Nolan shines as Carlow prevail
CARLOW 0-20 MEATH 1-13
CARLOW booked their place in the Division 2A decider against 13-man Meath in a tetchy encounter at Trim yesterday.
However, victory came at a cost as John Michael Nolan was red carded on the stroke of full time and could now miss the final against Westmeath. Meath’s Darragh Kelly was dismissed in the same incident after Keith Keoghan had earlier being sent off on the half-hour mark after a second yellow card.
Meath, with Jack Regan in fine scoring form, built up a 0-6 to 0-2 lead by the end of the opening quarter. However, Carlow dominated from there to the break and thanks to the accuracy of Martin Kavanagh and Chris Nolan they had drawn level by the 28th minute.
Nolan pointed them ahead for the first time and they eventually led 0-8 to 0-7 at the break. The visitors could have led by more at half-time, but Meath keeper Shane McGann produced fine saves to deny Kavanagh and Nolan.
Meath were back level within a minute of the restart and remained in contention throughout the third quarter despite their numerical disadvantage.
Carlow gradually stretched their lead and with James Doyle impressing on the edge of the square they eventually went seven points clear by the 58th minute. A goal from Anthony Forde gave the Meath men a glimmer of hope in the closing stages, but they never seriously threatened the Carlow lead.
SCORERS – Carlow: C Nolan 0-6 (1f), M Kavanagh (4fs), J Doyle 0-4 each, D English (f), D Byrne, JM Nolan, P Coady, D Murphy (f), R Kelly 0-1 each. Meath: J Regan 0-10 (7f, 1 ’65), A Forde 1-1, S Quigley, P Conneely 0-1 each.
CARLOW – B Tracey 7; A Corcoran 7, Paul Doyle 7, M Doyle 6; E Nolan 7, D English 7, R Coady 7; J Kavanagh 7, D Byrne 8; S Murphy 6, P Coady 7, JM Nolan 6; M Kavanagh 8, J Doyle 8, C Nolan 8. Subs: R Kelly 6 for M Doyle (45), J Murphy 6 for J Kavanagh (49), E Byrne 6 for M Kavanagh (59), D Murphy 6 for P Coady (61), K McDonald for C Nolan (66).
MEATH – S McGann 8; S Geraghty 6, D Healy 6, N Weir 6; J Keena 7, D Kelly 7, S Brennan 7; A Forde 7, K Keoghan 5; J Regan 8, J Toher 7, J Kelly 6; P Conneely 6, E Marsh 6, A Douglas 6. Subs: S Morris 6 for Toher (50), A Gannon 6 for Marsh (54), S Quigley 6 for Conneely (56), C McCabe 6 for Douglas (58).
REF – G McGrath (Wexford)