Garden men lose out to flying Meath
MEATH WICKLOW 4-24 2-15
AFTER putting in a battling display in the opening half in the NHL Division 2B final in Parnell Park, the Wicklow hurlers needed a good start to the second period if they were to have any hope of holding on to the coat tails of a confident and classy Meath outfit, but, alas, they got the exact opposite.
With 35 seconds on the second half clock, Mark O’Sullivan drove a ball low into the ground and it skipped past Martin O’Brien and Eoghan O’Mahony to nestle snugly in the bottom corner of the Wicklow net to the cheers of the large Meath contingent in the stand.
And like so many of the Meath scores in the opening half, Wicklow had had the opportunity to clear but had coughed up the possession through errors or Meath pressure and that ghost of indecision and lack of clinical ability came back to haunt Seamus Murphy’s men with a vengeance.
Meath hurling is in a good place it has to be said. With 12 Senior clubs and some really quality hurlers to choose from, the Royals are in a very positive state and that is reflected in the hurling on the field of play and the drive that is so obvious among the players and the unity in the panel and the lack of panic, or the refusal to doubt themselves when it comes to the crunch.
Wicklow club hurling is not in the same health or anywhere close to that of Meath and yet Seamus Murphy and Michael Neary have produced a team that has completely turned the corner of 2016 and that has brought a renewed spirit and gumption and respect back to the Garden county jersey so there is certainly no cause for depression or despair for this county squad that has given us a very entertaining and successful league campaign and who will leave nothing on the field of play come the Christy Ring Cup.
Th 2-09 to 2-06 half-time score was fairly reflective of the action in the opening 35 minutes. In saying that though, it was Wicklow’s errors that have gifted Meath the two goals.
Meath romped out to a 0-06 to 0-02 lead after a quarter of an hour thanks to some really nice hurling and an electric start from Mark O’Sullivan and a reliable Steven Clynch on the frees.
Damian Healy opened the scoring with a bomb of a point from about 50 meters out not long after Andy O’Brien had been blown for overcarrying after good work from Padraig Doyle.
Clynch nabbed the first of his seven-point haul with a monster from his own 65 before Christy Moorehouse got in on the act with a dainty little number from a free.
All was good and well for Wicklow at this time. You did get the impression that Wicklow were going to have to hurl exceptionally well and get every bit of luck going to be still in with a shout with 10 to go but with the effort that was being put in you weren’t about to dismiss such an eventuality outright.
Warren Kavanagh had started very well at the back and he was picking up Clynch and John Henderson was showing his class through winning and clearing ball at a pace very similar to that of Meath’s, which could be described as frenetic.
And it was Henderson who played a massive role in Wicklow’s second score, and first from play, when he got himself high up the pitch and made a nuisance of himself to allow Diarmuid Masterson the space to pass to Padraig Doyle and the burly Bray man rifled over the Meath bar.
Over the course of the next few moments Wicklow would cough up possession on a number of occasions through errors or poor passes and eventually a team like Meath will make you pay for that and they did through a Mark O’Sullivan point to make it 0-03 to 0-02.
Meath attacked but were repelled and Padraig Doyle went wide up the other end and then a long John Henderson ball looking for Andy O’Brien was overcooked just a smidgeon and went out for another Wicklow wide.
Meath were growing into the game and their midfielders Anthony Forde and Joe Keena were proving to be real dynamos in the middle of the field and it was on one of their bursts forward that Meath opened up a 0-04 to 0-02 lead through O’Sullivan.
Two converted frees by Clynch left Meath leading by 0-06 to 0-02 after 15 before Peter Keane popped up and drove over a sweet point from distance and then the Greystones man was fouled and Christy Moorehouse popped over the free to make it 0-06 to 0-04.
Up to this stage, Wicklow hadn’t really threatened the Meath goal but a high ball in deceived the Meath full-back and bounced sweetly into the grateful hand of George O’Brien who slotted it home perfectly past Shane McGann for the game’s opening goal and a massive boost for the Garden county.
Tellingly, despite the concession of the goal, Meath were able to storm back up the field and reply with a Joe Keena point and an Anthony Forde wide.
This was a very healthy spell for Wicklow, though, with Christy Moorehouse (free) and Andy O’Brien pointing either side of a James Kelly point for Meath but then the Royals got in for their first major through O’Sullivan who benefited from a tiny slip from Warren Kavanagh to earn a yard or two of space and unleash a rocket past O’Mahony. Wicklow had lost possession further out the field.
Wides were exchanged then and Meath attacked down the far side and Wickllow battled hard and won the ball back but were blocked down and Meath drove a ball into the danger area but it was batted away by Warren Kavanagh to John Henderson who slipped and the ball spilled to Adam Gannon who fed a pass in to O’Sullivan and the corner-forward let rip to the back of the Wicklow net.
A Clynch point from a free ended the first half and left Meath leading by 2-09 to 2-06.
There was quite hope among the Wicklow supporters in Parnell Park. They knew the job of work ahead of the hurlers but despite the errors and the unforgiving Meath defence, Seamus Murphy’s men were still only three points down.
The disastrous start to the second period knocked Wicklow back but worse still was the placing of the Meath foot on the Wicklow throat over the next few minutes as they fired over eight points with 13 minutes to lead by 3-17 to 2-07.
It looked like things couldn’t really get any worse for Wicklow but they did when Padraig Doyle came down heavily on his ankle and was forced off with a worrying looking injury., Eoin McCormack came on for Doyle and he proceeded to sparkle and show some really deft and subtle skills with the hurl and fire over three points.
Wicklow, to their endless credit, battled hard and had fine scores from Danny Staunton and Christy Moorehouse, but the moving of Peter Keane back as a sweeper failed to have the desired effect and with the wind well knocked out of their sails at this stage there was going to be no miraculous recovery and Meath powered on to win at a canter to hand Wicklow their second beating in two weeks.
Seamus Murphy and Michael Neary will want to get the lads back in and get them back on track and ready and able for the Christy Ring.
Saturday’s defeat will stand to them in the near future.
They’ll have learned alot about themselves and they’ll know that that’s the pace they need to get to to compete at this level.
Scorers - Meath: Mark O’Sullivan 3-5, Steven Clynch 0-7 (6fs), Neil Heffernan 1-0, James Kelly 0-3, Joe Keena, Shane Brennan 0-2 each, Keith Keoghan, Anthony Forde, Daragh Healy, Adam Gannon, Seán Quigley (f) 0-1 each.
Wicklow: Christy Moorehouse 0-6 (5fs), Andy O’Brien 1-2, George O’Brien 1-1, Eoin McCormack 0-3, Padraig Doyle, Peter Keane, Danny Staunton 0-1 each.
Meath - Shane McGann; Seán Geraghty, Shane Whitty, Cormac Reilly; Shane Brennan, Daragh Kelly, Keith Keoghan; Anthony Forde, Joe Keena; Kevin Keena, Damian Healy, James Kelly; Adam Gannon, Steven Clynch, Mark O’Sullivan. Subs: Neil Heffernan for K Keena ((42), Seán Quigley for Reilly (48), Gavin McGowan for J Keena (62), Pádraig Kelly for D Kelly (67), Michael O’Grady for J Kelly (68).
Wicklow - Eoin O’Mahony; Luke Maloney, Martin O’Brien, Warren Kavanagh; Garry Byrne, John Henderson, Peter Keane; Eamonn Kearns, Ronan Keddy; Danny Staunton, Christy Moorehouse, Diarmuid Masterson; Gorge O’Brien, Andy O’Brien, Padraig Doyle. Subs: Eugene Dunne for Maloney (45), Eoin McCormack for Doyle (53), Wayne Kinsella for Masterson (58), John Connors for Keane (59), Billy Cuddihy for Keddy (68).
Referee: Justin Heffernan (wexford)