Laois ... 0-11 Meath ... 0-7For a game like this the attention was inevitably on the sidelines as much as the field, and for some scores it was better to watch the reaction of the managers than that of the players.
Though the story in Navan yesterday was multi-layered - a rematch of last summer's championship and the blooding of young players and all that - it was essentially about the enduring careers of Mick O'Dwyer and Seán Boylan.
Two of the oldest managers around, they are still learning the tricks and still seeking that one last kick. When the entertaining contest drew to a close it was O'Dwyer who walked away with the bigger smile, his Laois team well-deserving winners and well on the road for a rewarding league campaign. Boylan looked a little more concerned but could still typically laugh most of it off. Both men knew there were far bigger days ahead.
"I always want my teams to perform well when they're playing. And I think we performed reasonably well out there," said O'Dwyer, emphasising the "reasonably".
Certainly there were way more positives about the Laois performance. Damien Delaney, back after a couple of years' hiatus, was the class act at corner forward and hit 0-8 of the Laois total. Pauric Clancy and Noel Garvan lorded midfield and Colm Parkinson did enough running on and off the ball to qualify for a mileage bonus.
There were also some fresh faces who were an immediate fit, most notably Colm Byrne at full back. It all meant Laois led quite comfortably for all of the game, bar the trademark fight-back from Meath in the closing stages. It was also Laois's third consecutive league win over Meath.
"I think we were up against as strong a Laois team as you are going to get, and from that point of view I thought we did well enough," said Boylan afterwards, and he had a valid point. Laois started with a mostly familiar line-up, whereas the Meath line-up was mostly unrecognisable, especially the forwards.
Anthony Moyles and John Cullinane were the only tried and tested part of the attack, while Darren Fay operated at centre back and Hank Traynor at full back. At midfield they definitely struggled for long periods, with Charles McCarthy eventually being replaced by the equally unheralded David Gallagher.
The superior fitness of Laois was also clearly evident, helping them score 0-4 before Meath got their first score on15 minutes. That effort, a free from Daithí Regan, still came against the run of play and at that point Boylan was already off the bench and patrolling the sidelines.
The strong wind was favouring Laois but their 0-8 to 0-3 lead at half-time was completely merited - especially through Delaney's faultless free-taking.
It could have been greater, too, had Kevin Fitzpatrick not had his penalty impressively saved by Cormac O'Sullivan shortly before the turnaround.
Fitzpatrick's miss was a minor glitch on an otherwise strong performance at centre back, and there was equally committed displays from Darren Rooney and Derek Conroy alongside him. Joe Higgins also continues to improve as a defender and helped ensure that goalkeeper Fergal Byron had a reasonable quiet afternoon.
At the other end, Laois had a series of goal chances early in the second half only to be denied by some mis-gauged shooting. The appearance of Evan Kelly and Ollie Murphy, however, helped beef up the Meath attack and they went increasingly close to a goal as the game wound down.
Laois allowed themselves to lose concentration for a while and only a goal separated the sides going into the last 10 minutes, with Laois leading 0-10 to 0-7. Regan put one genuine goal chance just wide, and closer to the end Murphy had a shot on goal stopped by the Laois defence - though he seemed to think it was an illegal block.
Instead it was Laois who got the final score of the game when Garvan sent over the cushion point shortly before time. No great celebrations followed the final whistle, but the satisfaction of the well-earned victory was clear on the faces of the Laois players.
"There was a tricky wind out there that made it hard to play good football," added the former Kerry and Kildare manager. "But I thought our fellas really gave it their all, in that they tackled and harassed and won the ball well.
"It's encouraging, yes, but it's just another league game. And I know now this team can battle, and we got into good positions to get scores. Hopefully, that will keep improving as we go on, and so overall I would be quite happy."
Boylan is clearly working with a team more in its rebuilding phase: "It was a big day for a lot of lads out there, having their first game and all that," he said. "And we had some chances there at the end, lots of chances actually, but just couldn't put them away. Part of that though was the more tenacious tackling on Laois defenders' part, especially in the second half.
"On the day they were just the more settled side, and were hungrier as well. But we have a lot of good young lads who are very keen to have a go at it. We do the best we can and try to give them a chance, but we'd like to try to win this league as well. Some people might say the way we were going today we'll win nothing. But I wouldn't rule that out just yet."
LAOIS: F Byron; T Kelly, C Byrne, J Higgins; D Rooney, K Fitzpatrick, D Conroy; P Clancy, N Garvan (0-1); C Conway, I Fitzgerald (0-1, f), C Parkinson; B McDonald, M Lawlor (0-1), D Delaney (0-8, 5f, 2 45). Subs: D Miller for McDonald (59 mins), A Fennelly for Fitzgerald (68 mins), K Kelly for Lawlor (69 mins).
MEATH: C O'Sullivan; C Reynolds, H Traynor, N McKeigue; M O'Reilly, D Fay, D Curtis; N Crawford, C McCarthy; A Kenny, T Brosnan, A Moyles; D Regan (0-4, fs), J Cullinane (0-1), S McKeigue (0-1). Subs: E Kelly for Brosnan (half time), O Murphy for Moyles, D Gallagher (0-1) for McCarthy (both 45 mins), P Nugent for Curtis (59 mins), B Callaghan for Kenny (65 mins).
Referee: M Curley (Galway).
