Final ticket for Meath hurlers

In a contest of no significance to Meath they didn"t need to find top gear to overcome a determined Armagh side who still had plenty to play for at Crossmaglen on Sunday afternoon. Meath were already assured of a place in the NHL Div 3A final even before a ball was pucked, but defeat left Armagh regretting several missed goal chances including a late shout for a penalty as they missed out on securing the final spot that went to Kildare instead. It was a strange type of a performance from TJ Reilly"s side. At times they looked very very good and vastly superior to their hosts, but on occasions they took their foot off the gas, allowed Armagh to dominate and could have paid a price. Maybe losing this contest might not have been such a bad thing for Meath because on this performance Kildare are likely to cause them more trouble in the final than Armagh would have. With five minutes to go Meath were in a comfortable position with a 2-17 to 3-7 lead. They only time they had looked under pressure was when they conceded soft goals, but Armagh were in no mood to slow down as Meath eased up. Points from Ger Enright and Eugene McDonnell made it a respectable 3-9 to 2-17 as the fourth official indicated three minutes of injury-time. Declan Coulter squandered a great goal chance when he failed to connect and Armagh claimed he was impeded and looked for a penalty, but referee Declan Magee was having none of it. Martin Gillespie posted a fine point from the resultant puck out and when John Corvan closed the gap to three points the Meath players breathed a big sigh of relief that the hosts didn"t convert their late goal chance or the outcome would have different. Free from anxiety or worry about securing a final place, Meath played with plenty of finesse, but with suicidal tendencies at the back. Kildalkey goalkeeper Gary McNally was a fault for two goals through poor handling and his defenders opted for wild clearances rather than building moves. McNally started well by denying Kieran McKiernan a goal with a great save after 30 seconds and Meath went on to open up a 0-4 to 0-0 lead inside five minutes with Neil Hackett in outstanding form and Nicky Horan and Stephen Clynch also contributing points. Hackett stretched that lead with a brace of points, which included a superb sideline puck from close to the 65-metre line, before Enright got a vital touch to Coulter"s centre for Armagh"s opening goal. Meath reacted superbly when Hackett blasted a 21-metre free high to the net and Clynch added a point to make it 1-7 to 1-1. A bad clearance by McNally led to Enright netting his second goal, but Meath never looked in danger and established a 2-10 to 2-3 interval lead when Derek Muldoon brilliantly doubled on Michael Burke"s centre. Hackett and Clynch stretched Meath"s advantage after the resumption before McNally"s second error led to Cathal Carvill netting Armagh"s third goal. Meath were still well in command as Peter Durnin, Hackett (two) and Muldoon made it 2-16 to 3-4. With such a comfortable advantage Meath eased up to a near standstill. Armagh kept going and ensured a tight finish, but in reality Reilly"s side were well worth their victory and by a more considerable margin that the three-point win suggests. SCORERS Meath - N Hackett 1-9, 1-6 frees, one sideline; D Muldoon 1-1; S Clynch 0-3; P Durnin 0-2; N Horan 0-2. Armagh - G Enright 2-1; P McCormack 0-3, three frees; C Christie 0-3; C Carvill 1-0; E McDonnell 0-1; D Coulter 0-1; M Gillespie 0-1; J Corvan 0-1. TEAMS Meath - Gary McNally; Sean Corrigan, Enda Fitzgerald, Michael Foley; Martin Horan, Paul Fagan, Peter Farrell; David Crimmins, Conor Burke; Neil Hackett, Stephen Clynch, Michael Burke; Peter Durnin, Nicky Horan, Derek Muldoon. Subs - Paddy Gorey for Clynch 56 mins, Brian Coughlan for Corrigan 56m, Brian McGovern for Foley 57m, Denis O"Neill for Hackett 63m, Alan Ryan for Muldoon 68m. Armagh - Joseph Burke; Brian Mallon, Paddy McArdle, Philip Kirk; Donal Carvill, Eugene McDonnell, Martin Gillespie; Nathan Curry, Ciaran Christie; Chris McAlinden, Ger Enright, Declan Coulter; Paul Breen, Paul McCormack, Kieran McKiernan. Subs - Ciaran Clifford for Breen 24 mins, Cathal Carvill for McAlinden half-time, John Corvan for Coulter 69m. REFEREE Declan Magee (Down).