Telegram Sam that Meath aim to regain title

The purists were left frustrated as they left Pairc Tailteann on Sunday afternoon, but the pragmatic were satisfied as Meath advanced to the O'Byrne Cup semi-finals with a comfortable, yet uninspiring, victory over Louth. The highlight of an otherwise drab day was the return of 38-year-old Graham Geraghty. The 1999 All-Ireland SFC-winning captain entered the fray to rapturous cheers when he replaced Mark Ward with 16 minutes remaining. Almost instantly he had the crowd rising to their feet as a long floated ball headed in his direction. That danger was frantically averted by the uncomfortable Louth defence, but Geraghty continued to be a menace as he returned from the Achilles injury he sustained in training last year. Geraghty was eager to make an impact and he proved he still has plenty to offer the cause. He chased and harried for every ball and his determination secured Meath's last point of the afternoon when he did superbly to keep in Bryan Menton's wayward point attempt before setting up Stephen Bray for a simple tap over. Geraghty's appearance provided the headlines in a contest that was billed as Louth's second chance to gain minor revenge for 2010, otherwise the game passed by with little fuss, fanfare or quality as Louth struggled throughout and managed to drag the level of Meath's performance below mediocrity. O'Byrne Cup games in January can be notorious for inflating false hope, but they can also be a serious indicator as to the progress of a team and Meath manager Seamus McEnaney will be more pleased that his Louth counterpart, Peter Fitzpatrick. Louth were awful. They managed just three points from play, as it took them 27 minutes to open their account and another 21 minutes before the added their second. Luckily for the visitors the Meath forward line didn't function to the required standard either and so the margin of victory was 'only' six points. Meath didn't play particularly poorly and no individual can be targeted as below par. Defensively Meath were excellent, the discipline was immaculate, tackling was solid and they restricted Louth to very few chances and never let them in for a goal chance. The quality of the contest was effected by the inability of Louth to raise much of a challenge. Meath did all they had to do without being spectacular and, safe in the knowledge that they were not going to be overly tested by Louth, became a little complacent. The hosts kicked 10 wides and dropped at least six other efforts short into Louth goalkeeper Dwayne Crosby's arms, some of the passing was sloppy and the option-taking did leave a lot to be desired, especially when it came to attacking threats. Mark Ward and Conor Gillespie were dominant at midfield. Paddy Keenan did threaten to cause problems, but he was snuffed out by the hard work of Donncha Tobin and Brian Meade. Ray Finnegan was another who caused the odd problem going forward, but with Cormac McGuinness returning to decent form and Mickey Burke and Bryan Menton also doing well, the Meath defence looked very sound. An early injury to Alan Forde brought substitute Stephen Bray back into the fold and while the O'Mahonys man wasn't at his best he did show glimpses of form that will warm the hearts of Meath supporters. However, much of the hopes for the future will rest with Graham Reilly. After enduring a difficult 2011 with a hernia injury and a dip in form, the St Colmcille's man is again staking a claim to be Meath's top attacker. On Sunday he kicked another five points from play to add to the five he scored in the first round win over Wexford and in general he was exceptional. He showed tremendous drive to win possession, ride tackles, evade challenges and take scores, he also displayed moments of genius to improvise in difficult positions. It was an excellent display from Reilly, but it wasn't one that ignited those around him. It wasn't through a lack of hard work that Meath struggled in attack. Despite missing several chances that he would normally snap up, Bray still finished with three points. Paddy Gilsenan showed well for possession and won a lot of ball, as well as contributing two points. However, they were the only three forwards to get on the scoresheet with Burke adding Meath's other point. Tom Walsh wasn't as effective as against Wexford, but that was because Meath played a different style. Walsh was a peripheral figure while most of Tobin's and Meade's best work was done in and around their own half-back line and midfield. The change in approach saw Meath struggle to gain an early foothold and it was the sixth minute before they opened their account with Reilly central in an excellent move which he finished superbly. A minute later Reilly was also involved as he combined with Walsh to set up Gilsenan to double Meath's advantage and when Reilly tapped over Meath's third after Gillespie had won a kick-out it looked as though the Royal County were on course for a comfortable afternoon. However, the scores dried up and Meath had to wait another 25 minutes before troubling the scoreboard again. In that period Louth showed their shortcomings when Andy McDonnell missed a simple free and David Collier gifted Gilsenan a goal chance which was brilliantly saved by Crosby. A succession of wides from Reilly, Gillespie, Bray, Meade and Ward frustrated the home supporters and when Ronan Holcroft eventually opened Louth's account after 27 minutes, Meath must have been regretting those missed opportunities. However, points from Bray and Gilsenan settled Meath nerves and gave them a 0-5 to 0-1 interval lead. Louth made three changes at half-time in an attempt to boost their attacking options and Darren Clarke did have a positive impact, but the early stages of the second-half were sloppy. Reilly made amends for a bad miss from a free by making it 0-6 to 0-1, but that was the last score for seven minutes as Chris O'Connor hit the upright and Bray dropped an effort short before Louth's best goal chance came when an opportunist strike by Clarke struck the crossbar and Derek Crilly's follow-up hit the upright. Reilly showed great improvisation to kick a point off the ground after losing possession and despite a pointed free from Keenan it was Meath who stayed in control and stretched their lead to 0-9 to 0-2 with Bray and Burke on target. With the win in the bag, Meath eased up and the final quarter was played out like the dying embers of a flame that had failed to ignite. McDonnell and Ronan Carroll pointed either side of Reilly's fifth point. Bray made it 0-11 to 0-4 with seven minutes remaining and it was a Clarke free in the last minute that brought the curtain down on a poor contest. SCORERS Meath - G Reilly 0-5; S Bray 0-3; P Gilsenan 0-2; M Burke 0-1. Louth - P Keenan 0-1 free; R Holcroft 0-1; A McDonnell 0-1; R Carroll 0-1; D Clarke 0-1 free. THE TEAMS Meath - David Gallagher; Gary O'Brien, Bryan Menton, Mickey Burke; Cormac McGuinness, Shane McAnarney, Chris O'Connor; Mark Ward, Conor Gillespie; Brian Meade, Graham Reilly, Donncha Tobin; Paddy Gilsenan, Tom Walsh, Alan Forde. Subs - Stephen Bray for Forde 9 mins, Graham Geraghty for Ward for 54m, Ciaran Lenehan for Tobin 57m, Darragh Smyth for Reilly 62m, Justin Carry-Lynch for Meade 66m. Louth - D Crosby; D Finnegan, D Collier, J Carr; R Finnegan, D Byrne, L Shevlin; P Keenan, B Donnelly; C Bellew, D Crilly, E O'Connor; D Maguire, A McDonnell, R Holcroft. Subs - D Clarke for Bellew half-time, M Brennan for Holcroft half-time, G Hoey for Shevlin half-time, R Carroll for Donnelly 53mins, A Reid for O'Connor 63m. REFEREE Sean Carroll (Westmeath)