Meath survive Armagh test

Meath survived a stern Armagh test to win by 1-21 to 3-9 in the NHL Div 2B at the Athletic Grounds in Armagh today as footbaler Mickey Burke was included from the start only 19 hours after he helped Meath to victory over Laois in the NFL Div 2 at O'Moore Park on Surday night.

Meath were ahead by nine points at the interval (0-13 to 0-4) as they dictated the exchanges and picked off the points from Stephen Morris and Derek Doran (three each), Paddy Conneely and Willie McGrath (two each), Damien Healy, Mickey Burke and James Toher (free) while Paul Gaffney (two), Fiachra Bradley and Matthew Lennon split the posts for Armagh.

Meath also squandered a series of goal chances with Adam Gannon, Doran and Damien Healy all guilty of poor finishing before the break.

Three second-half gols for Armagh from Matthew Lennon, who aso pointed a penalty, Paul Gaffney and Conor Corvan revived Armagh and cosed the gop to two points at one stage, but Meath did enough to earn the victory with a goal Adam Gannon proving crucial with 15 minutes remaining.