Goals decisive as Royals rocked in Rebel heartland

NFL DIV 2 Missed chances costly in hugely enjoyable contest

Cork 2-2-15 (25)

Meath 0-1-19 (21)

New Rules, same old failings as Meath struggled to maintain momentum and lost out to Cork in their NFL Div 2 opener at Pairc Ui Chaoimh tonight.

Meath kicked 12 wides across this hugely entertaining contest and dropped several other chances short, whereas Cork kicked just two wides across the 70-odd minutes.

Level at the break, 0-11 each, Meath turned for the second-half with the slight breeze at their backs, but they failed to take advantage as Cork pounced for two fine goals.

The first, in the 42nd minute, was brilliant a finish from Matty Taylor. Meath responded with the next three points to restore parity, but then during the Royals 15-minute barren spell the Rebels cut loose.

Three points from play and a converted two-point free were followed by a second goal from the excellent Chris Og Jones.

In the space of 10 minutes Meath went from being on level pegging and with their tails up to trailing by eight points and out of the running.

Those old failings of finding consistency within the game came back to haunt them.

When they were good, Meath were excellent. When they endured a blip, they suffered badly and Cork made the most of Meath's failings.

Nine second-half wides compared to none in the same period for Cork tells its own story about where the game was won and lost.

Had Meath been more clinical then who knows what might have been the outcome.

Had they been awarded the two-point score when Jordan Morris clipped over from outside the arc in the first-half it might have provided the perfect boost of confidence.

There was also a huge penalty shout in the 54th minute when Morris was clearly upended, but referee Derek O'Mahoney waved play-on. Cork countered and clipped over a point.

Had Meath been awarded that penalty and if it was scored they would have been level again, instead Cork stretched their lead to four - on such fine margins hinge tight contests.

On the plus side, it was a hugely enjoyable contest and one that whets the appetite for the next game.

The opening half was like watching the NBA play-offs. Action shifted quickly from one end to the other and the lead changed hands five times in that first period.

Mathew Costello opened the scoring in the second minute from a free before Jones and Morris traded scores to maintain Meath's early advantage.

Two frees from Mark Cronin edged Cork ahead for the first time in the eighth minute, 0-3 to 0-2, but back came Meath again with brilliant scores from Costello and Jack Flynn making it 0-4 to 0-3.

Brian O'Driscoll levelled it for the fourth time from a free before another excellent burst from Morris made it 0-5 to 0-4.

Three successive frees, two from Cronin and one from O'Driscoll which was from outside the 40-metre arc and worth two points, edged Cork 0-8 to 0-5 in front.

Costello fisted over and Morris cut in and pointed to close the gap to one, but O'Driscoll belittled the number five on his back as he clipped over brilliantly to restore Cork's two-point advantage.

Then it was Meath's turn to be clinical.

Eoin Harkin marked his return after a year away with a fine point before Shane Walsh pointed after Morris tame shot was parried by Micheal A Martin, son of the new Taoiseach.

Morris made amends with the lead score in the 33rd minute to make it 0-10 to 0-9.

Cork disputed that Paul Walsh's point should have been a two-pointer and their claims were justified before O'Driscoll again pointed to restore the hosts lead.

It was left to Costello to ensure parity at the break, 0-11 each, when he tapped over a 13-minute free after Cronin strayed into the Meath half and left Cork with just two men up - that's against the new rules.

The toing and froing nature of the contest continued after the break as Costello (two, one free) traded points with O'Driscoll and Cronin (free) to make it 0-13 each.

Then came Taylor's brilliant goal.

Meath hit back with points from Walsh, Eoghan Frayne and goalkeeper Billy Hogan to draw level, 0-16 to 1-13, but then they hit their barren spell and Cork made hay.

Jones (two), Cronin with a two-point free and Cathail O'Mahoney made it 1-18 to 0-16 before Jones bagged his second goal after Hogan had saved his initial effort.

The remainder was academic.

Meath finally ended their barren spell with a Costello free before Jones replied with a point to close Cork's account.

Meath needed a goal, but it never looked like materialising.

Harkin added his second before Costello landed a two-point free. The Dunshaughlin man did bring a 13-metre free, awarded after a delay by the replacement goalkeeper Patrick Doyle, to outside the arc, but his kick was off target.

He did manage one more free in the 74th minute, but the game was lost in that 15 minute spell between the 48th and 63rd minutes.

Cork - Micheal A Martin; Maurice Shanley, Daniel O'Mahony, Neil Lordon; Brian O'Driscoll (0-6 one free, one two-point free), Rory Maguire, Matty Taylor (1-0); Sean Walsh, Colm O'Callaghan; Paul Walsh (0-1), Sean Powter, Eoghan McSweeney; Mark Cronin (0-7 five frees, one two-point free), Chris Og Jones (1-4), Sean McDonnell. Subs - Patrick Doyle for Martin, Cathail O'Mahony (0-1) for McDonnell both 51m, Darragh Cashman for Powter 61m, Eanna Desmond for S Walsh 65m, Tommy Walsh McSweeney 71m.

Meath - Billy Hogan (0-1); Seamus Lavin, Adam O'Neill, Donal Keogan; Eoin Harkin (0-2), Seán Coffey, Ciarán Caulfield; Jack Flynn (0-1), Bryan Menton; Keith Curtis, Eoghan Frayne (0-1), Jack Kinlough; Jordan Morris (0-4), Mathew Costello (0-10 one two-point free, five frees), Shane Walsh (0-2). Subs - Brian O'Halloran for O'Neill 50m, Conor Duke for Curtis 54m, James Conlon for Walsh 55m, Ronan Jones for Frayne, Sean Rafferty for Caulfield both 60m,

Referee - Derek O'Mahoney (Tipperary).