With nine of the All-Ireland final heroes on duty - including Trevor Giles playing at centre back - Meath made heavy weather of gaining a two-point win in their opening National League match in Pairc Tailteann yesterday.
The match ended on an unfortunate note when Meath's Evan Kelly was taken off on a stretcher and in a neck brace after a collision in midfield. He was taken to hospital, but Meath manager Sean Boylan said afterwards this was a precautionary measure.
"I believe that the clash was accidental and that he was slightly concussed after getting a blow of a knee as a number of people fell," Boylan explained.
The match had been fought fairly in difficult, windy conditions. A very strong breeze blew towards the town goal, and in the first half Meath goalkeeper Cormac O'Sullivan's kick-outs seldom reached the halfway line.
Many in the crowd of some 5,000 were surprised to see Giles placed at centre half back, but he was outstanding in the position and was involved in every significant Meath effort both in defence and attack. In other Meath surprises, Donal Curtis, who was named in the starting line-up at left corner forward actually played at right corner back, with Mark O'Reilly at full back in place of the absent Darren Fay.
Clare built up a tally of 10 wides and seven points in the first half, and put a lot of pressure on the Meath midfield, where the steadying influence of John McDermott was sorely missed.
Meath's Nigel Crawford did a fine job in this sector, but it was Clare's Danny O'Sullivan who emerged as the most influential player. Because of a combination of injuries and club commitments, Clare were short up to 12 of their squad, and seen in this light their performance was impressive. Were it not for the poor scoring record in the first half they might have built up a big lead at half-time. In fact, Clare led 0-7 to 0-2 at the break. It was significant that Meath's two points came in the last five minutes of the 35-minute half.
Giles inspired the Meath comeback once they got the wind on their backs in the second half. Three frees in quick succession lifted the temperature of the match and a point from play by Ray Magee cut the deficit to two. Clare steadied their ship with points by Brian McMahon and Mark Shanahan, but Meath stormed back with two points, from Graham Geraghty and Giles, before drawing level for the first time with a point by Crawford after 20 minutes.
A free by Odran O'Dwyer put Clare back in front but Magee levelled the scores again and, as the tempo continued to rise, Colm Mullen pointed his third 45 to put Clare ahead once more. Meath finished the stronger, however, with points by Kelly, Cormac Murphy and Ronan Farrelly leaving them two clear at the end. Afterwards, Boylan refused to join the chorus of criticism about the new league. "That was a good match today and the players put a lot into it. I was pleased with a few of our newcomers and if that was a weak Clare team they must have a very good panel of players".
His team's efforts in the closing minutes illustrated vividly that they are determined to make an impression on the new league, whatever its faults.
MEATH: C O'Sullivan; D Curtis, M O'Reilly, P Shankey; P Reynolds, T Giles (0-4, three frees), I McManus; N Crawford (0-1), D Gallagher (0-1); E Kelly (0-1), N Nestor, C McCarthy; R Magee (0- 2), G Geraghty (0-2, one free), J Devine. Subs: R Farrelly (0-1) for McCarthy (half-time); C Reynolds for Gallagher (54 mins); G Codd for Devine (54 mins); C Murphy (0-1) for Kelly (72 mins).
CLARE: J Hanrahan; G O'Leary, B Considine, D O'Driscoll; M O'Shea, B Rouine, C Nagle; D O'Sullivan, G Quinlan (0-1); C Mullen (0-3, [BO ]all 45s), P McMahon (0-1), M O'Connell; B McMahon (0-2, one free), O O'Dwyer (0-2 both frees), M Daly (0-1). Subs: M Shanaghan (0-1) for O'Shea; R Slattery for Daly.
Referee: M Beirne (Roscommon).
