Royals suffer bitter defeat in Orchard County
Meath collapse after promising start
Armagh...2-16
Meath...0-10
Towards the end of this evening's NFL Div 2 encounter at the Box-It Athletic Grounds in Armagh the home team broke quickly from defence - as they often did - and fashioned a chance - as they regularly did - that was taken by Paddy Burns.
He was content to clip the ball over the bar but he could easily have taken a few more strides forward and fired the ball to the net. He was clean through, one-on-one with goalkeeper Sean Brennan. The fact that Burns went for a point told a tale about this game.
His team were so dominant, so in control when the chance presented itself to the Armagh corner-back he felt no compulsion to try and go for goal. The victory was already securely in the bag why take a chance.
Arguably the Orchard County side had this game safely wrapped at the interval when they led 1-8 to 0-5. There was never any sense in the second-half that Meath might stage a comeback and salvage something.
This was a ragged, low-wattage, display from a Meath side that looked bereft of confidence from the time Armagh scored their opening goal shortly before the interval. The Royal County side's collapse was as dramatic as it was comprehensive.
Meath supporters - who once again they travelled in sizeable numbers - were left facing a long journey home with few consolations to comfort them.
It wasn't just the margin of the defeat it was the manner of it. Comprehensive.
Apart from the spirited performances of a number of their players there were few positives for the visitors to take from this pounding from an Armagh side that struggled to defeat Louth by a point the previous week.
Donal Keogan as ever put in a battling display, Adam O'Neill looks at full-back to be to the manor born. He had a fine opening half. Eoghan Frayne showed an admirable confidence in front of the posts while Jack O'Connor was relentless in pursuit of possession. Five star performances were hard to find from a Meath display that left so much to be desired.
There was the concession of a series of soft frees that allowed Armagh a foothold in the game. Then there was the fact that Meath shot 13 wides, a statistic that underlines how the team lacked confidence in front of the posts.
Further problems were exposed in the tactics employed. Meath relied greatly on the long ball into league debutant Cian McBride - but the Royals gained very little benefit from the route one approach.
The visitors were short of imagination in their attacks with a player such as Aaron Lynch, a proven finisher, left foraging for some kind of possession well away from the Armagh posts. He had to depend on scraps and was taken off in the second-half. The Trim man's fate underlined the lack of enterprise and verve Meath in their attacking moves - at least for most of the game. Mathew Costello suffered in a similar manner.
For the opening 15 minutes or so Meath looked like they might win this game. They were 0-3 to 0-1 in front after 12 minutes with Lynch, Costello (free) and Frayne, with a super effort, raising white flags for Meath. Then the defence that was organised and disciplined early on started to give frees away. Armagh gradually got a foothold.
By the 18 minute the home side had levelled matters, 0-4 apiece, and the kicked on from there. There cause was greatly helped on 33 minutes when Oisin Conaty sliced through an increasingly vulnerable looking Meath defence passed to Cian McConville who fired to the net. Rory Grugan had a another clear goal chance soon after but he fired over.
Meath needed a bright start to the second-half. They didn't get it. Instead Armagh fashioned a second goal. This time a high ball was played into the Meath goalmouth. The ball broke to Ciaran Macken who turned and fired to the net. Game over and there was only 37 minutes on the clock.
Frayne caused plenty of problems for Armagh and finished up as Meath's main marksman with four points, one free. Costello scored two points but both of those were from frees with Lynch, O'Connor and Diarmuid Moriarty firing over from play while McBride garnered one score from a mark.
Meath players at least continued to work and battle for something until the end but it was a lost cause long before the final whistle echoed around the rapidly emptying stadium.
SCORERS
Armagh - Conor Turbitt 0-6 frees; Ciaran Macken 1-0; Cian McConville 1-1; Rory Grugan 0-3 one free; Oisin Conaty 0-1; Conor O'Neill 0-2 one free; Paddy Burns 0-1; Oisin O'Neill 0-1; Jarly Og Burns 0-1.
Meath - Eoghan Frayne 0-4 one free; Mathew Costello 0-2 frees; Aaron Lynch 0-1; Jack O'Connor 0-1; Diarmuid Moriarty 0-1; Cian McBride 0-1 mark.
TEAMS
Armagh - Blaine Hughes; Paddy Burns, Aaron McKay, Peter McGrane; Cian McConville, Greg McCabe, Aidan Forker; Ben Crealey Ciaran Macken; Conor O'Neill, Rory Grugan, Joe McElroy; Stefan Campbell, Conor Turbitt, Oisin Conaty. Subs - Connaire Mackin for Crealey 47m, Jarley Og Burns for McGrane 55m, Oisin O'Neill for Turbitt 56m, Barry McCambridge for McKay 57m, Darragh McMullan for O'Neill 66m.
Meath - Sean Brennan; Donal Keogan, Adam O'Neill, Michael Murphy; Michael Flood, Darragh Campion, Sean Coffey; Ronan Jones, Jack Flynn; Daithi McGowan, Eoghan Frayne, Cian McBride; Aaron Lynch, Mathew Costello, Jack O'Connor. Subs - Shane Walsh for Lynch half-time, Cathal Hickey for Flynn 44m, Ruairi Kinsella for McGowan 46m, Adam McDonnell for Flood 54m, Diarmuid Moriarty for McBride 65m.
Referee - Brendan Cawley (Kildare).