Meath edged out in deplorable conditions

Taken at face value Meath"s O"Byrne Cup quarter-final defeat by Kildare at Newbridge on Sunday was very disappointing considering the visitors dominated the contest for long periods. However, on mature reflection, new manager Eamonn O"Brien will be able to take a lot of heart from the performance that showed plenty of endeavour, skill and commitment from everyone involved. With deplorable underfoot conditions and driving rain threatening to reduce the contest to a farce both sets of players and the referee should be commended for producing some thoroughly entertaining fare. Referee Gary McCormack received a lot of stick from both sets of supporters throughout the game, but the Dublin official let the game flow as much as possible and had he been stricter in his application both sides wouldn"t have finished with their full complement. The pristine Lilywhite jerseys of the hosts didn"t stay that way for long and the ball often more resembled a bar of soap as players struggled to retain possession and their footing. Meath adapted quicker to the poor conditions and in contrast to last week"s win over Westmeath they got off to a flying start with Joe Sheridan blasting a magnificent goal inside the opening 90 seconds. Sheridan was the outstanding player for Meath. His presence at full-forward provided Meath with a superb target and gave the Kildare defence countless nervous moments. There is no doubting Sheridan"s hunger. He towered over Declan Brennan and could have had several other scores. He produced an audacious piece of skill after 11 minutes when he floated a sideline kick over the bar with the outside of his right boot. In this form O"Brien will be delighted with Sheridan. If he can built an attack around the huge Seneschalstown man then the long ball tactic into the full-forward line, that the manager obviously favours, will reap dividends. Despite the loss there were several other reasons to be cheerful for O"Brien, although after the game he expressed his disappointed that his team didn"t kick on after such a great start. What should please O"Brien however was his defence. Eoghan Harrington and Shane McAnarney impressed while holding Kildare scoreless in the opening 20 minutes and another feature of the defending was the lack of frees they conceded. Only two of Kildare"s points came from frees and that is down to good discipline. Dunboyne"s Stephen McKenna played well in his first start and was equally impressive when shifted into the full-back line for the second period. Mark Ward and Damien Sheridan had to battle much harder than they did against Westmeath and enjoyed some moments of pressure, but when Kildare did start to get on top the majority of the damage came from around the middle. David Bray was more industrious than in his debut, but both Eoin and Graham Reilly had quieter outing and that contributed to Meath not managing to post enough scores when they enjoyed the benefit of the wind in the opening period. The magnificence of Sheridan"s early goal was worth the €10 admission fee alone. Mark Ward"s long punt forward was superbly fielded by the Seneschalstown man and his pile-driver from 20 metres left Shane McCormack with no chance. Eoin Reilly followed with a decent score four minutes later and when Bray made it 1-2 to 0-0 after six minutes Meath looked as if they would take full advantage of the wind at their backs. Sheridan"s mesmerising point from a sideline stretched the visitor"s advantage. Kildare were struggling to break down a Meath defence that hadn"t conceded a score since the 20th minute of the win over Westmeath. Despite all their dominance, Meath started to waste chances. Cian Ward saw a great goal chance well saved by McCormack and Jamie Queeney blasted a decent opportunity wide. By the end of the first-quarter Meath"s lead remained at 1-3 to 0-0 despite Sheridan hitting the upright from a sideline on the other side of the field. Those spurned chances gave Kildare hope and after going 70 minutes without conceding a score Meath eventually leaked when Ronan Sweeney found the target to reduce the deficit. Sweeney drove a goal chance over Paddy O"Rourke"s crossbar before the first yellow card of the game saw Daryl Flynn dismissed for raising his hands to Mark Ward"s face. Cian Ward converted the resultant free and tapped a 21-metre effort over the bar to give O"Brien"s side a 1-5 to 0-2 lead. Meath looked comfortable, but Kildare struck a couple of crucial scores against the wind with Michael Conway and James Kavanagh on target. Another long-range free from Cian Ward settled Meath, but the concession of a first free in front of the posts allowed Mark O"Sullivan convert and leave Kildare just 0-5 to 1-6 adrift at the break. Cian Ward opened the scoring after the break, but the crucial score arrived four minutes later when some neat passing which involved Kavanagh and Karl Ennis resulted in finding Willie Heffernan in space and he finished beyond O"Rourke for a simple goal. Eoin Reilly responded positively with a fine score early in the final quarter, but that was Meath"s last score as Kildare took control. Conway, Heffernan and O"Sullivan brought Kildare level before O"Sullivan edged them in front with a free after Sweeney was fouled. Bray was yellow-carded three minutes from time and Kildare grabbed the insurance point with Ken Donnelly lofting over to condemn O"Brien to a first defeat. SCORERS Kildare - W Heffernan 1-1; M O"Sullivan 0-3, two frees; R Sweeney 0-2; M Conway 0-2; J Kavanagh 0-1; K Donnelly 0-1. Meath - J Sheridan 1-1, one sideline; C Ward 0-4, all frees; E Reilly 0-2; D Bray 0-1. THE TEAMS Kildare - S McCormack; H McGrillen, D Brennan, M Kenny; M Scanlon, M Foley, M Conway; D Flynn, R Kelly; E O"Toole, R Sweeney, J Kavanagh; M Harnett, W Heffernan, M O"Sullivan. Subs - K Ennis for O"Toole 16 mins, K Donnelly for Flynn (yellow card) 24m, K O"Neill for Kelly 51m. Meath - P O"Rourke; S McAnarney, A Collins, E Harrington; S McKenna, B Meade, T Skelly; M Ward, D Sheridan; D Bray, E Reilly, G Reilly; J Queeney, J Sheridan, C Ward. Subs - S Kenny for G Reilly half-time, P Byrne for Queeney half-time, D Reynolds for McAnarney 64 mins, T Walsh for Bray (yellow card) 68m. REFEREE Gary McCormack (Dublin).