Royals rumbled by rampant Kildare
IF boss Andy McEntee wasn’t aware of the enormous task that confronts him in his efforts to get Meath football back on a solid footing, well it was laid bare before him at Pairc Tailteann on Sunday.
And he hadn’t too long to wait either, just 16 seconds in fact, as Kildare newcomer Ben McCormack rounded marker Donal Keogan and rattled the Meath net.
Yes, this first-round NFL Division 2 tie was a real eye-opener for the Meath management, players and indeed supporters. So much were the Royals off the pace, it was almost frightening.
Thirteen of this Kildare team started against Dublin in the recent O’Byrne Cup semi-final, while both Ollie Lyons and Tom Mollick were introduced as subs at the start of the second half. They failed miserably against what was essentially the Dubs’ third string on that occasion, but proved themselves a much different animal on Sunday.
They did have it easy, though, and apart from a brief spell approaching half-time it was mainly one-way traffic. Kevin Feely and Mollick lauded it at midfield, while the Meath defence was ran ragged at times. At the other end the hosts had great difficulty in penetrating the Lillywhites’ rearguard.
Only Alan Forde, Cillian O’Sullivan, Graham Reilly and Donal Lenihan to a lesser extent can hold their heads high after this performance. Meath looked completely flat-footed against the free-flowing opponents who were full of confidence from the opening whistle.
The home side were themselves coming off the back of a poor display against Louth in the O’Byrne Cup, but there was no backlash in sight here. They did create a couple of genuine goal chances but were unable to take any of them, while they also had penalty appeals turned away on two occasions.
Overall, though, Meath were extremely fortunate that Kildare didn’t score more, and with a little more potency in attack the goal tally could have been doubled.
Trim’s Alan Douglas replaced the injured Paddy Kennelly before the start and the home side never recovered from conceding that sucker punch of an early goal. Daniel Flynn and Paul Cribbin added points before Donal Lenihan opened the hosts’ account.
Kildare led by 10 points at one stage in the opening half and were full value for their 2-7 to 0-7 interval lead.
The hosts had Mickey Burke black-carded after 20 minutes and then had claims for a penalty turned away after Cillian O’Sullivan went to ground under pressure. Almost immediately Kildare went on the offensive and Paul Cribbin set up Niall Kelly for his side’s second goal to leave it 2-6 to 0-2 after 22 minutes.
Even at that relatively early stage, with Kildare so dominant, it was evident that the off-colour Meath men were facing an impossible task. They did enjoyed their best spell towards the end of the half with four successive points, with Lenihan (two frees), Forde and Reilly on the mark.
Kildare could have added to their goal tally on 33 minutes when Daniel Flynn was allowed cut in along the endline and make an angle for himself, but both Jack Hannigan and Shane McEntee made goal-saving blocks.
At the other end Meath had a chance of making it a three-point game when O’Sullivan was presented with a chance in first-half added time, but keeper Mark Donnellan proved equal to the Moynalvey man’s effort.
Lenihan’s fifth point of the game edged Meath closer on the restart, but Kildare weren’t letting this one slip from their grasp. The sides shared six points in the opening 10 minutes of that second half, while substitute Ruairi O Coilean was unfortunate to see a goal effort take a deflection and rebound off the Kildare woodwork.
However, the destination of the points was effectively decided when Fergal Conway set up the rampant Niall Kelly for his second goal on 48 minutes. That left three clear goals between the teams, 3-10 to 0-10, and eight points was the closest Meath got at any stage after that.
McCormack, Kelly and Neil Flynn continued to inflict further pain on the home side and Flynn also had a goal effort blocked by Jack Hannigan at the expense of a ‘45 on 59 minutes.
Corner back Ollie Lyons got upfield to fist over the winners’ last point, leaving Meath with plenty of food for thought ahead of the visit of Derry next Sunday, a clash which now takes on even more significance. KILDARE: Mark Donnellan; Mick O’Grady, David Hyland, Ollie Lyons 0-1; Johnny Byrne, Eoin Doyle 0-1, Keith Cribbin 0-2; Kevin Feely 0-1, Tommy Mollick; Fergal Conway, Niall Kelly 2-2, Paul Cribbin 0-3; Neil Flynn 0-3 (2fs), Daniel Flynn 0-1, Ben McCormack 1-3. Subs: Cathal McNally for Conway ((60), Peter Kelly for O’Grady (63), Shea Ryan for Byrne (65), Eamonn Callaghan for Kelly (67), David Slattery for McCormack (68), Conor Hartley for D Flynn (68). MEATH: Jack Hannigan; Donal Keogan, Conor McGill, Mickey Burke; Brian Power, Shane McEntee, Alas Douglas; Cian O’Brien, Bryan Menton 0-1; Cillian O’Sullivan 0-2, Graham Reilly 0-4, Alan Forde 0-2; Eamon Wallace, Brian Sheridan, Donal Lenihan 0-7 (5fs). Subs: David McQuillan for Burke (BC 20), Adam Flanagan for Douglas (h-t), Ruairi O Coileain for Power (h-t), Bobby O’Brien for Sheridan (46), Conor Downey for Wallace ((51), William Carry for McEntee (65).