Meath fail to advance despite victory

That was a bit more like it from Meath in Ashbourne this evening as they saw off the stern challenge of Wexford by 1-15 to 1-10 in their O'Byrne Cup third round clash.

Despite the win Meath failed to progress to next Wednesday's semi-final as Laois's win over Wicklow earlier in the game gifted them top spot.

Although they had nothing to play for, Meath produced a vastly improved display from their loss to Laois as they played with a pace and percision that the visitors found too hot to handle.

That blistering speed was evident after only 45 seconds when a superb fetch by Jordan Morris released James McEntee, but he dragged his shot wide when the goal was gaping.

It took Meath eight minutes to open their account with Morris converting a free after Shane Walsh was fouled off the ball and three minutes later Meath were gifted a penalty after Martin O'Connor was black carded for a foul on Saran O Fionnagain.

However Morris's spot-kick hit the butt of the post before eventually going out for a '45' which came to nothing.

Kevin O'Grady equalised from a free for Wexford before McEntee was black carded for obstructing a runner, but Meath took advantage of the extra space as Eoin Harkin picked out Morris and he blasted a brilliant goal.

Ben Brosnan responded with a converted free to close the gap to 0-2 to 1-1 at the water break.

O'Connor resumed after Walsh had stretched Meath's lead to three from a free and with McEntee still in the sin-bin Dean O'Toole and Brosnan fired over to close the gap to 0-4 to 1-2.

Cillian O'Sullivan responded for Meath after McEntee returned, but Meath conceded when a short Harry Hogan kickout was intercepted and both Brosnan and Harkin collided, which the referee deemed was a free in for Wexford, and Glen Malone converted to make it 0-5 to 1-3 at the break.

Wexford could have been ahead at the interval, but Hogan made amends for another error at the kickout with a brilliant stop to deny Eoghan Nolan.

When play resumed Walsh fisted over and Ethan Devine pointed within 90 seconds. Brosnan kept Wexford in touch, but Meath looked in control with James Conlon, a half-time sub for Morris, adding a brace to make it 1-7 to 0-6.

Paidi Hughes hit a brilliant score for Wexford before O'Connor picked up a yellow card to add to his earlier black and he was sent-off with 28 minutes remaining.

Walsh converted a free, but Wexford continued to push and after Tom Byrne hit the post with a low drive Brosnan converted another free to make it 0-8 to 1-8.

O'Sullivan added two frees either side of an O'Toole point as Meath led by 1-10 to 0-9 at the water break, but when play resumed Wexford got a lifeline as Brosnan fired a brilliant goal to narrow the deficit to a point.

However Meath replied impressively with Jack O'Connor and Conlon on target before Brosnan closed Wexford's account with another free.

In the closing stages Meath took full advantage of their numerical supremacy with Hickey, Donal Keogan and Conlon all adding points to seal the victory.

SCORERS

Meath - Jordan Morris 1-1 one free; James Conlon 0-4; Shane Walsh 0-3 two frees; Cillian O'Sullivan 0-3 two frees; Ethan Devine 0-1; Jack O'Connor 0-1; Cathal Hickey 0-1; Donal Keogan 0-1.

Wexford - Ben Brosnan 1-5 three frees; Dean O'Toole 0-2; Kevin O'Grady 0-1 free; Glen Malone 0-1 free; Paidi Hughes 0-1.

TEAMS

Meath - Harry Hogan; Robin Clarke, Donal Keogan, Eoin Harkin; Cathal Hickey, Shane McEntee, James McEntee; Padraic Harnan, Ethan Devine; Matt Costello, Cillian O'Sullivan, Saran O Fionnagain; Jordan Morris, Shane Walsh, Thomas O'Reilly. Subs - Ronan Ryan for Harkin 30 mins, James Conlon for Morris half-time, Jack O'Connor for O Fionnagain 44m, Jordan Muldoon for Clarke, David McEntee for O'Reilly both 51m, Keith Curtis for O'Sullivan 61m, Niall Kane for J McEntee, Danny Dixon for Costello both 66m.

Wexford - Darragh Brooks; Gavin Sheehan, Eoin Porter, Dylan Furlong; Paidi Hughes, Martin O'Connor, Glen Malone; Darragh Lyons, Liam Coleman; Alan Tobin, Dean O'Toole, Tom Byrne; Kevin O'Grady, Eoghan Nolan, Ben Brosnan. Subs - Robbie Brooks for O'Toole 54 mins, Niall Hughes for Lyons, 57m, Robbie Barron for Sheehan 61m.

Referee - Stephen Johnson.

MANAGERS VIEW

Reflecting on tonight's win McEntee was more pleased with the improved performance which led to a positive result.

He did point to the low scoring return in the opening half as a cause for concern, but he also reflected that had the goal chances been taken then that might have been a very different story.

"It was a win tonight, but it was more about the performance than anything else. The first-half the other night just wasn't good enough and the players themselves weren't happy with it," said McEntee.

"You could see from the off tonight that there was a bit more bite in us and a bit more appetite for work.

"We got off to a decent start, but Wexford stuck at it and maybe a little bit of ill-discipline on our behalf let them stay in it. They got five points by half-time, four of them were from frees.

"There were some good bits, but there's still loads to work on.

"Low scoring in the first-half is always a concern, but Jordy (Morris) missed a penalty, James (McEntee) missed a shot at goal, if they had gone in we would have had three goals in the first 10 minutes.

"A little better execution and a little quicker delivery into the forwards and it might lead to a bigger scoreline, but there is no doubt we'll have to improve on that stat."

While Meath only managed one win from their two O'Byrne Cup games McEntee was pleased with the two very different challenges his side faced and he was particularly happy with the reaction of the players after they had conceded the goal that allowed Wexford back into today's game.

"There was certainly plenty of pace to that game tonight and there was a good bit of physicality to the game against Laois on Wednesday night, you have to take the games as they come and try to be better again the next day.

"I'm more pleased tonight than I was on Wednesday night, but then I am hard to please.

"There was certainly more appetite and there was more pace to our game. Our finishing was better tonight, considerably better, so it is progress, but there's a lot more to go.

"After we lost our first game there could have been an attitude of 'well how important is this game', but it was good to see the players react well to conceding the goal.

"They got out of the blocks well and delivered the ball quickly to get two good scores after their goal, so that bit was obviously pleasing," concluded the manager.