burst that gave them a lead they didn't relinquish. After a passage of almost 20 passes in defence Kildare broke at pace with Kelly and Emmett Bolton carving open the Meath rearguard to lay on a simple goal for Doyle. Brian Meade was pulled for an illegal hand pass and O'Flaherty pointed the free before Kelly made it 1-4 to 0-3. Meath responded well with two flowing moves resulting in points for Seamus Kenny and Paddy Gilsenan, but again the visitors were careless as King fouled Keith Cribbin and Doyle tapped over the easy free to make it 1-5 to 0-5 at the break. That goal continued to separate the sides as Joe Sheridan and substitute Cian Ward traded points with Ronan Sweeney and Kelly in the first eight minutes of the second-half. Ward closed the gap to 0-8 to 1-7 after Shane O'Rourke was fouled off-the-ball, but the pattern continued with Kildare hitting back with points from Doyle (free) and Padraig O'Neill before Ward made it a three-point game with his third free, 0-9 to 1-9. Substitute Fionn Dowling made a telling impact for Kildare and he was involved in Kelly putting four between the teams. Meath clawed themselves back into the game when Sheridan intercepted McGillen's pass intended for Michael Foley and laid off to Shane O'Rourke for a simple finish to the net to make it 1-9 to 1-10. Sheridan saw his equaliser attempt strike the upright and drift wide before Doyle settled Kildare again from a free after King fouled Kelly. Meath couldn't get any closer. Every time they narrowed the gap Kildare upped the tempo. After Gary White and Ward traded points there was only a point between the sides with six minutes remaining. However, Kildare made sure of victory when Sweeney and James Kavanagh pointed before Paddy O'Rourke tapped over late on in a fruitless recovery bid that saw Meath slip to the bottom of the table and perilously close to relegation. SCORERS Kildare - J Doyle 1-3, three frees; R Kelly 0-4; E O'Flaherty 0-2, one frees, one '45'; R Sweeney 0-2; P O'Neill 0-1; G White 0-1; J Kavanagh 0-1. Meath - C Ward 0-4 frees; S O'Rourke 1-1 one free; J Sheridan 0-2, one '45'; B Farrell 0-2; S Kenny 0-1; P Gilsenan 0-1; P O'Rourke 0-1. THE TEAMS Kildare - S Connolly; H McGrillen, M Foley, A MacLochlainn; G White, B Flanagan, E Bolton; T Moolick, D Flynn; R Sweeney, E O'Flaherty, K Cribbin; J Doyle, P O'Neill, R Kelly. Subs - J Kavanagh for Moolick 44 mins, D Whyte for Flanagan 49m, F Dowling for Cribbin 55m, M O'Flaherty for Bolton 57m, Meath - B Murphy; S McAnarney, E Harrington, C King; G O'Brien, B Menton, C McGuinness; B Meade, N Crawford; P Gilsenan, S O'Rourke, S Kenny; B Farrell, J Sheridan, B Sheridan. Subs - C Ward for B Sheridan half-time, A Moyles for Kenny 46 mins, M Ward for Crawford 53m, A Nestor for Harrington 57m, P O'Rourke for Gilsenan 67m. REFEREE Marty Duffy (Sligo).