LEINSTER SFC PRELIMINARY ROUND: Meath 1-25 Carlow 0-8: NOT SO MUCH a championship match as a sustained session of backs and forwards. Meath at half strength through suspensions and injuries turned their championship opener into a battle for starting places, inflicting a horrifying defeat on Carlow.
For Colm Coyle's side on their first return to Croke Park after their distressing collapse to Cork last summer this was exactly what was required. A confidence-building romp. The Meath dressingroom won't need reminding there are far sterner tests ahead but any championship day in Croke Park when a young team dismantles another side serves as nourishment.
These sufferings are never palatable but for Carlow the cruel twist was they started brightly. Young Daniel St Leger, sprung from the minor captaincy last year and brimming with the optimism of youth on his debut, knew too little to doff the cap to Darren Fay, making his 51st championship appearance, and scored a fine point to open the scoring.
Carlow supplemented his effort with three wides in the first four minutes. Then apocalypse.
Meath, dominant at midfield and with endless options in attack, reeled off seven points without reply and the game was over before the 20th minute. Indeed JJ Smith had just mustered Carlow's riposte with a free when Joe Sheridan was fed by Graham Geraghty and planted the ball in the Carlow net to underline the nature of things.
Soon after Carlow began making changes. John Hayden, not looking quite recovered from a nagging injury, was hauled ashore after 24 difficult minutes at the hands of Sheridan. A minute later manager Paul Bealin was forced to withdraw centre back Mark Nolan as well. Nolan's sufferings under Cian Ward's genius were commensurate with Hayden's but for Carlow to have to replace the entire spine of their defence well before half-time told its own tale.
In the second half they were forced to withdraw their centre forward John Murphy as well. One of those days.
Bealin will argue the absence of Mark Carpenter and Paul Reid through injury did his side's cause little good but on form like this Meath were irresistible.
Cian Ward did colossal damage from centre forward, Geraghty was cunning as ever around the full-forward line and Stephen Bray continued last summer's form line. Better still for Meath fans was the sight of Brian Farrell returning to a Meath jersey and looking comfortable in his skin as he kicked two effortless frees. All around things were looking good.
The Meath starting midfield pairing of Brian Meade and Mark Ward will know more difficult days but they kept the supply coming in sufficient quantities to make Bealin wish he could go into the dressingroom of the Wicklow footballers who had played in the curtainraiser and pull Tommy Walsh out by the ear and back home to Carlow.
By half-time Meath were 14 points ahead, the sort of cushion which offered Coyle the unlikely luxury of being able to introduce five second-half substitutes for auditions as much as anything else. While he was doing this the faithful in a desperately disappointing attendance of 21,707 were entertained by the sight of young corner back Chris O'Connor sallying forth not once but twice to nick points.
Talking points for Meath? Through the second half although Meath had eased up slightly Carlow showed flashes of potential, particularly in the full-forward line each of whom managed against the tide to score from play. St Ledger looks like he will occupy a Carlow jersey for years to come and on either side of him JJ Smith and Eric McCormack looked lively.
The one reservation about Meath's progress last year was they had little evident strength in depth defensively. Conceding eight points in the course of a rout scarcely comes near to constituting a crisis but Carlow carved out more chances than they took and McCormack was unlucky to have missed a good goal chance when Kevin Reilly dropped the ball from a Smith free.
These things are abstract notions for Coyle at the moment. He has the bonus of players returning in their legions from suspensions and injury and yesterday fast-tracked a few young bloods into the starting line-up. The forward line was brimming with success stories (one of Alan Nestor's points was the score of the day in Croke Park) and Meath, traditionally the most unforgiving of defensive sides, may be on the cusp of an era where all-out attack is their favoured means of defence.
A quiet day in Croke Park but Meath provided hope the Leinster championship may not be quite the beaten docket we have taken it for.
MEATH: M Ahern; C O'Connor (0-2), D Fay, C McGill; E Harrington, K Reilly, C King (0-1); B Meade (0-1), M Ward; A Nestor (0-2), C Ward (0-7, four frees), P Byrne; S Bray (capt, 0-4), J Sheridan (1-3), G Geraghty (0-2). Subs: B Farrell (0-2, frees)for J Sheridan (46 mins), D Sheridan for M Ward (46 mins), G Reilly (0-1)for C Ward (48 mins), E Reilly for B Meade (51 mins), T Skelly for K Reilly (56 mins).
CARLOW: J Brennan, E Doyle, J Hayden, P Bambrick; P Cashin capt, M Nolan, A Curran (0-1); D Byrne, P Walsh; B Carbery, J Murphy, S Roche; E McCormack (0-2, one free), D St Ledger (0-2), JJ Smith (0-3, two frees). Subs: B Farrell for J Hayden (24 mins), B English for M Nolan (25 mins), S Rea for J Murphy (40 mins), R Sinnott for E Doyle (61 mins), K Nolan for A Curran (66 mins).
Referee: G Ó Conamha(Galway).
Attendance: 21,707.
