End of the road for Meath's All-Ireland title aspirations

Laois 1-15, Meath 1-12 Turns out the six-day turn around isn't just a myth after all as Meath exited the All-Ireland SFC race at their first hurdle against Laois at O'Connor Park, Tullamore on Saturday. Just six days after an encouraging display, despite losing to Dublin in the Leinster SFC final, Meath failed to build on that promise as they were out-fought, out-worked, out-muscled and out-played by Laois. The three-point margin of defeat actually flatters Meath as for the second game in succession they had to come from 10 points down to try to give themselves hope in the closing stages. Peadar Byrne's 69th minute goal gave Meath hope where there appeared to be none. Despite being second best throughout Meath could have forced extra-time at least as Joe Sheridan was wayward from a '45', Brian Farrell missed a late free and Stephen Bray kicked wide from a decent position. Meath can have no grievance with the outcome of their fourth round qualifier. They gifted Laois scores through pure carelessness and sloppy play and struggled to show the form that had seen them demolish Kildare in the Leinster SFC semi-final. None of Meath's six starting forwards managed to score from play. Nine of their 12 points came from placed balls and Byrne's late goal was only their second score from play in the second-half. Those statistics make for horrific reading for a side who genuinely considered themselves to be serious contenders? Even more galling was the amount of unforced errors. On countless occasions Meath gifted possession to Laois with stray hand passes. The long ball game and direct football which served them well against Kildare was abandoned, but many intricate moves broke down with sloppy passing in confined spaces. That lack of cohesion coupled with a monumental failure to secure possession at midfield allowed Laois time to build from the middle and left Meath struggling throughout. Individual errors also proved costly with David Gallagher suffering more than most as he allowed a long punt from Brendan Quigley hop over the bar in the 15th minute. Less than 11 minutes later he was comfortable in possession, but then lost the ball under pressure from Colm Kelly and fouled the corner-forward for a penalty which Ross Munnelly converted. Added to that he also screwed a couple of first-half kick-outs out over the sideline from which Laois capitalised with points. On the plus side the Dunboyne man did produce a miraculous save to deny Quigley a 47th minute goal and keep Meath in with a chance. Those errors weren't the reason for Meath's defeat, but they didn't help. Meath were careless in their execution throughout the field and when individual errors were added to the mix Laois took full advantage. Munnelly pulled the strings for the O'Moore County as Donncha Tobin struggled for the first time this campaign. Add in the loss of Kevin Reilly to an Achilles injury before the start and then the early withdrawal of Donal Keogan (injury) - the Meath defence was rattled. A failure to secure possession at midfield and the struggle to claim breaking ball ensured Laois were able to pile forward. Meath seemed to be content to sit back and invite them forward then attempt to make tackles, but with the wind at their backs Munnelly and company kicked points for fun from distance. With so much pressure on the backs, Meath's quickest form of attack came on the break, but poor handling and decision-making made life difficult and the failure of any of the starting forwards to score from play was indicative of the systemic problem of Meath's approach. The long direct ball made only sporadic appearances and with mixed success. For the most part Meath attempted slow ponderous build ups which inevitably broke down and lowered spirits as well as prospects of victory. The signs were ominous when Meath lost the toss and had to play into the teeth of a strong wind. The elements contributed to Laois opening up a healthy lead and with just six days to recover from a demanding tussle with Dublin it was always going to be hard for Meath to maintain standards and sufficient quality to get back into the game. The opening eight minutes were tight with Meath taking the lead for the one and only time from a Farrell free after 90 seconds. From the next attack Laois countered with a score from Padraig Clancy and they didn't trail again. A 45-metre free from Munnelly after Shane McAnarney had fouled Clancy gave Laois the lead for the first time, but Meath levelled when Mickey Burke capitalised on some excellent play by Graham Reilly and a fortunate breaking ball. Munnelly from almost 50 metres made it 0-3 to 0-2, and the entertaining opening eight minutes continued with Reilly restoring parity for the third, and final, time. That was as good as it got for Meath. They managed just two more scores in the next 30 minutes as Darren Strong's point from 50 metres, Quigley's punt from midfield which hopped over the bar, Damien O'Connor's tap over and Munnelly's third from over 45 metres made it 0-7 to 0-3. Farrell ended a 14-minute barren spell with a free after Sheridan was fouled, but then disaster struck for Gallagher and Meath. The Meath goalkeeper appeared to be under no pressure when he gathered Clancy's short point attempt. However, he ran into traffic and lost possession to Kelly. In an attempt to make amends Gallagher hauled down the Laois man and referee Joe McQuillan had no choice but to award the penalty which Munnelly converted to make it 1-7 to 0-4. Six minutes later Kelly had it too easy and stretched the Laois lead to seven points. Farrell tapped over a close range free to keep Meath in with a shout, but he also squandered a decent free opportunity from 28 metres. Laois continued to pile on the misery when a mis-read by Burke led to a '45' which Kelly converted for a 1-9 to 0-5 interval lead. Meath needed a bright start to the second-half, but within three minutes of the restart they were effectively out of the running as Billy Sheehan, Munnelly and Clancy all pointed to make it 1-12 to 0-5. A Bray free was followed by a point from Eoghan Harrington and with Farrell adding two points from frees before the 45th minute Meath sensed they were back in with a shout, just 0-9 to 1-12 adrift. However, instead of piling on the pressure, silly mistakes allowed Laois tag on another point for Colm Begley and Quigley forced Gallagher to make a smart save. An outstanding pointed free from Farrell closed the third-quarter to leave Meath 0-10 to 1-13 behind, but again they struggled to push on as Laois spoiled their running game and foiled the long balls forward. MJ Tierney and Farrell traded two points each to leave Meath 0-12 to 1-15 adrift with two minutes of regulation time remaining. A scintillating move that involved Farrell and Sheridan ended with Byrne grabbing a superb goal, but it was too little too late as Farrell and Bray kicked wide from decent chances and the long ball into the square wasn't utilised. Ultimately Meath ran out of ideas and were sent packing in what was a frustrating end to a campaign that promised much, but ultimately delivered nothing. SCORERS Laois - R Munnelly 1-4 penalty goal, one free; C Kelly 0-2 one '45'; MJ Tierney 0-2 one free; P Clancy 0-2; D Strong 0-1; B Quigley 0-1; D O'Connor 0-1; B Sheehan 0-1; C Begley 0-1. Meath - B Farrell 0-8 frees; P Byrne 1-0; G Reilly 0-1; M Burke 0-1; S Bray 0-1 free; E Harrington 0-1. THE TEAMS Laois - E Culliton; C Healy, K Meaney, P O'Leary; D Strong, J O'Loughlin, C Boyle; B Quigley, C Begley; R Munnelly, B Sheehan, G Walsh; D O'Connor, P Clancy, C Kelly. Subs - D Conway for Walsh 47 mins, MJ Tierney for Kelly 51m, P McMahon for Sheehan 57m, P Cahalane for Conway 63m. Meath - David Gallagher; Donal Keogan, Bryan Menton, Mickey Burke; Damien Carroll, Shane McAnarney, Donncha Tobin; Conor Gillespie, Graham Reilly; Alan Forde, Stephen Bray, Brian Meade; Brian Farrell, Joe Sheridan, Cian Ward. Subs - Peadar Byrne for Forde 21 mins, Eoghan Harrington for Keogan 26m, Jamie Queeney for Ward 45m, Mark Collins for Gillespie 59m. REFEREE Joe McQuillan (Cavan).