Kildare end Meath's promotion hopes with comfortable victory

Jack Regan secure 1-10 of Meath's tally in what was another great performance from the Kiltale man.

Tom Gannon

Kildare 1-24

Meath 1-14

There was a gulf in class between the two sides as Meath fell to a defeat against Kildare in this final-round game of the NHL Div 2 at Trim on Saturday.

Kildare brought slick passing and good movement off the ball to the encounter. They penetrated the Royals' defence rather easily and in the end, secured a comfortable victory.

It was evident that, despite their best efforts this year to secure promotion, Meath are not ready for a higher grade just yet.

Jack Regan once again gave a great account of himself scoring 1-10 of Meath's tally. James Toher put in a good shift and Simon Ennis was the best for the Royals from a defensive perspective.

The game started at a lively pace but Kildare soon seized momentum and after 10 minutes they held an advantage of 0-6 to 0-3 and that was largely down to the exploits of their accurate corner forward, David Qualter. Jack Regan provided Meath with their opening three scores.

A Paul Dolan point extended the Kildare's lead to four before the Liliwhites hit a bit of a dry spell and struck five wides on the bounce. A score apiece from Regan and Nicky Potterton brought the Royals back to within two and after 20 minutes, the game was still in the melting pot.

Kildare started to find the gap between the posts again and in the last 15 minutes of the half, outscored Meath by 0-6 to 0-2. Qualter provided Kildare with five of their six-point tally in this period.

James Toher set up Mikey Cole with a lovely behind-the-back hand pass. Cole's score was Meath's last in the opening 35 minutes and they went in at the break with a 0-14 to 0-8 deficit.

Qualter got the Lillywhites underway in the second-half with two early frees. Regan and Qualter traded blows and after 45 minutes of action, Kildare led Meath by 0-18 to 0-9. Over the next five minutes, Meath had their brightest spell and they rattled off four points on the bounce. Three from Regan alongside a long-range effort from Potterton reduced the gap back to five.

Kildare then delivered a sucker punch blow to put an end to Meath's momentum. Cathal Dowling set up Jack Sheridan who dispatched the sliotar to the back of the Royals net.

Kildare followed up Sheridan's goal with three points on the bounce courtesy of Rian Boran, Dolan and James Burke. With only ten minutes remaining, Kildare held a lead of 1-21 to 0-13, and Meath's chances of promotion had evaporated.

A goal from a Regan free and a point from substitute James Kelly were nothing more than consolation scores. Kildare kept their tally ticking over with points from the Boran brothers, Rian and Cian, before Jack Sheridan wrapped up proceedings on the scoreboard.

Conor Doyle's final whistle brought an end to a slightly underwhelming finish in a largely positive league campaign for the Royals.

Kildare - Paddy McKenna; Liam O'Reilly, Simon Leacy, Rian Boran (0-2); Daniel O'Meara, Cian Boran (0-1), Paul Dolan (0-3); Daire Guerin, Cathal McCabe (0-1); James Burke (0-3), Cathal Dowling, Muiris Curtin; Jack Sheridan (1-1), Darragh Melville, David Qualter (0-13, 10 frees, one 65'). Subs - Jack Travers for Curtin 43m, James Dolan for Melville 47m, Killian Harrington for O'Meara 61m, Jack Higgins for Dowling 68m.

Meath - Colm O'Riordan; Sean Coloe, Darragh Kelly, Martin Healy, Lorcan Byrne, Simon Ennis, Domhnall Rogers; Kris Gorman, Jarlath Ennis; Mikey Cole (0-1), Nicky Potterton (0-2), James Toher; Sean Quigley, Damien Healy, Jack Regan (1-10, 1-7 frees). Subs - Sean Corbett for Quigley, Kyle Donnelly for Martin Healy, both HT, Sean Doyle for Cole 55m, James Kelly (0-1) for Kelly 58m, Evan Fitzgerald for Damien Healy 62m.

Referee - Conor Doyle (Tipperary)