Meath exit in the rain at Croke Park
Forced to make some late changes with Bryan Menton going to full-back in place of Kevin Reilly, Meath produced a battling performance against Armagh in the All-Ireland SFC fourth round qualifier at Croke Park, but they were out-muscled and can have no complaints about a five-point reversal as the Ulster side won by 0-18 to 0-13.
With the team selections not disclosed until only minutes before throw-in, there was lots of speculation about the starting 15 of both teams.
Meath started with Shane O'Rourke and Adam Flanagan at midfield and Brian Meade in the half-forward line as the surprise omission of Graham Reilly saw the St Colmcille's man warming the bench for the first 30 minutes.
However, as Meath trailed by 0-2 to 0-8 at that stage and were in danger of fading out of the game completely, manager Mick O'Dowd called time on Meade's involvement and sent Graham Reilly into the fray.
The impact was instant and Meath finished the half with a flourish to trail by the minimum at the break (0-7 to 0-8). Those six late first-half points were in stark contrast to one each for Mickey Newman (free) and Andrew Tormey in the opening 30 minutes. The closing salvo was provided by Newman (free and '45'), Damien Carroll, Graham Reilly and a superb David Bray free.
Armagh were impressive in the early part of the half with points from Aidan Forker (three), Tony Kernan (two, one free), Jamie Clarke, Kyle Carragher and Stefan Campbell, but they were left reeling by that late Meath surge.
Meath resumed smartly and were on terms 25 seconds into the second-half when Graham Reilly sent over, but parity only lasted another 30 seconds with Aaron Kernan pointing Armagh in the direction of the winner's enclosure with a fine point.
Tony Kernan increased Armagh's advantage, but Meath rallied again and were on terms for only the second time in the game when David Bray and Paddy O'Rourke, from a 50-metre free, sent over.
Meath then endured a 16-minute barren spell on the scoreboard during which Armagh added five points to lead by 0-15 to 0-10 before Paddy O'Rourke converted a 55-metre free with eight minutes remaining.
Meath battled bravely, but had no real chance of a recovery and Armagh were worthy winners on an evening when the rain made handling difficult for both teams.
Armagh – Philip McEvoy; James Morgan, Charlie Vernon, Andy Mallon; Mark Shields (0-1), Brendan Donaghy, Aaron Kernan (0-2); Stephen Harold, Aaron Findon; Aidan Forker (0-3), Stefan Campbell (0-3), Tony Kernan (0-3); Kyle Carragher (0-1), Kevin Dyas (0-1), Jamie Clarke (0-1). Subs – Michael Murray for Morgan half-time, Rory Grugan for Carragher 56 mins, Brian Mallon (0-2) for A Forker 60m, Stefan Forker (0-1) for T Kernan 68m, Finnian Moriarty for Donaghy 69.
Meath – Patrick O'Rourke (0-2); Donal Keogan, Bryan Menton, Michael Burke; Damien Carroll (0-1), Padraic Harnan, Donnacha Tobin; Shane O'Rourke, Adam Flanagan; Bryan McMahon, Brian Meade, Andrew Tormey (0-1); David Bray (0-2), Stephen Bray, Michael Newman (0-4). Subs – Graham Reilly (0-3) for Meade 31 mins, Eoghan Harrington for Carroll 52m, Dalton McDonagh for S Bray 57m, Joey wallace for D Bray 61m, Paddy Gilsenan for McDonagh 63m, Meade for S O'Rourke 65m.
Referee – Rory Hickey (Clare).