Meath leave it late to down wasteful Down

A win is a win and while it wasn't exactly pretty, nor will it live long in the memory, it was good to see Meath grind out a victory as they advanced directly into the quarter-finals of the Tailteann Cup with a 1-11 to 1-9 victory over Down at Parnell Park today.

Much will be made of the fact that Down kicked 16 wides, but Meath deserve credit for applying the sort of pressure that wasn't always the case in others games in recent years.

For their own faults Meath also managed 11 wides of their own and that will need work, but there were certainly enough green shoots of positivity ahead of the last eight game in Pairc Tailteann in two weeks time.

Leading by one at the break Meath surrendered the initiative in the 44th minute when they were cut open by an incisive Down move that ended with Odhran Murdock planting the ball in the net.

With the breeze blowing in their favour Down looked in a strong position, but as they kicked wide after wide, Meath defended impressively and picked off their points to stay in the hunt.

Meath too were wasteful. Between them Matt Costello and Donal Keogan squandered a golden goal opportunity in the 55th minute and when Cathal Hickey went for goal two minutes into injury-time Niall Kane save to preserve parity and Meath's chance looked gone.

They needed to win, the draw would have done Down to secure the automatic quarter-final place.

However, Daithi McGowan held his nerve and lofted over from the resultant '45' to edge Meath in front again and as they retained possession well during the six minutes of injury-time Meath hit Down on the break and wrapped up the win with Donal Lenihan's 76th minute free.

After starting slowly in so many of their games this year, Meath were much more aggressive in the early stages and got their first shot away inside 30 seconds when Jordan Morris kicked wide.

Two minutes later Meath struck the front when Jack O'Connor burst from midfield on a surging run and slotted over brilliantly, but then they slipped into a barren spell as Down dominated possession.

Pat Havern punished a foul on Liam Kerr with a converted free and after Havern missed his second shot at the posts Kerr tested Sean Brennan's alertness as the Dunderry goalkeeper tipped his dipping effort over the bar.

A careless foul by Adam O'Neill, after he had done well initially to break up the play, gifted Havern his second point as Down extended their lead to 0-3 to 0-1.

Meath's seven minute barren spell came to a rather fortunate end as Ronan Jones was deemed to be fouled when in fact defender's tackled looked to be perfectly good.

Morris took advantage of the fortuitious decision and brilliantly converted the penalty to edged Meath ahead again, 1-1 to 0-3.

Both sides were guilty of some careless kicking and they finished the half with 13 wides between them, seven for Meath.

Conor Francis tested Brennan when he cut in along the endline, but the goalkeeper made a fine save and two minutes later Sean Coffey benefitted from a poor kickout by Niall Kane to set up James McEntee for his opening score.

A minute later Morris linked up well with O'Connor to stretch Meath's lead to 1-3 to 0-3, but again they endured another 14 minute barren spell as Down rallied.

Eugene Branagan had the ball in the back of the net for Down in the 27th minute, but referee Fergal Kelly had called play back for a foul on Kerr which Havern converted.

Havern repeated that trick two minutes later to close the gap to the minimum.

Both sides continued to struggle with their shooting before Kane stepped forward to restore parity from a '45', but Matt Costello had the last word of the half as he converted a difficult mark despite the distractions of Down manager Conor Laverty in his ear to ensure a 1-4 to 0-6 half-time lead for the Royals.

Daniel Guinness restored parity within 45 seconds of the restart, but Meath continued to be threatening as McEntee added his second after a brilliant turnover by Morris.

Then came Down's goal. Murdock finished well from close range, but they continued to hit wide after wide as excellent scores from Morris and Jack Flynn, either side of a Havern free, closed the gap to 1-7 to 1-8.

Meath looked certain to bag their second goal when Morris set up Keogan, but some how his chance was kept out, as was Costello's follow up.

Daithi McGowan made an instant impact from the bench to convert a free and restore parity with 10 minutes of the 70 remaining.

Morris took advantage of the referee colliding with Pierce Laverty to give Meath the lead two minutes later and while Havern did level it up for the fifth time it was Down who squandered great chances with Kane and Shealan Johnston missing frees before McGowan landed the '45' and Lenihan converted the free to secure the win for Meath.

SCORERS

Meath - Jordan Morris 1-3 1-0 penalty; James McEntee 0-2; Daithi McGowan 0-2 one free, one '45'; Jack O'Connor 0-1; Matt Costello 0-1 mark; Jack Flynn 0-1; Donal Lenihan 0-1 free.

Down - Pat Havern 0-5 frees; Odhran Murdock 1-0; Liam Kerr 0-2 one free; Niall Kane 0-1 '45'; Daniel Guinness 0-1.

TEAMS

Meath - Sean Brennan; Adam O'Neill, Ronan Ryan, Harry O'Higgins; Donal Keogan, Padraic Harnan, Sean Coffey; Ronan Jones, Conor Gray; Ciaran Caulfield, James McEntee, Jack O'Connor; Jordan Morris, Mathew Costello, Aaron Lynch. Subs - Jack Flynn for Caulfield 32 mins, Donal Lenihan for Lynch 44m, Daithi McGowan for Gray 55m, Cillian O'Sullivan for O'Connor 58m, Cathal Hickey for McEntee 65m.

Down - Niall Kane; Anthony Doherty, Pierce Laverty, Patrick McCarthy; Danny Magill, Daniel Guinness, Ceilum Doherty; Patrick Brangan, Odhran Murdock; Shealan Johnston, Donach McAleenan, Liam Kerr; Conor Francis, Pat Havern, Eugene Branagan. Subs - Miceal Rooney for Magill 46 mins, Ryan McEvoy for E Branagan 54m, Ross Carr for Francis 58m, Shane Annett for P Branagan 72m, Eamon Brown for McAleenan 77m.

Referee - Fergal Kelly (Longford).