Second-half recovery gets O'Rourke off to winning start
It was the proverbial game of two-halves in Dr Cullen Park tonight as Meath recovered from a 0-3 to 1-5 interval deficit to open Colm O'Rourke's term as manager with a 0-16 to 1-9 O'Byrne Cup victory over Carlow.
O'Rourke gave seven players their debut from the start and after a nervous and disjointed opening half that saw them struggle to contain Darragh Foley, they improved immensely after the break and the new manager was delighted with the win.
"We certainly are happy to get off to a winning start considering the position we were in at half-time, but in fairness to the lads they put in a great second-half and I thought the last 10 or 15 minutes was our best and it's always a good sign of a team when you see them finishing strongly," O'Rourke told the Meath Chronicle.
"We seemed to lack a bit of energy, confidence and enthusiasm (in the first-half), but maybe that is to be expected. We had seven fellas who hadn't worn a Meath jersey for the seniors before and they were quite nervous.
"I suppose it was a big demand of them to put in so many new players together, but in fairness a lot of them acquitted themselves quite well, they kept going at it and the second-half was good from our point of view.
"We did change for the second-half and we pushed right up on them and we caused lots of problems. We made their goalie kick long and almost all the possession they got they had to contest for.
"We took risks and we left ourselves a bit open at the back at times and they could have had another goal in the second-half.
"I thought we did quite well when we pushed up and we could have had a couple of goals as well.
"Overall there were loads of mistakes and we have loads of things to work on, but the lads are going the right way.
"The fact we had unlimited substitutions has given us an opportunity to try more players. There were a lot of fellas who came on who haven't played much, if any, for Meath and the O'Byrne Cup is ideal for that.
"We will be throwing in another six or seven on Saturday who didn't play any part tonight, so we want in these three games to give over 30 players games, so it is just a matter of switching around the men, but the subs certainly made a big impact on the game.
"We did miss a lot and our accuracy wasn't good, that is another thing that we must improve on.
"When we got to them with 10 minutes to go we should have pulled away a bit easier. There were a couple of goal chances when the ball wasn't delivered to the right man at the right time.
"I look for effort, honesty, commitment, pride in the jersey and I think we got all of those things in that second-half.
"This is a long project, but we have a very willing group of players and I'm very happy with their commitment so far.
"With a young team like this you can't beat winning and gain a bit of confidence, so we will be going to win every game we play as best we can.
"I know Laois were beaten tonight, I don't know if they put out a weaker team tonight with the idea of being stronger on Saturday, but we will be going after a win on Saturday, and next Wednesday night in Ashbourne.
"We will be going to try to win every game we play, even if it is a seven-a-side, you can't beat winning and we won't be taking it easy in any game at all this year," concluded the manager.
Meath did look very nervous and uncertain in that opening half as they kicked five wides and allowed Foley lord proceedings as her accounted for all, bar a point of his side's opening half tally.
Points from Jason Scully and a Matt Costello free kept Meath in touch, 0-2 to 0-3, after 12 minutes as Conor Crowley was also on target for the hosts.
Two more excellent points from Foley were followed by a goal from the danger man as he flicked Mikey Bambrick's long delivery past Sean Brennan for a 1-5 to 0-2 lead after 23 minutes, but Carlow failed to score again in the half as Scully's second closed the gap to five points at the interval.
Meath started the second-half impressively with the excellent Diarmuid Moriarty pointing inside 35 seconds. Foley and Costello traded scores, before Moriarty and Foley did likewise to make it 0-6 to 1-7 by the 46th minute.
Three points in two minutes from Daithi McGowan, Donal Lenihan (free) and Moriarty closed the gap to 0-9 to 1-7, but Carlow responded with another Foley free tyo keep Meath at arms length.
However as both sides emptied their benches, Meath started to gain control with McGowan, Keith Curtis (mark) and Cillian O'Sullivan all on target to give Meath the lead for the first time, 0-12 to 1-8.
That advantage lasted just a minute before Foley levelled it again in the 66th minute, but that was Carlow's last score as Meath dominated the closing stages with Moriarty restoring the lead before O'Sullivan, Curtis and Costello (free) applied the finishing touches to an excellent second-half performance and a first win for O'Rourke.
Meath - Sean Brennan (Dunderry); James O'Hare (Rathkenny), Harry O'Higgins (Drumbaragh), Sean Rafferty (Na Fianna); Eoin Harkin (Dunsany), Donal Keogan (Rathkenny), Cathal Hickey (Seneschalstown); Daithi McGowan (Ratoath 0-2), Brian Conlon (Simonstown); Conor Moriarty (Curraha), Darragh Campion (Skryne), Jason Scully (Oldcastle 0-2); Mathew Costello (Dunshaughlin 0-3 two free), Diarmuid Moriarty (Curraha 0-4), Aaron Lynch (Trim). Subs - Robin Clarke (Duleek/Bellewstown) for Hickey, Cillian O'Sullivan (Moynalvey 0-2) for C Moriarty both half-time, Donal Lenihan (St Peter's 0-1 free) for Lynch 47 mins, Jack O'Connor (Curraha) for Campion 52m, Keith Curtis (Rathkenny 0-2 one mark) for Scully 60m, Michael Flood (St Brigid's) for Rafferty 62m, Conor Quigley (Trim) for Harkin, Shane McEntee (St Peter's) Keogan both 65m, Harry Hogan (Longwood) for O'Sullivan 73m.
Carlow - Ciaran Cunningham; Dara Curran, Mikey Bambrick, Jonah Dunne; Seanie Bambrick, Jordan Morrissey, Conor Doyle; Liam Brennan, Finbarr Kavanagh; Shane Clarke, Ciaran Moran, Eric Molloy; Conor Crowley (0-1), Darragh Foley (1-8 four frees, one mark), Colm Hulton. Subs - Josh Moore for Bambrick 49 mins, Jamie Clarke for Molloy, Shane O'Neill for Hulton, Padraig Deering for Moran, Shane Buggy for Morrissey all 53m, Padraig Hynes for Clarke 58m, Paddy Regan for Brennan 63m,
Referee - Darragh Byrne (Wicklow).