Dire straits as Meath give away points for free

Just when it appeared that things couldn't get any worse along came Donegal to heap more NFL Div 2 relegation worries on a sorry Meath side. Two weeks ago Meath plummeted to a disappointing low when losing to Antrim, but last Sunday they gave up their last vestige of hope when they surrendered their decent home record with a diabolical performance against Donegal. To add further misery to an already deplorable afternoon, Meath finished their third successive game without 15 players as substitute Terry Skelly (pictured) received a straight red card following an injury-time clash with David Walsh. Skelly's departure had no bearing on the outcome. Meath were effectively beaten long before half-time. They were outplayed, outclassed, outmanoeuvred and outfootballed by a Donegal side that are far from being world beaters. Even when trailing by just six points in the final quarter Meath still managed to create a couple of goal-scoring chances with Brian Farrell having an effort blocked and Paddy Gilsenan hitting the post. A couple of goals might have salvaged something for Meath that their performance certainly didn't warrant. This defeat, and more significantly the nature of it, comes on the back of terrible displays against Antrim and Laois and the performance against Sligo wasn't exactly vintage. These are troubled times for a Meath side that had high hopes of promotion and a decent championship run. On this form they are certainties for relegation and a short summer beckons. Nothing went right for Meath. There will always be excuses that some decisions didn't go their way and that possession was lost by the finest of margins, but the facts don't lie. Donegal dominated possession, both with and against the wind. Meath managed one wide and five points against the wind, yet kicked six wides and just four points in a dreadful opening period when the wind was at their backs. Only three of Meath's scores came from play, two of them were from midfielders and the other from substitute Skelly. Meath also dropped at least five efforts short while Donegal took the majority of their opportunities and managed just three wides, two from frees. Ryan Bradley and Michael Murphy combined to destroy the Meath backs and there wasn't one sector of the field where the Royal County can say with any degree of confidence that they owned. Very few Meath players trooped off the Pairc Tailteann pitch with their heads held high. Brendan Murphy had a solid outing in goal, stopping two points with great fielding and narrowing angles to prevent goal chances. Cormac McGuinness tried to be creative from centre-back, but got swallowed up, while Brian Meade and Nigel Crawford also worked hard, but were fighting a losing battle. Joe Sheridan and David Morgan looked to get on the ball as much as possible, but also enjoyed very little favour. Skelly had a decent outing as a substitute despite his late red card, but other than that Meath were very poor. The supporters were disillusioned. There is no hiding from the fact that this was the worst performance in Seamus McEnaney's short reign. The short handpassing game failed miserably and the distribution into the forward division was shockingly poor. Joe Sheridan and Shane O'Rourke are talented footballers. They are excellent at doing what they do best - providing two enormous targets in a full-forward line. However, both men had to wander outfield in search of possession too often and that left Meath without any decent attacking threat. When the ball was played long into the full-forward pocket one or both of Joe Sheridan or O'Rourke were missing. Attacks broke down too easily because of over-elaboration and Donegal hit Meath on the counter with Rory Kavanagh, Martin McElhinney, Anthony Thompson and Karl Lacey causing problems. Those problems were obvious from an early stage. Despite enjoying the benefits of a strong wind for the opening 35 minutes Meath never had their noses in front against a Donegal side that had also won just one of their opening three games. The first score was an example of the sloppiness that epitomised Meath's performance. Inside 90 seconds Seamus Kenny landed a late tackle on Mark McHugh when Meath were in no danger and from the resultant 25-metre free Murphy gave Donegal the lead. O'Rourke replied with a free, but a minute later Donegal were ahead again when Kavanagh lofted over a fine score. Meath's best move of the match restored parity for the second time after Morgan and Gary O'Brien combined to set up Meade for a point on eight minutes. That was as good as it got for Meath. By the end of the opening quarter brutal defending had led to two points for Bradley, the second of which came after a dreadful pass from Anthony Moyles was intercepted by Michael Hegarty. The afternoon continued to go steadily downhill for Meath. Eight minutes before the break they found themselves 0-2 to 0-7 adrift after Dermot Molloy, Bradley and Colm McFadden (free) added to their tally. Brian Sheridan settled Meath when he eventually found his range and converted two frees from 30 metres to leave the hosts 0-4 to 0-7 behind at the break. Meath needed a bright start to the second-half, but the visitors stretched their lead to four points within 40 seconds when Meath were harshly penalised for kicking a free less than 13 metres to a colleague. Murphy pointed for Donegal from the resultant free. Four minutes later that lead was extended to 0-10 to 0-4 as Kavanagh fisted over and Murphy showed Bryan Menton a clean pair of heels before kicking a fine score. It took Donegal 43 minutes to register their first wide and it wasn't until 13 minutes into the second-half that Meath managed to break inside Donegal's 45-metre line for the first time in the half. O'Rourke tapped over a free after Joe Sheridan was fouled by Kevin Cassidy, but with 22 minutes still remaining it was obvious that Meath were not going to launch a recovery. The rest of the game was played out in sporadic bursts of enthusiasm. Three of Meath's last four scores came indirectly from placed balls. Brian Farrell tapped over an easy free. Joe Sheridan kicked a '45' and Crawford punched over a dropping '45' from Joe Sheridan. Skelly kicked the fourth point. Three of Donegal's last five scores came from play with Murphy landing two, including the best of the game from the terrace side of the pitch. In the closing minutes tempers frayed on both sides. Referee Martin Higgins issued a lot of fussy yellow cards throughout and he had no hesitation in showing red to Skelly which only inflicted more pain, on everyone, on what was an already miserable afternoon. SCORERS Donegal - M Murphy 0-6, two frees; R Bradley 0-3; C McFadden 0-3, two frees; R Kavanagh 0-2; D Molloy 0-1. Meath - S O'Rourke 0-2 frees; B Sheridan 0-2 frees; B Meade 0-1; B Farrell 0-1 free; Joe Sheridan 0-1 '45'; N Crawford 0-1; T Skelly 0-1. THE TEAMS Donegal - P Durkan; P McGrath, N McGee, K Lacey; A Thompson, F McGlynn, K Cassidy; R Kavanagh, M McElhinney; M Hegarty, M McHugh, D Molloy; R Bradley, M Murphy, C McFadden. Subs - D Walsh for Hegarty 48 mins, N Gallagher for McElhinney 68m, A Hanlon for McFadden 68, S Griffin for McHugh 70m. Meath - B Murphy; C King, A Moyles, B Menton; G O'Brien, C McGuinness, A Nestor; B Meade, N Crawford; S McAnarney, J Sheridan, S Kenny; B Sheridan, S O'Rourke, D Morgan. Subs - P Gilsenan for Kenny 47 mins, E Harrington for Moyles 47m, T Skelly for O'Brien 47m, M Ward for Menton 52, B Farrell for B Sheridan 53m. REFEREE - Martin Higgins (Fermanagh).