Meath in cruise control as Longford find the going too tough in Leinster exit

Meath . . . 3-19     Longford . . . 3-12 

After building up a commanding seven point lead (1-13 to 1-6) at the break after playing with the advantage of the strong wind in the first half, the superior Meath side were generally in cruise control throughout this tame Leinster Senior Football Championship Round 1 clash at Glennon Brothers Pearse Park on Sunday last.  

While Longford tried hard to keep the score down in the second half of this damage limitation exercise and were rewarded with a couple of consolation goals from Mark Hughes and Darren Gallagher late in the game, this was a significant step up in class for the Division 4 outfit and so it proved with no hope of a shock result.

Meath are operating at a higher level and the underdogs Longford lacked the bite to make it difficult for the red-hot favourites who should have won by a wider margin.

Colm O’Rourke’s young team were content to keep the scoreboard ticking over in the second half to consolidate their firm grip on the game which was never much of a contest.

Longford were fortunate not to concede a couple of more goals with a cracking shot from Meath’s attacking wing back Ciaran Caulfield hitting the crossbar in the 45th minute while Paddy Collum produced a fine point-blank save to prevent Eoghan Frayne from finding the back of the net in the 53rd minute.

Considering that he did not feature in any of the games in the National League this season, Collum was a surprise choice to start instead of Micheal Hughes and while his brother Mark was also demoted to the substitutes bench the Killoe forward was brought on at the start of the second half and ended up with 1-2.

Whatever slim chance that Paddy Christie’s charges had of giving Meath some sort of a scare was eventually dashed when they conceded a penalty that was converted by Frayne in the 65th minute.

This killer goal was followed by another score from the excellent Meath no 15 James Conlon, who clocked up a total of 1-6, all from play, to leave Meath 11 points ahead (2-18 to 1-10).

Longford, to their credit, battled it out to the bitter end and those late goals from Mark Hughes and Darren Gallagher in the 67th and 69th minutes gave the final scoreline a more respectable look.

In between, Meath substitute Cian McBride fisted the ball to the net to satisfy the away supporters who greatly outnumbered the Longford followers among the attendance estimated in the region of 2,500.

After falling at the first hurdle in Leinster, the attention for the struggling Longford side now turns to the Tailteann Cup which starts on May 11/12 and hopefully the midlanders can make an impact in the Tier 2 Championship.

Although selected at left-corner-forward, Kenagh’s Keelin McGann did not feature in the match against Meath due to injury and he was replaced by Cathal McCabe.

In another change on the Longford team, Jayson Matthews started in the attack and the Mullinalaghta man certainly could not be faulted for the defeat after scoring 1-3 (1 free).

While his goal in the 30th minute was rather fortunate as his dipping shot for a point dropped over the head of the deceived Meath keeper Sean Brennan, it was a badly needed boost for Longford who trailed by 1-10 to 0-3 after James Conlon got the Meath goal in the 26th minute. Conlon was left with the simple task of flicking the ball to the net from close range after connecting with the perfect pass from another dangerman Jordan Morris.

There was just no stopping the razor sharp Meath attack with the exception of their key attacker Matthew Costello who was held scoreless by the tenacious Longford defender Oisin O’Toole before the full-forward was eventually taken off at half-time.

Defending deeply, the home side created another couple of goal chances on the quick counter-attack in the first half with Dessie Reynolds blasting the ball over the bar while a shot from Daniel Mimnagh was blocked in his bid to find the back of the net.

Daniel Reynolds accounted for Longford’s opening score in the 4th minute while the other points in the first half came from Darren Gallagher (free), Jayson Matthews ( free and play) and Joseph Hagan.

Firmly in control at the break, Meath made a strong start to the second half with three points in a row through Frayne (free), Conlon and Caulfield before substitute Mark Hughes fired over a free for Longford in the 44th minute.

Jordan Morris replied for Meath before Longford, with the advantage of the strong wind, closed the gap with a point apiece from Daniel Mimnagh and substitute Dylan Farrell and then came another score from the chief marksman Matthews.

The penalty goal gave Meath some more breathing space before Longford staged a determined late rally in adding another 2-2 to their fine tally with the points registered by Michael Quinn and Mark Hughes (free).

Late substitute Daire Duggan was just a couple of minutes on the pitch when he was dismissed for a black card offence in stoppage time and there are many lessons to be learned from this defeat against a much stronger Meath outfit.

LONGFORD: Paddy Collum (Fr Manning Gaels); Patrick Fox (Mullinalaghta St Columba's), Oisin O'Toole (Dromard), Liam Hughes (Killoe Emmet Og); Bryan Masterson (Abbeylara), Ryan Moffett (Killoe Emmet Og), Dessie Reynolds (Sean Connolly's, 0-1); Darren Gallagher (St Mary's Granard, 1-1, 1f), Paddy Kiernan (Killoe Emmet Og); Daniel Mimnagh (Killoe Emmet Og, 0-1), Joseph Hagan (Dromard, 0-1); Daniel Reynolds (Sean Connolly's, 0-1); Jayson Matthews (Mullinalaghta St Columba's, 1-3, 1f), Michael Quinn (Killoe Emmet Og, 0-1), Cathal McCabe (Colmcille).

Subs:- Mark Hughes (Killoe Emmet Og, 1-2, 2f) for B Masterson (half-time); Dylan Farrell (St Brigid’s Killashee, 0-1) for C McCabe (45 mins); Ruairi Harkin (Colmcille) for P Fox (injured, 61 mins); Darragh Finlass (Ballymahon Forgney) for L Hughes (70 mins); Daire Duggan (Sean Connolly’s) for P Kiernan (70 mins).  

MEATH: Sean Brennan; Donal Keogan, Adam O'Neill, Harry O'Higgins; Ciaran Caulfield (0-1), Ross Ryan, Sean Coffey; Ronan Jones (0-1), Daithi McGowan; Shane Walsh (0-1), Eoghan Frayne (1-5, 1f, goal from penalty), Cathal Hickey (0-1); Jordan Morris (0-4), Matthew Costello, James Conlon (1-6). 

Subs:- Jack O’Connor for M Costello (half-time); Cian McBride (1-0) for D McGowan (50 mins); Darragh Campion for Ross Ryan (55 mins); Keith Curtis for J Morris (57 mins); Ronan Ryan for H O’Higgins (66 mins). 

Referee: Niall Cullen (Fermanagh).