Meath falter against Mayo at Trim
Meath manager Martin Ennis saw his side slump to a disappointing four-point NHL Div 2B defeat against Mayo at Trim today as the Connacht side won with an impressive performance by 0-19 to 2-9.
Meath were completely out-played in the opening half by wind-assisted Mayo who were nine points in front at the break as they established a 0-15 to 1-3 interval advantage.
Not even the tactic of deploying Damien Healy as an extra defender against the elements could curtail the Mayo onslaught that simply gathered momentum as the half progressed.
Kenny Feeney sent over six points (four frees) while the probing of Joseph McManus was a constant threat to the over-worked Meath rearguard and yielded three well-deserved points. Two points apiece from Cathal Freeman and Sean Regan added to the tally with Gary Nolan and Shane Boland completing the tally.
Meath started positively and had 1-1 on the scoreboard from Sean Quigley inside eight minutes, but they only managed two more points with Sean Geraghty in the 14th minute and Jack Regan (free) in the 31st minute on target.
Meath were unable to raise the tempo sufficiently in the second-half and a battling Mayo side deservedly took the points home from Trim as they restricted the hosts points from Keith Keoghan, Tom Clarke, James Toher, Regan (free), Joey Keena and Adam Gannon with the goal arriving in the 70th minute from Keoghan.
That goal was nothing more than window dressing on a poor day for Meath as Mayo moved into a strong position with two wins out of two. Mayo's second-half points arrived from Boland (two), Feeney (free) and Corey Scahill.
Meath - Shane McGann (Kiltale); Shane Whitty (Blackhall Gaels), David Donoghue (Kiltale), Stephen Morris (Blackhall Gaels); Jack Regan (Kiltale 0-2 frees), Ronan Sherlock (Silvermines), Sean Heavey (Kildalkey); Sean Geraghty (Kilskyre 0-1), Michael O'Grady (Dunboyne); Damien Healy (Longwood), Joey Keena (Kilmessan 0-1 free), Keith Keoghan (Killyon 1-1); Sean Quigley (Dunboyne 1-1), Neil Heffernan (Trim), Adam Gannon (Killyon 0-1).
Subs - Tom Clarke (Kilmacud Crokes 0-1) for O'Grady 31 mins, James Toher (Trim 0-1) for Geraghty, Ciaran Fitzsimons (Clann na nGael) for Heffernan and Naomhan O'Riordan (Kilmacud Crokes) for Quigley all half-time.
Mayo - D O'Brien; B Hunt, P Connell, A Brennan; A Lyons, G McManus, C Freeman (0-2); E Collins. C Carlton; J McManus (0-3), S Boland (0-3), G Nolan 0-1); K Feeney (0-7 five frees), S Regan (0-2), C Scahill (0-1). Subs - S Mulroy for Regan half-time, K Kelly for Lyons 65 mins, J Cotter for Nolan 68m, N Casey for Collins 70m.
Referee - Rory McGann (Clare).
FIRST ROUND
Meath 0-22, Wicklow 0-13
Down 2-16, Armagh 2-14
Mayo 1-14, Donegal 0-13.
TODAY'S RESULTS
Meath 2-9, Mayo 0-19
Down 4-12, Wicklow 0-11
Donegal 1-8, Armagh 2-14.
NEXT UP
SUNDAY 6th MARCH
Meath v Donegal
Down v Mayo
Wicklow v Armagh