Meath juniors show promise

Jody Devine got his Meath managerial career off to a winning start at Aughrim last Wednesday night when his team negotiated Wicklow in the preliminary round of the Leinster JFC. Meath's reward is a home game against Kilkenny's NFL Div 4 team at Pairc Tailteann on Wednesday, 26th May. The outcome against Wicklow was never in doubt following a blistering first-quarter performance from the Royal County players. That positive start turned out to be a blessing in disguise because Wicklow fared much better during the second-quarter and after the resumption. Kevin O'Brien's team trailed by 0-3 to 2-8 at the interval, but won the second-half exchanges by two points (1-5 to 0-6). Devine was also forced into a positional change at midfield with Ollie Lewis unavailable due to injury. He was replaced by Drumconrath's Terry Skelly. "We were hoping to get a good start, maybe take control of the game early on because it's not easy coming down to Aughrim for a game like this," Devine told the Meath Chronicle. "If we had to chase that game it would have been very difficult because Wicklow got back into it once they settled and they could have made it very difficult for us. "We were ahead by 11 points at half-time and that was very important, but when you are in a position like that it can be hard to keep the players focused for the second-half. "Perhaps the players felt they could ease off a bit, that's what they did anyway as far as I could see. "Sometimes it be difficult to gauge that type of reaction and I knew that Wicklow would have a good 10 or 15 minutes in the game. "They got that at the start of the second-half with the early goal, but we were able to match them point-for-point after that and I was happy with the response. On the injury front, Meath lost Barry Lynch midway through the second-half and Rory McHugh also picked up an injury. "Barry Lynch has a hand injury, I think it's his finger and Rory McHugh didn'r escape unscathed either while Stephen Clynch hurt his hand in the Christy Ring Cup against Kildare. "Hopefully they will be okay for the next day and we might have Ollie Lewis available as well," added Devine. Meath started well and four points on the scoreboard inside seven minutes from Rory Maguire (two), Eoin Gilsenan and Terry Farrelly. Aaron Ennis added a 10th minute goal with a surging run through the middle of a wide-open Wicklow rearguard. Ennis carved the opening for Gilsenan's goal soon after which extended Meath's lead to 10 points, 2-5 to 0-1 by the end of the first quarter. Duleek / Bellewstown player Casey Dunne split the posts in the 12th minute for a well-taken point. Meath eased off for the remainder of the half, but were still strong enough to take a 2-8 to 0-3 lead to the dressing rooms as Wicklow failed to make any impact on the scoreboard. Paddy Byrne, Richard Murphy and Dean Siney split the posts for the hosts. Corner-forward Siney was Wicklow's best player and he got them off the a perfect second-half start with a goal inside 25 seconds. He added two more points, but Meath remained in the ascendancy through the Oldcastle duo of Paddy (two) and Eoin Gilsenan for a 2-11 to 1-5 third-quarter advantage. Shane Geraghty saved well from Siney to deny the Wicklow man a second goal in the closing stages which were peppered with substitutions as Devine made five changes, some of which were enforced. There was never any danger of a Wicklow revival and Meath progressed comfortably into the next round. Last year Meath defeated Wicklow in the opening round and then produced an abysmal performance against Longford at Pairc Tailteann and made a tame exit. That defeat also heralded the departure of long-time manager Kit Henry. Devine will be anxious to avoid a similar performance next week when Kilkenny, battle-hardened from a tough NFL Div 4 campaign, visit Navan. Meath - Shane Geraghty (Na Fianna); Gerry Farrelly (Castletown), Stephen Clynch (Dunsany), Padraig Young (Syddan); Terry Farrelly (Oldcastle 0-1), Rory McHugh (Oldcastle), Michael Shankey (Kilmainhamwood); Barry Lynch (Kilmainham), Terry Skelly (Drumconrath); Paddy Gilsenan (Oldcastle 0-3), Rory Maguire (Oldcastle 0-3 one free), Cian Mallon (Ballinlough 0-2); Aaron Ennis (Longwood 1-1), Casey Dunne (Duleek / Bellewstown 0-1), Eoin Gilsenan (Oldcastle 1-2). Subs - Cormac Rowe (Syddan) for Shankey 46 mins; Paul Weldon (Moynalvey) for McHugh 47m; David Morgan (Donaghmore / Ashbourne 0-1) for Ennis 50m; Alan Farrell (Nobber) for Lynch; TJ Garry (Dunderry) for Mallon 58m. Wicklow - J Flynn; P Hogan, M English, W Dillon, R Finn, B Osbourne, B McGarr; S Kavanagh, A McLoughlin (0-1);P Byrne (0-1), T Harney, R Murphy (0-1); R Carroll, A Merrriman (0-1), D Siney (1-4 two frees). Subs - E Kearns for Murphy, M Kenny for McGarr, A Clarke for Hogan, McGarr for Osbourne. Referee - Con Costelloe (Offaly).