Meath denied victory

If a point had been offered to Meath before the start they would probably have accepted it, but following Saturday night"s NFL Div 2 draw with Monaghan at Pairc Tailteann there was a feeling that this was a point dropped. With the pulsating contest into the final quarter Meath were in a decent position and with a healthy 0-11 to 0-7 lead. When Caoimhin King made it 0-12 to 0-9 with eight minutes remaining it still looked positive for Meath. However, in a helter skelter final few minutes Meath"s discipline, which has been excellent in the last couple of outings, deserted them and ultimately allowed Paul Finlay earn the Farney visitors a point. Going into Saturday"s game Monaghan were strong favourites with three wins from their four under their belts, but Meath continued to improve and if they had taken more of their chances then a third victory could have been achieved. Meath had to settle for a draw, but there were a few raised eyebrows when referee Marty Duffy ended the contest with 15 seconds of the announced one minute of injury-time still on the clock and Meath in full attack. Had play been allowed to progress then Meath might have won what few could have argued against would have been a deserved victory. Meath were impressive again. They are now a very cohesive unit prepared to work hard for each other. The defending from the front was superb with Cian Ward displaying a side to his game that is very underestimated. He never allowed Monaghan to clear their lines easily, but he wasn"t alone as Rory Maguire, Brian Meade and King also worked hard. For all of Meath"s hard workers none ploughed as tirelessly as the magnificent Seamus Kenny and Shane McAnarney. Complementing both players has become a familiar line after Meath games, but the pair have improved in leaps and bounds. On Saturday night McAnarney was particularly outstanding as he covered almost every blade of grass in an effort to help out his defenders and support his attackers. His tireless energy ensured he mopped up much breaking ball and he also set up several scores. Nigel Crawford was brilliant at midfield, although some of his shooting left a bit to be desired, while his partner Mark Ward won some great ball and continues to return to full fitness. Defensively Meath were tested severely with Paul Finlay, Mark Downey, Stephen Gallogly and Rory Woods causing problems, but for over an hour Meath had the upperhand before a bout of indiscipline allowed Finlay rescue a point. As well as the indiscipline in the closing stages Meath will also rue missed chances in the opening 10 minutes. Bray could have had a goal after two minutes when he beat Shane Duffy to the ball, but he put his lunging effort into the side netting. Seconds later Cian Ward concluded an excellent move by shooting wide and in the fifth minute he rattled the crossbar with a stinging 30-metre drive. Maguire was also guilty of a terrible miss when he shot wide after excellent passes by Paddy O"Rourke and Cian Ward and before Monaghan eventually opened the scoring in the 11th minute through Freeman, Cian Ward uncharacteristically kicked a 45-metre free wide. Those missed chances did come back to haunt Meath, but they could have found themselves further behind as O"Rourke made a good save to deny Freeman and then Chris O"Connor spectacularly cleared Freeman"s follow-up off the line. Bray opened Meath"s account in the 15th minute following a great catch by Crawford and some excellent interchange from King and Meade. King edged Meath ahead a minute later after more good work by Crawford and the hosts never trailed for the remainder. Finlay equalised early in the second-quarter before a brace of Cian Ward frees made it 0-4 to 0-2. Dick Clerkin narrowed the gap unchallenged, but a superb intricate move led to Cian Ward restoring Meath"s two-point cushion. The see-saw nature of the opening half continued with Mark Downey escaping O"Connor to point before a resper from Cian Ward was tipped over by Duffy and Bray did well to dispossess Gallogly for a 0-7 to 0-4 lead. However, in the closing three minutes of the half Meath surrendered that lead as O"Connor afforded Downey too much room and Kevin Reilly did the same for Finlay to loft over twice and ensure parity, 0-7 each, at the interval. When Meath raced into a 0-11 to 0-7 lead inside nine minutes of the restart through Cian Ward (two), Kenny and Bray it looked as if victory was on the cards. King was denied a goal by a fine save while Maguire and Crawford both kicked wides. Monaghan upped the tempo in the final quarter and they got their reward. They closed to 0-9 to 0-11 when Finlay converted a free and Ciaran Hanratty somehow managed to punch over the bar after Woods was denied by another fine O"Rourke save. King restored a three-point cushion, but Finlay added two frees while Dessie Mone also pointed to bring Monaghan level. Cian Ward had a late shout for a penalty turned down by referee Marty Duffy and the official brought the contest to a premature close as Meath were on the attack. Maybe he believed a draw was the fairest result, but Meath were worth a victory! SCORERS Meath - C Ward 0-6, three frees; S Bray 0-3; C King 0-2; S Kenny 0-1. Monaghan - P Finlay 0-6, three frees; M Downey 0-2; D Mone 0-1; D Clerkin 0-1; T Freeman 0-1, C Hanratty 0-1. THE TEAMS Meath - Paddy O"Rourke; Chris O"Connor, Anthony Moyles, Eoghan Harrington; Seamus Kenny, Kevin Reilly, Derek Flood; Mark Ward, Nigel Crawford; Shane McAnarney, Cian Ward, Brian Meade; Stephen Bray, Caoimhin King, Rory Maguire. Subs - Niall McKeigue for Harrington 55 mins (yellow card), Barry Regan for Meade 57m, Peadar Byrne for Kenny 63m (yellow card), Damien Sheridan for M Ward 67m. Monaghan - Shane Duffy; Dessie Mone, John Paul Mone, Vincent Corey; Conor McManus, Gary McQuaid, Darren Hughes; Dick Clerkin, Eoin Lennon; Stephen Gallogly, Paul Finaly, Mark Downey; Rory Woods, Raymond Ronaghan, Tomas Freeman. Subs - Damien Freeman for Ronaghan half-time, Ciaran Hanratty for McManus 48 mins, Dermot McArdle for J P Mone 51m, Brendan McKenna for Downey 61m. REFEREE Marty Duffy (Sligo).