'We showed fantastic resilience in the second-half to get over the line'

NHL DIV 2 REACTION Meath manager delighted with the character shown by his players to fend off Down's revival

Meath hurling manager Johnny Greville watched on as his side showcased one of their finest performances in recent memory, at least in the first half anyway, to see off Down and secure NHL Div 2 status for next year at St Loman's Park Trim on Saturday, writes Tom Gannon.

The Westmeath man is not one to get overexcited on the line but one must imagine that even his heart was beating a million miles an hour as the Royals almost threw away a half-time lead of 17 points.

Meath showed fantastic resilience to get over the line though and speaking to the Meath Chronicle after the game, Greville detailed the hunger that his lads showed in Trim on Saturday.

"It's a game of hurling and it ebbs and flows. We showed in the first half what we can do and what we are working towards as a group," said the manager.

"For us to put 2-22 on the board there in the first-half was a monumental effort. We have only put 1-22 and 1-23 on the board over 70 minutes in all our games so far.

"It was down to the hunger of the lads. Today we were hungry. We showed fantastic resilience in the second-half to get over the line.

"For us at half-time, the key message was the game was now reset to zero, and it didn't matter whether we got over the line by 22 or two points, we had to make sure we got over the line."

Meath did have some obstacles to overcome in the second-half in particular. Mikey Cole and Darragh Kelly both received red cards and Colm O'Riordan was forced to make two great saves late on.

Greville praised his lads for bouncing back and getting the job done in a way that would have been very pleasing to the Meath supporters.

"You know we got hit with two red cards there and then Colm (O'Riordan) pulled off some great saves. We made some great last-minute tackles," he recalled.

"It was probably a great spectacle, not for management, but for everyone who came along to watch, it was a fantastic game, and the lads really put in a huge shift.

"They were a bit down on themselves last week worrying about relegation. This week we showed the hunger and desire to get across the line and we also showed our supporters in Meath an idea of the brand hurling that we want to play."

Damien Healy was absolutely phenomenal for on his return to action for the Royals. Greville was keen to praise Healy and others who did well for their efforts on Saturday.

"Damien has been very unlucky with injuries and we knew when he got himself right he would be a huge threat for us. It showed in the first-half and he emptied his tank there towards the end. He put in a huge shift for a man who hasn't played any minutes at all to date.

"There were others as well that had huge games, Martin Healy had a great game in the full-back line, Jack (Regan) got some massive scores. I thought the way we closed the game out was pleasing and that took a huge effort from everyone on the field."

Greville has great admiration for his opposing manager last Saturday, Ronan Sheehan. He used Sheehan's work with the Ulster side over the last seven years as an example of what he hopes to achieve with Meath.

"Down have been the best team in this division for a reason. I have huge admiration for Ronan (Sheehan) and all he has achieved with the county. What they have built in Down over the last seven years is incredible and we are trying to do something similar in Meath now. It takes time to bed that in and get that right."

Finally, Greville looked ahead to the game against Kildare in Trim next week and he had a message to deliver to some onlookers who were in attendance on Saturday.

"Kildare have shown huge improvement. They were unlucky early on in the league to not come away from Down with a result and they have put up big scores against teams that we have struggled to get across the line against," warned the manager.

"I saw a couple of the members of the Kildare management team up on the hill today. After 25 minutes, they had to flip their pages over and start looking at ourselves rather than scouting out Down for their league final. We will have nothing to lose against them. With one more win, we could be a division one team."

Now, wouldn't that be something?