LEINSTER SFC Meath 1-20 Offaly 2-7: AN OVEN-baked afternoon in Portlaoise was a promising setting for yesterday's GAA Leinster football preliminary round contest. Early indications were that Offaly might make more of a match of it than had been generally expected and by half-time they trailed by two despite having had more than enough opportunity to be in front.
The nagging suspicion that outsiders can’t afford to waste chances quite as profligately as was happening nor gift their opponents scores through errors in ball retention was eventually confirmed but it was helped along by another self-inflicted wound, the loss of centrefielder John Coughlan to a straight red card for elbowing Anthony Moyles within five minutes of the restart.
As both managers explained afterwards the departure of the big Dublin player, who had declared for his father’s county, radically altered the dynamic of the match. In as much as Offaly were hanging on it was through the ability of Niall McNamee in the full-forward line to engineer chances despite being not fully fit.
Just as the supply of primary possession reduced and limited the number of chances, Meath were able to deploy Moyles, who had switched to centre back with Michael Burke before the throw-in, as the spare man and pay particular attention to anything menacing that might have happened to their full-back line.
Happy to back their own centrefield, where Nigel Crawford was excellent, against forcibly amended opposition Meath were happy to ignore Moyles from kick-outs despite his getting free on most occasions and instead keep him close to goal as an auxiliary for the inside defensive line.
A tightened defence was one element of the team’s 10-point win but the comfortable efficiency with which the forwards took their chances drove the margin up and contrasted with their opponents’ laboured attempts, which yielded just four points in the second half.
For the first 10 minutes the game was cautious and even. The teams were level at two points apiece but some of Offaly’s difficulties began to surface. Stephen Bray’s lead point for 0-3 to 0-2 came from an interception and minutes later Niall Darby had the first of three bad wides from free-kick awards.
Strangely the Rhode forward was capable of nailing a nearly impossible free from the right touchline with the help of the woodwork but missed chances that were the football equivalent of gimmes. Darby’s faulty radar contrasted with Cian Ward’s, as the Meath free-taker had a flawless afternoon from dead-ball opportunities, finishing with 0-8, seven of which were frees.
Meath pushed on, Joe Sheridan’s strength causing alarm and late Offaly replacement Ciarán Kiely getting caught out twice by Graham Reilly, who marked a sound debut by setting up scores for Bray and Shane O’Rourke, whose return to championship football after missing two years with injury yielded a productive four points from play.
The first of Offaly’s lifelines was cast out in the 22nd minute after Darby got quick ball in to McNamee and the latter held up the ball intelligently before picking out the breaking run of Brian Connor – son of the county’s 1982 All-Ireland winning captain Richie – with a well-judged hand pass and the centre forward’s finish was clean and efficient.
Sheridan had a goal disallowed for pushing but there was an ominous quality to how calmly Meath reeled off three points, from O’Rourke, Ward and flying wing back debutant Gary O’Brien, to buy back the goal. Then in the last minute of the half Ciarán McManus hoisted quick ball in McNamee’s direction. Somehow the corner forward kept it in and fed the ball back across the goal where Ken Casey rapped home the last score of the half to leave just two between them, 2-3 to 0-11.
The half ended in some controversy with McNamee again getting in behind the defence but being thwarted by what initially looked like a foul, as referee Derek Fahy spread his arms wide. But instead of awarding a penalty the Longford official signalled half-time.
The evidence was that Meath were taking scores far more easily even if poor defending was jeopardising their superiority. Before the Coughlan incident the teams had swapped points and the result looked in play but once the centrefielder had gone it all looked increasingly forlorn for Offaly.
Driven on by Ward’s free taking, Meath outscored their opponents by 0-7 to 0-1 in the 24 minutes that followed Coughlan’s dismissal. Having come close to scoring a goal when Sheridan’s surprised reaction to a rebound off the post prevented him getting his hands on the ball in the square Meath struck in the 68th minute when Crawford’s delivery set up Sheridan for the last score.
To great merriment in the crowd the referee was sent sprawling when Shane Sullivan clattered into him in the 70th minute but the collision was deemed accidental.
Although there were a few hand-passes penalised the contentious new rule didn’t interfere with the match although a high free count of 60 may well have spoiled the contest had there really been one.
A minute’s silence was observed before the throw-in as mark of respect to Meath minor footballer Liam Tolan, who died in a car crash near Ashbourne in the early hours of yesterday morning.
MEATH:1 P O'Rourke; 2 C O'Connor, 6 M Burke, 4 E Harrington; 7 C King, 3 A Moyles, 5 G O'Brien (0-1); 8 N Crawford (0-1), 9 M Ward; 10 S Kenny, 11 J Sheridan (1-3), 12 G Reilly; 15 S Bray (0-2), 14 S O'Rourke (0-4), 13 C Ward (0-8, seven frees). Subs:18 P Byrne for Reilly (54 mins), 17 B Farrell (0-1, free) for Ward, 19 C Gillespie for Ward (63 mins), 21 B Meade for S O'Rourke (64 mins), 22 J Macken for Kenny (69 mins). Yellow card:Reilly (36 mins).
OFFALY:1 A Mulhall; 4 P Sullivan, 3 S Brady, 5 S Sullivan; 23 C Kiely, 6 R Dalton, 7 K Slattery; 8 C McManus, 9 J Coughlan; 10 N Darby (0-2, frees), 11 B Connor (1-0), 12 S Ryan; 15 N McNamee (0-1), 14 J Reynolds (0-1), 13 K Casey (1-2, point a free). Subs:29 A Sullivan (0-1) for Darby (48 mins), 24 A Lynam for Ryan (48 mins), 21 B Geraghty for McManus (59 mins), 17 R Brady for Connor (60 mins), 25 S Lonergan for Kiely (71 mins). Yellow cards:Dalton (24 mins), McManus (35 mins), Slattery (43 mins), P Sullivan (65 mins), Connor (59 mins), Kiely (69 mins). Red card:Coughlan (59 mins).
Attendance:7,122.
Referee:D Fahy (Longford).
