Bulfin's Meath maintain Ring Cup momentum
Big clash with Sligo awaits
The momentum keeps building. Their blip in London a few weeks ago aside, Meath keep winning in the Christy Ring Cup with today's 0-28 to 0-20 victory over Tyrone at Pairc Tailteann their third from four games.
It sets Meath up for a crunch tie with Sligo away next weekend and Seoirse Bulfin must be quietly confident his team can prevail there - just as they did in the league.
The Meath manager had expected Tyrone would turn out to be doughty opponents and so it proved.
In the end Meath had enough to secure the win after leading by 0-13 to 0-11 at the interval.
The victory was the main objective but there were other aspects of the afternoon that will please Bulfin and the other members of the backroom team.
There was the large array of quality scorers chalked up with Jack Regan helping himself to a few of those in another top drawer display that yielded 11 points, five frees. He notched at least two scores from play from what seemed impossible angles. Brilliant scores.
The Kiltale man wasn't the only Meath player to have his radar switched on. Eamon O Donnchadha, Martin Healy, James Kelly, Sean Geraghty, Padraig O'Hanrahan were others sweep over fine points their clean striking evident in the way they took their scores.
Then there was the super subs and their notable contributions. Adam Gannon who came on to score three super points in the final furlong, Mark O'Sullivan who also registered two scores in the closing stages while Trim's talented youngster James Murray marked his return after a long spell out with a truly first rate strike sweeping the ball between the posts from out near the sideline.
The availability of those three players was also another encouraging aspect of the game from a Meath perspective. They are in the mix now, holding their hands up for places now at the business end of the season, when such men can make the difference.
Another player who played a big part in this victory was Michael Burke, the indomitable Longwood man, who seemingly never tires of putting on the green and gold and going to battle.
He picked up a world of ball in this encounter. Gaining possession and getting the ball away. Breand and butter defensive work yes but vital for all that. Simon Ennis and Sean Geraghty, Brendan McKeon were others who helped to transform defence into attack with surging runs.
Goalkeeper Charlie Ennis made his customary batch of saves that, when all the calculation has to be done, could prove vital.
His best stop of the day arrived after 66 minutes when he bravely got in the way of a Lorcan Devlin piledriver. Meath were in front 0-23 to 0-19 at that stage and looked destined to win but a Tyrone goal would have made things interesting - and maybe put a question mark in the minds of the home players.
At times Meath passed the ball around with precision, other times the moves invariably broke down and the team as a unit lost their way - but such barren spells were brief.
That mixture of the good, bad and forgettable was evident in the opening half particularly when the sides were level four times. In the second-half the overall quality of Meath's display moved up a notch or two - and they reaped a rich harvest.
A measure of the threat Tyrone posed could be seen in the way nine of their players got on the scoresheet with Ruari Slane, Sean Og Grogan, Sean Duffin, Michael Little their main marksman. They too notched their quota of sweet scores.
Their cause, however, wasn't helped in the way they shot 11 wides - the same total Meath racked up.
The Ulster side played their best hurling in the opening half. Once Meath regained the lead towards the end of the opening half they stayed in pole position but they really hard to graft to shake off the stubborn Ulster men.
The closing stages were particularly impressive from a Meath perspective with those late, well-struck points from Gannon, O'Sullivan and Murray represented the final flourishes to a victory that sets them up nicely for that game in Sligo.
SCORERS
Meath - Jack Regan 0-11 five frees; Eamon O Donnchadha, 0-4; Adam Gannon 0-3; Mark O'Sullivan 0-2; Pa Ryan 0-2; James Kelly 0-2; Martin Healy 0-1; Sean Geraghty 0-1; Padraig O Hanrahan 0-1; James Murray 0-1.
Tyrone - Sean Duffin 0-7 six frees; Michael Little 0-3; Ruairi Slane 0-3; Sean Og Gorgn 0-2; Conal Devlin 0-1; Byran McGuirk 0-1; Darmot Begley 0-1; Lorcan Devlin 0-1; Aidan Kelly 0-1.
TEAMS
Meath - Charlie Ennis; Michael Burke, Shane Brennan, Brendan McKeon; Niall McLarnon, Sean Geraghty, Simon Ennis; Pa Ryan, Martin Healy; Padraig O'Hanrahan, Jack Regan, James Kelly; Sean Quigley, Eamon O Donnchadha, Nicholas Potterton. Subs - Mark O'Sullivan for Potterton 41 mins, Adam Gannon for Quigley 55m, James Murray for O'Hanrahan 62m, Evan Fitzgerald for Kelly, Daire Shine for Geraghty both 71m.
Tyrone - Liam Dunphy; Dean Rafferty, Ruairi Devlin, Oran McKee; Chris Kearns, Conal Devlin, Michael Little; Bryan McGuirk, Dermot Begley; Conor Grogan, Lorcan Devlin, Ruairi Slane; Aidan Kelly, Sean Og Grogan, Sean Duffin. Subs- Rory Weir for Kelly 31 mins, Sean Paul McKernan for Kearns 56m.
Referee - Colum Canning (Antrim).