Meath let big lead slip and slump again

There was a sense of deja-vu all over again in Pairc Tailteann this afternoon as another brave display from Meath ended in disappointment as Galway scored a 1-14 to 1-12 victory and condemned the Royals to relegation back down to NFL Div 2.
Just as was the case in the narrow losses to Mayo and Kerry, Meath were very much in contention throughout this contest and deserved more than the ignominy of being relegated without a point after five games.
Against Galway Meath started well and were still in contention as the clock ticked beyond the 70 minute mark.
However Shane Walsh edged Galway ahead with his only score from play and as Meath pressed for a late leveller they were hit on the counter as Sean Kelly was hauled down by Thomas O'Reilly, who picked up a black card, and Walsh converted the final score with the last kick of an absorbing contest.
On reflection Meath will rue the closing five minutes of the opening half when they let an eight-point lead be reduced to four when playing with the benefit of a strong wind, that collapse gave Galway hope and they capitalised by taking the lead early in the second-half and holding on.
It took both sides a while to get accustomed to the blustery conditions and when they did it was Brian Conlon who picked out a superb pass to find Oisin O'Brien for the opening score for Meath in the fourth minute.
Four minutes later James Conlon doubled the hosts lead, but Galway stayed in touch with Michael Daly pointing well to halve the deficit.
It took another five minutes for Meath to find their range again with Bryan Menton maintaining his scoring streak with a point. A minute later Ethan Devine finished a brilliant move involving Conor McGill, James Conlon and Bryan McMahon to boost Meath to a 1-3 to 0-1 lead.
Up to that stage it was a straightforward, pleasant match with little or no acrimony between the sides, but that changed early in the second quarter when referee Niall Cullen changed his mind about a challenge by James McEntee on Gary O'Donnell and booked the Curraha man.
Meath continued to use the wind to good effect and stretched their lead to six points with James Conlon clipping over his second from a tight angle and by the half-hour mark McMahon and James Conlon again helped Meath to a 1-6 to 0-1 advantage.
Then the tide turned in Galway's favour. David Toner was adjudged to have fouled Paul Conroy and Shane Walsh converted the free in the 32nd minute. A minute later Walsh kicked a second free and after some tetchy patches of off-the-ball confrontations he added a third when Devine was incorrectly adjudged to have thrown the ball.
Eamonn Brannigan clipped over another score three minutes into injury-time to close the gap to 0-5 to 1-6 which saw Meath's eight-point lead whittled down to four as they faced into the wind for the second-half.
To compound Meath's miserable end to the opening half they endured a shocking start to the second period as an awful crossfield pass from Brian Conlon was picked out by Ronan Steede and the Corofin man combined with Walsh and Paul Conroy before blasting a fine goal.
Conroy added a point three minutes later from a goal chance and when Walsh converted another free it gave Galway the lead for the first time in the 46th minute, 1-7 to 1-6.
It took Meath almost 14 minutes to add to their half-time tally with McMahon pointing on the run. Galway countered with points from Steede and Conroy to edge two clear for the first time and after Menton halved the deficit the visitors put three between the sides with Conroy from a 43-metre mark and Walsh from a free on target..
Donal Lenihan marked his return with a brace of frees to get the Royal roar going in the 66th minute, but another brilliant point from Conroy restored Galway's two-point cushion.
However, Meath refused to give up. McMahon closed the gap to the minimum again and when Lenihan kicked a fine equaliser in the 70th minute a Meath win looked on the cards.
Galway broke again with Walsh edging them in front, but still had chances when Lenihan had a long range free caught on the line by Connor Gleeson and then they were caught on the counter with O'Reilly fouling Kelly and walsh tapping over the insurance score to confirm Meath's relegation.

SCORERS
Galway- Shane Walsh 0-7 six frees; Ronan Steede 1-1; Paul Conroy 0-4 one mark; Michael Daly 0-1; Eamonn Brannigan 0-1.
Meath – James Conlon 0-3; Bryan McMahon 0-3; Donal Lenihan 0-3 two frees; Ethan Devine 1-0; Bryan Menton 0-2; Oisin O'Brien 0-1.

TEAMS
Galway – Connor Gleeson; Sean Kelly, Sean Mulkerrin, Johnny Heaney; Liam Silke, John Daly, Gary O'Donnell; Ronan Steede, Tom Flynn; Eamonn Brannigan, Cian Darcy, Michael Daly; Martin Farragher, Shane Walsh, Adrian Varley. Subs – Paul Conroy for Farragher 26 mins, Gareth Bradshaw for O'Donnell 51m, Robert Finnerty for Varley 54m, Darragh Silke for Daly 61m, Matthias Barrett for Steede 65m.
Meath – Mark Brennan; Robin Clarke, Conor McGill, David Toner; James McEntee, Ronan Ryan, Donal Keogan; Bryan Menton, Brian Conlon; Cillian O'Sullivan, Bryan McMahon, Ethan Devine; James Conlon, Thomas O'Reilly, Oisin O'Brien. Subs – Shane Walsh for O'Brien 48 mins, Donal Lenihan for Devine 54m, Padraic Harnan for B Conlon, Jack O'Connor for J Conlon both 65m.

Referee – Niall Cullen (Fermanagh).