Second-half goals condemn Meath to heavy loss
The harsh reality of opting to operate in the higher grade Leinster u-20 HC rather than the All-Ireland B series hit home hard again on Wednesday night as Meath were trounced 6-17 to 0-9 by Antrim in Darver.
With such a talented squad at his disposal it was no surprise James Andrews side were entered into the Leinster u-20 HC proper, but the gap between the best and the rest was emphasised as Meath followed up their 14-point loss to Offaly last Thursday with this 26-point defeat six days later.
Already struggling to keep pace with the free-scoring Ulster invitees into the Leinster competition Meath were hit by three goals in the opening five minutes which not only put paid to any chance of a second-half recovery, but also left Andrews' men broken and battered.
After a decent first-half showing two points from Daire Shine, a brace from Tom Shine frees and one from play from Mark Horan had Meath in touch as they trailed by 0-5 to 0-9 at the break.
However within five minutes of the restart Antrim put the game to bed with three quickfire goals and with Joseph McLaughlin and Aidan Scullion helping themselves to two goals each the Ulster men cruised to victory.
Meath did add second-half points from play from Darragh Heffernan (two), Rory Fagan and Horan, but with Eoghan Richmond making six saves Meath couldn't find the goals they needed to get back into the game.
Meath will play Westmeath in Mullingar on Saturday in a game of no consequence, but a lot of the Meath players will have another year at this level, while others like Jack Fagan, Daire and Tom Shine and Paddy Barnwell have a Christy Ring Cup campaign to look forward to with the senior side.
Meath - Jack Fagan; Jamie Duffy, Oisin Bright, Eugene O'Reilly; Cian Colhoun, Kris Gorman, Will Lanigan; Darragh Horan, Daire Shine (0-2); Mark Horan (0-2), Tom Shine (0-2), Paddy Barnwell; Noah Conroy, Rory Fagan (0-1), Ryan Byas. Subs - Max Lafford, George Douglas, Darragh Heffernan (0-2), Ben Morgan, Rhys Thomas, Lorcan Byrne, Liam Callanan, Josh Harris.
Antrim - Eoghan Richmond; Conor Boyle, Dubhaltach Wilson, Ben McGarry; Darragh Patterson, Daire McMullan, Ruairi McCormick; Eoin McFerran (0-1), Aodhan McGarry (0-6); Seanie McIntosh (1-0), Joseph McLaughlin (2-3), Christy McGarry; Cormac McKeown (0-2), Niall McGarel (1-3), Aidan Scullion (2-1). Sub - Jack McCloskey (0-1).