Positive start as Wexford exit at first hurdle

There were no trumpets or farfare as Meath opened 2012 with victory over Wexford in the O'Byrne Cup at Pairc Tailteann on Sunday, but there was still enough cause for celebrations. Nobody will be getting carried away with this win but for the Meath supporters the result was greeted with a positive reaction. Watching Louth manager Peter Fitzpatrick will pick enough negatives from Meath's performance to use as ammunition for when he brings his side to Navan next Sunday for a quarter-final tie. It was also a welcome experience for manager Seamus McEnaney, who after enduring a difficult start to his reign as Meath manager 12 months ago, recorded his sixth competitive win in 16 outings. Gone are the days of dusting off the cobwebs and applying the WD-40 before the start of the O'Byrne Cup. Nowadays inter-county footballers are finely-tuned almost all year round and Meath's fitness levels were reasonably well advanced ahead of what is expected to be a tough NFL Div 2 campaign. There is still plenty of hard work ahead to get the stamina levels and the speed, agility and quickness up to standard, but Meath looked well equipped against Wexford and it was only the dips in intensity that allowed the visitors back into contention. Meath were more superior than the three-point winning margin suggests. They started like a steam train and pulverised Wexford with seven early points, but then a 15-minute blank allowed the visitors back into the contest. The levels of fitness were replenished as half-time approached and Meath settled again to pull clear. That dip in intensity and concentration led to a lot of mishandling and poorly placed passes. One such error afflicted Cormac McGuinness in the 21st minute when he gifted possession to Paddy Byrne with a stray handpass who then set up PJ Banville for a goal, Wexford's first score. Many of Meath's errors produced opportunities for Wexford, but the Slaneysiders were also inconsistent and squandered some decent chances. McEnaney handed Blackhall Gaels' Donncha Tobin and Navan O'Mahonys' Alan Forde (pictured) their first starts and he also gave second-half debuts to Gaeil Colmcille duo Brian Hanlon and Justin Carry-Lynch and Dunshaughlin's Cathal O'Dwyer. The three second-half debutants had little or no time to make an impression although Carry-Lynch did manage to pick up a yellow card. Both Tobin and Forde will be pleased with their efforts and will get further opportunities. Tom Walsh was the most influential of the so-called 'fringe players'. The Walterstown man contributed 1-3 and was an excellent target man. He tired significantly after a bright start, but when he got his second wind he proved to be a threat again and saw Meath over the finish line. Graham Reilly was also a constant thorn in the Wexford side. His strength in possession created openings and his pace cut a path towards goal on several occasions. A lower level of fitness also caused him problems, but with a long year ahead Reilly could be pivotal to Meath's chances. However, Paddy Gilsenan was the most impressive player on the pitch. The Oldcastle man made himself available for every ball, won possession more often than not and also worked back to help out in defence. Mark Ward and Conor Gillespie had decent outings at midfield where they were assisted by the hard-working Brian Meade. Ward's distribution was top quality and while he still has issues with his tackling, he was enough of a presence to suggest he could well nail down a regular starting slot. The only area of concern for Meath was in the half-back line. All three half-backs struggled with McGuinness giving away possession for the goal, Lenehan enduring a torrid 28 minutes before he was replaced by Chris O'Connor and Shane McAnarney having his hands full with Ben Brosnan. Wexford failed to exploit that weakness in the Meath defence, but with Gary O'Brien and Mickey Burke also doing well in front of the returning David Gallagher, Wexford were hurried and harrassed in attack and couldn't capitalise sufficiently on chances. Meath's discipline in front of the posts was also encouraging. Only two of Wexford's scores came from frees and one of those was a spectacular Kevin O'Grady effort from tight to the stand sideline into the O'Mahonys goal. That point was one of Wexford's few highlights, but the opening 12 minutes belonged to Meath. It took Walsh less than 10 seconds to make his presence felt with a point and two minutes later Reilly converted a 44-metre free. Ward got booked for a high tackle on Brian Malone, but that didn't hinder the fluidity of Meath's play as they strung together some excellent moves that resulted in points for Walsh, Reilly, Gilsenan and Burke. Walsh added a point from a '45' to make it 0-7 to 0-0 before Meath eased up and allowed Wexford back into contention with McGuinness gifting them that Banville goal. Brosnan showed his class to add a point and a minute later Banville saw his second goal chance crash off the crossbar. A Brosnan free and a superb score from Lee Chin closed the gap to the minimum before Meath awoke from their mid-half slumber and tagged on further points from Reilly (free), Gillespie, Forde and Gilsenan to lead by 0-11 to 1-3 at the interval. With the wind against them for the second-half, Meath managed to add just 1-2 to that tally. Eric Bradley and O'Grady (free) closed the gap to 1-5 to 0-11 before Walsh blasted the ball to the net from close range after a superb run by Reilly. Points from Brosnan and Adrian Flynn either side of another Reilly free left Wexford just 1-7 to 1-12 adrift and when Padraig Kelly and Rory Quinlivan left just one score between them, 1-9 to 1-12, Meath looked set for an uncomfortable final 10 minutes. However, Wexford couldn't get any closer. Hanlon struck the upright before Gallagher stopped a Brosnan free from going over the bar. Reilly closed Meath's account with his fifth point and despite firing the last score of the game from Flynn, Wexford were well beaten as Meath marched on to set up another interesting clash with Louth. SCORERS Meath - T Walsh 1-3, one '45'; G Reilly 0-5, four frees; P Gilsenan 0-2; C Gillespie 0-1; M Burke 0-1; A Forde 0-1. Wexford - PJ Banville 1-0; B Brosnan 0-3, one free; A Flynn 0-2; K O'Grady 0-1 free; L Chin 0-1; E Bradley 0-1; R Quinlivan 0-1; P Kelly 0-1. THE TEAMS Meath - David Gallagher; Gary O'Brien, Bryan Menton, Mickey Burke; Cormac McGuinness, Shane McAnarney, Ciaran Lenehan; Mark Ward, Conor Gillespie; Brian Meade, Graham Reilly, Donncha Tobin; Paddy Gilsenan, Tom Walsh, Alan Forde. Subs - Chris O'Connor for Lenehan 28 mins, Daragh Smyth for Forde 47m, Brian Hanlon for Meade 59m, Justin Carry-Lynch for Gillespie 68m, Cathal O'Dwyer for Reilly for 69m. Wexford - T Hughes; N Murphy, F Lancaster, S Culleton; L Chin, G Molloy, B Malone; D Watters, A Shore; E Bradley, B Brosnan, PJ Banville; P Byrne, K O'Grady, K Rowe. Subs - P Kelly for O'Grady 50 mins, A Flynn for Chin 50m, R Quinlivan for Shore 57m, S Banville for Rowe for 62m, A Doyle for Bradley for 68m. REFEREE Paul Kneel (Louth).