Meath slump to Kildare

It looks set to be a long spring for Meath as they opened their NFL Div 2 campaign with a disaapointing 0-16 to 3-17 loss to Kildare in Pairc Tailteann today.

Meath got off to the worst possible start with Ben McCormack netting inside 15 seconds and by the fifth minute they were 0-0 to 1-2 in arrears as Daniel Flynn and Paul Cribben exposed the fragile defence to convert easy scores.

Cillian O'Sullivan missed a free from Meath's firsat attack in the seventh minute, but 90 seconds later they got off the mark when Donal Lenihan pointed, but Kildare continued to dominate.

Keith Cribben restored the visitor's five-point cushion and after Kevin Feely and Lenihan (free) traded scores Kildare kicked on again with simple points on the counter from Niall Kelly and Paul Cribben making it 1-6 to 0-2 after just 14 minutes.

Meath were totally disjointed. They lost Mickey Burke to a black card and were then denied what looked like a certain penalty when O'Sullivan was hauled down.

To add further insult to not winning that penalty, Meath were hit with the concession of a second goal a minute later when Niall Kelly ghosted through the defence before producing a cracking finish.

O'Sullivan and Neil Flynn traded points before Meath launched a revival in the closing seven minutes of the half with scores from Lenihan (free), Alan Forde, Graham Reilly closing the gap to 0-6 to 2-7.

Kildare almost grabbed a third goal, but Daniel Flynn was denied once by Jack Hannigan and then by Shane McEntee's clearance off the line.

Lenihan put six between them with another free, but on the stroke of half-time Mark Donnellan made a superb save to deny O'Sullivan a goal as Kildare took a 2-7 to 0-7 lead to the interval.

The second-half started promisingly with points from Lenihan and Reilly either side of a McCormack closing the gap to 0-9 to 2-8.

However, Kildare quickly re-established their dominance with Eoin Doyle and Paul Cribben restoring their seven-point cushion.

Ruairi O Coileain did go close to grabbing a goal, but Mick O'Grady deflected his shot onto the post and away to safety. Reilly did grab a point for Meath, but then came the killer score as Niall Kelly bagged his second and Kildare's third goal to put the issue beyond doubt.

The remainder was academic as Kildare kept themselves ticking over with scores from Keith Cribben, McCormack (two), Neil Flynn (two) and Niall Kelly, while Meath's replies from Reilly, Forde, Bryan Menton, O'Sullivan and Lenihan were merely academic.

Meath -  Jack Hannigan; Donal Keogan, Conor McGill, Mickey Burke; Brian Power, Shane McEntee, Alan Douglas; Cian O’Brien, Bryan Menton (0-1); Cillian O’Sullivan (0-2), Graham Reilly (0-4), Alan Forde (0-2); Eamon Wallace, Brian Sheridan, Donal Lenihan (0-7 five frees). Subs – Ruairi O Coileain for Power, Adam Flanagan for Douglas both half-time, Bobby O'Brien for Sheridan 46 mins, Conor Downey for Wallace 51m, Willie Carry for McEntee 64m.

Black card – M Burke (replaced by David McQuillan 21m).

Kildare - M Donnellan; M O'Grady, D Hyland, O Lyons (0-1); J Byrne, E Doyle (0-1), K Cribbin (0-2); K Feely (0-1), T Moolick; F Conway, N Kelly (2-2), P Cribbin (0-3); N Flynn (0-3 two frees), D Flynn (0-1), B McCormack (1-2). Subs – C McNally for Conway 60 mins, P Kelly for O'Grady62m, S Ryan for Byrne 64m, E Callaghan for N Kelly 67m, C Hartley for N Flynn, D Slattery for McCormack both 68m.

Referee - Ciaran Branagan (Down).