Another low for Meath

'Unreal', 'unbelievable' and 'incredible.' Just some of the words that were used by observers of this amazing, topsy turvey Christy Ring Cup encounter at Tralee on Saturday where Meath made an unbelievable exit. Another term that could be added to that list is 'bizarre.' There was no more than a few hundred in attendance at Austin Stack Park for this tie. What they got was a white-knuckle, roller-coaster ride through a game where the unexpected awaited at every turn. There was a relatively sedate start to the afternoon before the drama unfolded and at the end Meath"s ambitions of making an impact in this year"s competition were left in pieces. Even a defeat less than five points would have been enough to see Meath through to the knock-out phase. Submerged in an avalanche of scores they were unable to manage even that with the failure to clock up a big score against Mayo in the opening round also proving to be costly. Where it all went wrong for the Royal County in the picturesque Kingdom could make up the material for a detailed thesis. You could point to the red card shown to Mike Cole just before the interval or the two quick-fire goals the Kingdom bagged in the 23rd and 24th minutes that must have seriously undermined Meath"s morale. You could also point to the performance of the effervescent Michael Conway who ransacked the Meath defence all afternoon, clocking up an incredible 4-3. No matter what ploy the Meath management tried to curtail Conway it failed. It was only through the agility of Meath netminder Stephen Quinn that the tall, deceptively fleet-footed Kerry forward didn"t help himself to another goal or two. One strategy that worked well for a time was bringing Cole back from the forwards to cover in front of the defence and stop the ball getting into Conway"s zone. That went out the window when the Rathmolyon man received a rare red card following an altercation with an opponent in front of the bench literally seconds before the interval. 'Kerry have the ability to get goals,' observed one local journalist in the press box early on and how right he was although even the most clairvoyant could not have guessed at just how freely the scores would subsequently flow. Quinn could not be blamed for any of the Kerry goals and that gives a good indication of just how routinely the Meath defence was carved open by Conway. Other quick-witted home forwards such as Liam Boyle and Billy Brick were also ready and able to take the opportunities that came their way. Firstly Enda Fitzgerald and later Michael Foley were given the unenviable task of trying to deny time and space to Conway. It would probably would have been easier to catch an eel than subdue a player who was clearly on fire. Like Meath, the Kerry side also finished the game a man short when midway through the second-half James McCarthy was shown the line after he picked up a second yellow. From then on the Royals exerted most of the pressure. They just couldn"t bridge the gap sufficiently to progress. The defeat completes a year to forget for Meath hurling with only the modest success in the Kehoe Cup counterbalanced by relegation to the NHL Div 3 and an early exit from the Christy Ring Cup. It is likely that this is the last time a number of familiar faces will appear in a Meath jersey on the inter-county front. Some of the players were clearly unable to cope with the tempo Kerry played at before substitution or the final whistle brought an end to their suffering. Meath were not helped either by shooting 13 wides over the 70 minutes. Only once did the Royals go in front when points from Cole, Stephen Clynch, Nicky Horan and Ger O"Neill, who also hit the post with a early effort, edged them 0-4 to 0-2 ahead after nine minutes. Kerry drew level with two points before Conway left his calling card with the first of his four goals after 14 minutes. It came in a totally unexpected way when the forward went to take a free 25 metres out. Instead of pointing as everyone expected he powered the ball low and under the bar much to the surprise of the startled Meath players on the line. Five minutes later Meath replied with a goal. Niall Hackett lofted in a free and Cole was on hand to knock the breaking ball to the net from close range. Three minutes later Hackett drilled over a point to level the scores for the third time. Then the Royals were hit with a double whammy they never recovered from. Billy Brick fired home in the 23rd minute. Immediately afterwards a well-executed Boyle goal put Kerry in a commanding position. Cole"s dismissal didn"t help matters and at the break Meath trailed by 1-6 to 3-5 and were clearly in trouble. It is a testament to the character of the Meath players that they bounced back to haul themselves level early in the second-half with the help of a well-taken Clynch goal. However, they then endured a 14-minute spell when their only reward was a single Hackett point from a free. During that barren spell Kerry pulled away to lay the foundations for victory. Andrew Snow and Clynch grabbed late goals for Meath, but it was Kerry who prevailed in a truly amazing game. SCORERS Meath - S Clynch 2-2; M Cole 1-1; N Hackett 0-4, three frees; G O"Neill 0-3; A Snow 1-0; N Horan 0-3. Kerry - M Conway 4-3; B Brick 2-2; L Boyle 1-2; M Boyle 0-2; J Griffin 0-1; J Egan 0-1. THE TEAMS Meath - S Quinn; M Foley, E Fitzgerald, M Horan; K Dowd, A Ryan, P Geoghegan; T Fox, D Crimmins; N Hackett, K Fagan, S Clynch; G O"Neill, N Horan, M Cole. Subs - P Gannon for Fitzgerald 48 mins; A Snow for Fagan 49m; J Boyle for Dowd 53m; N Kirby for Horan 63m. Kerry - J Healy; A Cronin, A Healy, J Fitzgerald; P O"Grady, J McCarthy, C Harris; J Mulchinock, J Griffin; J M Dooley; M Boyle, J O"Brien; M Conway, L Boyle, B Brick. Subs - J Egan for Dooley 4 mins; M Quilter for Harris; B O"Donovan for O"Grady 65m. REFEREE Ger Hoey (Clare).