Meath show grit to dig themselves out of Louth hole
This wasn’t how Meath would have planned to pick up their first Division 2 victory of the season, by battling back from the brink of despair, but a win is a win at this stage.
Trailing by four points with 40 minutes played, Colm O’Rourke’s side looked to be in real trouble before belatedly bursting into life and reeling off 1-6 without response to win the north-eastern derby.
The show of character and determination from players like Eoghan Frayne, Shane Walsh and Darragh Campion when Meath were struggling will particularly please O’Rourke who is attempting to build a new-look team.
Mathew Costello capped the comeback with a brilliant 70th-minute solo goal that left five points in it at that stage.
New Louth manager Ger Brennan will be disappointed with the manner of the defeat as the Wee County went 33 minutes without a score in the second half before substitute Tom Jackson drilled a screamer to the net deep into stoppage time.
There was more drama right at the death when captain Sam Mulroy lofted in a high ball in search of a match-winning goal but Meath just about dealt with the danger on their own goal-line and the referee blew for full-time shortly after.
It’s a valuable win for Tailteann Cup holders Meath following their opening round draw with Fermanagh and heavy defeat in Armagh. They will take on Kildare next, back in Navan next weekend. As for Louth, who beat Cork in Round 2, they will hope to return to winning ways when they play Cavan in Ardee next weekend.
Louth hit the interval with a narrow 0-6 to 0-5 lead which just about reflected their efforts in the opening 35 minutes or so.
Hosts Meath could have been ahead themselves as six first-half wides undermined their efforts.
But Louth rued their own inability to take goal chances in the 13th and 15th minutes.
Meath captain Ronan Jones threw himself in front of Ciaran Keenan’s shot at goal to deny Louth initially and Royals goalkeeper Sean Brennan did superbly two minutes later to block Conor Grimes’ deflected shot.
That latter goal chance for Louth came from a turnover at midfield when Meath wing-back Ciaran Caulfield was immediately swarmed after trying to catch a Brennan kick-out.
Louth worked hard on turning over the ball across the field and Keenan, Ryan Burns and Mulroy all struck first-half points after possession had been wrestled back further up the pitch.
It was frustrating from Meath’s perspective as they sought to play with width, often keeping a man toeing the whitewash on either sideline in an attempt to free up space in the scoring zone to burst into.
But poor pass selection, miscued kicks and Louth’s ravenous work-rate all combined to thwart them.
One passage of play in first-half stoppage time summed up things for Meath. Walsh, a late addition to the Meath lineup in place of Diarmuid Moriarty who competed for UCD in the Sigerson Cup final on Wednesday night, attempted to burst out of defence and lead a counter-attack around the right half-back position.
But with no options ahead of him he was stopped and turned around by Louth’s number 15 Ciaran Murphy before being eventually forced out over the sideline beneath the main stand.
That drew a huge ovation from Louth supporters and there were more ironic cheers moments later when Meath backroom member Shane Supple was booked for an apparent protest.
Louth reeled off three more points in a row after the restart from Mulroy and Burns to open up a 0-9 to 0-5 and suddenly Meath looked to be in real danger of back-to-back defeats.
Coughing up possession too easily continued to be an issue for Meath but just as the game appeared to be escaping them, they rallied impressively.
Costello scored their first point in over 20 minutes from a free. Then Walsh and Frayne came to life with a brace of points apiece. Darragh Campion, at centre-back this season for Meath, won a couple of possessions and the momentum had visibly swung their direction.
A patient 63rd minute passing move ended with a Daithi McGowan point for Meath and a 0-11 to 0-9 lead.
Louth did create a couple of goal chances in the 50th and 58th minutes but Ciaran Keenan was denied by last ditch blocks on both occasions.
Costello’s 70th minute goal was a cracker and all but won it for Meath, the Dunshaughlin man soloing through a couple of tackles on the right side of goals before blasting beyond Niall McDonnell.
Jackson pulled back that Louth goal three minutes later but while it was a great finish from 20 metres out, it was mere consolation.
M Costello (1-2, 2 frees); S Walsh (0-3); J O’Connor, D McGowan (0-1 mark), E Frayne (0-2 each).
R Burns (0-4); T Jackson (1-0); S Mulroy (0-3, 2 frees, 1 mark); C Keenan, C Early (0-1 each).
S Brennan; M Murphy, A O’Neill, D Keogan; C Caulfield, D Campion, S Coffey; R Jones, C McBride; D McGowan, E Frayne, J O’Connor; S Walsh, M Costello, R Kinsella.
C Hickey for Kinsella (h/t); B O’Halloran for Murphy (48); D Dixon for O’Connor & A Lynch for McGowan (63); A McDonnell for Campion (70).
N McDonnell; D McKenny, D Campbell, P Lynch; C Murphy, A Williams, C McKeever; T Durnin, C Grimes; P Mathews, C Downey, C Grimes; C Keenan, S Mulroy, R Burns.
N Sharkey for Murphy (h/t); D McKeown for Downey (54); L Grey for Williams (63); W Campbell for Early & T Jackson for Keenan (68).
L Devenney (Mayo).
PHOTO CREDIT: Alicija McGuinness -Studio Upstairs Photography
