Meath have to settle for draw in NFL opener

Meath supporters who had resolved to refrain from biting their nails for the new year lasted until this afternoon as they watched their side scramble a 0-12 to 1-9 NFL Div 2 draw with Fermanagh at Pairc Tailteann.

Prior to throw-in nothing less than a win for Meath was expected, but when down by three points with 13 minutes remaining they would have taken your hand off for a draw.

Shane Walsh marked his introduction with a point to cut the deficit to two and when Adam O'Neill galloped forward from full-back to loft over and close the gap to the minimum, Meath looked in the box seat.

Four minutes later a brilliant interception by Daithi McGowan helped set up Eoghan Frayne for the leveller - Meath looked nailed on certainties at that stage, especially with the strong breeze behind them.

However Fermanagh defended superbly and limited chances to counter-attacks, while they also had opportunities to win it and it took a superb tackle by Donal Keogan to prevent Cian McManus from firing the winner for the Ulster men.

Even from that tackle Meath had a chance to win it when Ronan Jones was fouled on the counter-attack, but Mathew Costello's 45 metre free dropped short and was cleared by Che Cullen.

It was that type of day for Meath. They struggled to breakdown the well structured Fermanagh rearguard and failed to sparkle up top where they managed just seven points with the stiff breeze behind them in the second-half.

The game ebbed one way before attacks invariably broke down and led to counter-attacks which also came acropper, mostly down to indecision in front of the posts.

Both sides looked nervous early on as they engaged in a lot of shadow boxing. Fermanagh would attack, Meath defended stoutly and broke before it was Fermanagh's turn to hold steady at the back.

When the opening score did come in the ninth minute it came from an unlikely source as corner-back Lee Cullen fired over with no-one expecting him to shoot.

Meath eventually opened their account in the 11th minute when Darragh Campion and Ciaran Caulfield combined to set up Daithi McGowan for the equaliser and three minutes later more patient play resulted in a second point for the Ratoath man.

Shane McGullion levelled for Fermanagh and in the 22nd minute the visitors created their first goal chance with Sean Cassidy's shot straight at Sean Brennan.

More patience from Donal Keogan, Michael Murphy and Aaron Lynch led to McGowan's third score as Meath retook the lead in the 23rd minute and Jack O'Connor went close to getting the opening goal, but was denied by Sean McNally's outstretched leg.

Boosted by that let-off Fermanagh hit Meath on the break twice with Cassidy and Ultan Kelm pointing to give them a 0-4 to 0-3 lead.

Meath got back on level terms with another brilliant move opening up the Fermanagh defence for Eoghan Frayne to open his account.

Seconds later the Summerhill man doubled his tally before Garvan Jones restored parity for Fermanagh - then came the crucial only goal.

With less than 30 seconds of the two added minutes remaining Michael Murphy saw a pass go astray and Fermanagh countered quickly with Conor McShea picking out Cassidy who rolled the ball past Sean Brennan to secure a 1-5 to 0-5 interval lead.

Fermanagh stretched their lead to four within three minutes of the restart as Cassidy pointed, but Meath responded positively with points from Frayne, Costello (the first from a free) and another from Frayne (free) closing the gap to the minimum, 0-8 to 1-6.

Ronan Jones finally dragged Meath level with a brilliant score in the 49th minute and Meath looked set to kick on.

However, Fermanagh settled again with another corner-back Oisin Smyth restoring their lead before Garvan Jones and Aidan Breen landed points to put three between the teams with 14 minutes remaining.

Fermanagh failed to score again.

Meath's flurry got them back level, but they couldn't find a winner and it's back to the drawing board ahead of next Saturday's trip to Armagh for round two - it doesn't get any easier.

SCORERS

Meath - Eoghan Frayne 0-5 one free; Daithi McGowan 0-3; Mathew Costello 0-1 free; Ronan Jones 0-1; Shane Walsh 0-1; Adam O'Neill 0-1;

Fermanagh - Sean Cassidy 1-2; Garvan Jones 0-2; Ultan Kelm 0-1; Lee Cullen 0-1; Shane McGullion 0-1; Oisin Smyth 0-1; Aidan Breen 0-1;

TEAMS

Meath - Sean Brennan; Donal Keogan, Adam O'Neill, Michael Murphy; Ciaran Caulfield, Darragh Campion, Sean Coffey; Ronan Jones, Jack Flynn; Daithi McGowan, Eoghan Frayne, Cathal Hickey; Aaron Lynch, Mathew Costello, Jack O'Connor. Subs - Shane Walsh for Lynch 50m, Ruairi Kinsella for O'Connor 53m, Diarmuid Moriarty for Hickey 63m, James Conlon for Frayne 66m, Cian McBride for Flynn 68m. Unused subs - Billy Hogan, Michael Flood, Adam McDonnell, Keith Curtis, Danny Dixon, Brian O'Halloran.

Fermanagh - Sean McNally; Lee Cullen, Che Cullen, Oisin Smyth; Declan McCusker, Shane McGullion, Josh Largo Elis; Brandon O hOrain, Joe McDade; Conor McGee, Ronan McCaffrey, Conor McShea; Ultan Kelm, Garvan Jones, Sean Cassidy. Subs - Aidan Breen for McCusker half-time, Tiernan Bogue for NcGee 63m, Cian McManus for McGullion, Diarmuid King for Cassidy both 66m, John Reihill for Jones 74m.

Referee - Jerome Henry (Mayo).