Comfortable for Kerry in Navan

It was fairly straightforward for Kerry in the Super 8s third round tie in Navan this evening where they were comfortable with a 2-18 to 1-13 victory against a determined Meath side.

Meath made a game of it in the opening hallf, but thereafter it was fairly uninspiring stuff from a hard-working Meath side that could only manage four second-half points.

Kerry had plenty in reserve in that second half and when Sean O'Shea found the back of the Meath net seven minutes after the resumption it effectively killed the game as a contest.

Meath huffed and puffed for the remainder, but never seriously threatened the Kerry rearguard, although the Munster men picked up two black cards for cynical infringements that showed their ruthless streak. Meath also got a black card late in the second-half.

Meath started the game tentatively against a confident-looking Kerry side that passed the ball around with precision and had the appearance of a team that would blow the hosts away.

A hallmark of the Kerry performance was an ability to hit long and precise passes when a long ball was required.

However, Meath kept in touch with the Munster champions who had midfielder David Moran to thank for much of the positive movement they enjoyed in the opening 35 minutes.

O'Shea emerged as their top marksman in that opening half with four points (two frees) to his credit, a tally matched by Meath full-forward Shane Walsh who saw one of his efforts skim the crossbar late in the half.

Kerry found the net in the 15th minute from Brian O Beaglaoich and it was a well-deserved score as a minute earlier Paul Geaney had blazed wide when it seemed easier to find the net.

Cillian O'Sullivan's solo raid in the 23rd minute made the opening for Meath's goal with Darragh Campion applying the finish to the delight of the home supporters in the crowd of 9,300. 

Bryan McMahon was also influential for Meath in those opening 35 minutes and claimed a brace of points with Campion, Thomas O'Reilly and Ethan Devine completing Meath's tally as they trailed by the minimum (1-9 to 1-10) at the break.

Killian Spillane (two), Geaney, Stephen O'Brien, Moran and Tom O'Sullivan added the extra Kerry points.

Walsh had Meath on terms (1-10 each) only 40 seconds after the re-start, but that was as good as it got and when O'Shea rifled that second Kerry goal the path to the All-Ireland semi-final looked more secure.

Meath laboured to further points from Walsh (free), McMahon and Bryan Menton, but Kerry were in the comfort zone.
O'Shea (four), Geaney, Spillane, O Beaglaoich and Moran added the points

SCORERS
Kerry - Sean O'Shea 1-8 four frees, one '45'; Brian O Beaglaoich 1-1; Killian Spillane 0-3; Paul Geaney 0-2; David Moran 0-2; Stephen O'Brien 0-1;Tom O'Sullivan 0-1.

Meath - Shane Walsh 0-6 three frees; Darragh Campion 1-1; Bryan McMahon 0-3; Thomas O'Reilly 0-1; Ethan Devine 0-1 Bryan Menton 0-1.

TEAMS
Kerry - Shane Ryan; Jason Foley; Tadhg Morley, Tom O'Sullivan; Paul Murphy, Gavin Crowley, Brian O Beaglaoich; David Moran, Adrian Spillane; Gavin White, Sean O'Shea, Stephen O'Brien; Michael Burns, Paul Geaney, Killian Spillane. Subs - Dara Moynihan for Burns 31 mins; Tommy Walsh for Crowley 39m, Jack Barry for Spillane 67m
Black card - G White (Shane Enright 43m); S O'Brien (Jonathan Lyne 51m).

Meath - Marcus Brennan; Seamus Lavin, Conor McGill, Shane Gallagher; Donal Keogan, Padraic Harnan, Gavin McCoy; Bryan Menton, Shane McEntee; Ethan Devine, Bryan McMahon, Darragh Campion; Cillian O'Sullivan, Shane Walsh, Thomas O’Reilly.Subs - Thomas McGovern for Shane McEntee 23 mins, Ross Ryan for McCoy 45m, James Conlon for O'Reilly 50m, Michael Burke for Devine 63m, Sean Tobin for McMahon 66m.
Black card - T McGovern (Niall Kane 53m).

Referee - Fergal Kelly (Longford).

STATISTICS 
MEATH NFL DIV 2 
RESULTS 2019

First round - Meath 0-15, Tipperary 1-8
Second round - Donegal 1-13, Meath 0-14. 
Third round -  Meath 2-13 Armagh 0-13
Fourth round - Meath 2-12 Cork 1-9
Fifth round -  Meath 1-9 Kildare 1-8
Sixth round - Meath 1-12 Clare 1-7
Seventh round - Meath 2-12 Fermanagh 0-11.
Final - Donegal 1-17, Meath 1-15.

CHAMPIONSHIP FACTFILE

LEINSTER 
First round - Meath 1-13, Offaly 0-14.
Quarter-final - Meath 2-18, Carlow 0-9.
Semi-final - Meath 3-13, Laois 0-11.
Final - Meath 0-4,  Dublin 1-17.

MUNSTER 
Semi-final - Kerry 1-15, Clare 0-12.
Final - Kerry 1-19, Cork 3-10.
ALL-IRELAND QUALIFIER
- Meath 2-16, Clare 1-18.

ALL-IRELAND SUPER 8S
First round - Kerry 1-22, Mayo 0-15; Donegal 2-19, Meath 1-13.
Second round - Kerry 1-20, Donegal 1-20; Mayo 2-17, Meath 0-14.
Third round - Kerry 2-18, Meath 1-13; Mayo 1-14, Donegal 1-10.

STANDINGS
                P   W   D   L    Pts
Kerry       3    2    1    0     5

Mayo       3    2    0    1    4

Donegal  3    1    1    1     3

Meath    3    0    0    3      0