Louth exorcise ghosts against miserable Meath

There have been many poor performances from Meath over the last decade of so, but this evening's All-Ireland SFC round one 0-9 to 3-10 humbling by Louth is definitely down there with the worst of them.

Not since 1975 have Louth managed to get one over their biggest rivals and closest neighbours in the Leinster Championship. They endured heartbreak in 2002 and 2010 against the Royals, but took out all their frustrations on Meath in Inniskeen.

The stony grey soil of Patrick Kavanagh's home village cannot bury the shortcomings of this display.

Losing is one thing, losing without raising a gallop is something completely different and there must be some serious reflection from Meath after a display that lacked everything needed to be competitive.

Sure there was a spell in the opening 10 minutes when Meath looked decent. They raced into a 0-3 to 0-1 lead and had half a sniff at a goal.

Louth's defensive ploy, that worked so well against Dublin in the Leinster final, looked wobbly and when Craig Lennon picked up an injury their day looked like going from bad to worse.

However, after a couple of minutes of intensive treatment on the sideline Lennon made a miraculous return and his impact was telling, match defining.

The St Mochta's man was on hand to apply the finish for the second and third goals, all three of which arrived in a devastating 12 minute spell that raised the roof on the excellent small stand and ended the game as a contest.

With the cushion of those goals in their bank Louth's defensive structure clicked into gear and Meath lost the keys to unlock it.

Time and again the Royals ran down blind alleys, kicked away wayward passes and coughed up cheap possession.

In contrast Louth played with a structure and a plan founded on a platform of power and pace that simply blew Meath out of the water.

Defensively Meath were loose and made critical mistakes, in midfield they were out-muscled, out-played and out-ran. Up front the movement was lacking on the inside line and inventiveness and creativity was non-existent.

It started well for Meath. They retained possession for two minutes and when an opening presented itself Mathew Costello swung over the opening score.

It was the perfect start to what was a heartbreaking day for the Dunshaughlin whose father Paul passed away just hours before the game following a long illness.

Costello's determination to play was the inspiration his side needed and even though Sam Mulroy tapped over a 20-metre free in the fifth minute, Meath looked the more potent side with Darragh Campion setting up Sean Coffey for a fisted point.

In the 10th minute Ronan Jones made it 0-3 to 0-1 and 30 seconds later Costello had two sniffs at goal, but one was smothered and the other cleared for a '45' which was kicked wide by Billy Hogan.

Louth's ability to break at pace caused Meath problems and Mulroy added a second free after Ciaran Keenan was fouled and in the 14th minute they struck for their first goal.

Meath full-back Adam O'Neill was no where to be seen as Tommy Durnin's long ball picked out Mulroy in behind the Royal rearguard and the Naomh Martin's man buried the ball to the net.

Cathal Hickey made it 0-4 to 1-2 in the 17th minute, but that was as close as Meath got.

Lennon shrugged off his injury and showed a remarkable turn of foot to leave the Meath defence trailing in his wake before he sold a dummy to Hogan and fired his side's second goal.

Another Mulroy free extended Louth's lead and when Mulroy saw a shot from distance rebound off the upright it was Lennon who was the only one to react to finish with aplomb and make it 3-3 to 0-4 - game over after 25 minutes.

Cillian O'Sullivan marked his first start of the year with a point from a mark, but Louth didn't rest on their lead as Lennon and Bevan Duffy added points to secure a 3-5 to 0-5 interval lead.

With a half-time telling off ringing in their ears Meath looked sharp in the opening moments of the second period as Eoghan Frayne pointed, but then they slipped back into their second quarter form.

Conor Grimes cut through the defence, but fired straight at Hogan. Duffy was given a 10-minute rest in the sin-bin for pulling down Brian O'Halloran, but even then Meath couldn't even register a shot at the posts in that spell as Louth extended their lead to 3-6 to 0-6 with a Mulroy free.

Jones had claims for a penalty waved away and after Duffy returned Mulroy converted another free to put 10 points between the sides at the end of the third quarter.

Frayne ended Meath's 18 minute barren spell with a converted free, but Louth stayed on the front foot with Keenan fisting over and Mulroy converting his fifth free to make it 3-9 to 0-7.

The introduction of Jordan Morris and Jack O'Connor did add some impetus to the Meath attack, but a goal chance was never created and after Ciaran Caulfield and Frayne (free) pointed for Meath it was Louth who brought the curtain down on one of their great days, and Meath's most miserable, with Ciaran Downey ensuring the 10-point winning margin.

Meath welcome the kingdom of Kerry to Navan next Sunday, that should be fun!

SCORERS

Louth - Sam Mulroy 1-5 five frees; Craig Lennon 2-1; Bevan Duffy 0-1; Ciaran Keenan 0-1; Ciaran Downey 0-1.

Meath - Eoghan Frayne 0-3 two frees; Mathew Costello 0-1; Sean Coffey 0-1; Ronan Jones 0-1; Cathal Hickey 0-1; Cillian O'Sullivan 0-1 mark; Ciaran Caulfield 0-1.

TEAMS

Louth - Niall McDonnell; Donal McKenny, Dan Corcoran, Peter Lynch; Conall McKeever, Anthony Williams, Craig Lennon; Tommy Durnin, Bevan Duffy; Niall Sharkey, Ciaran Keenan, Conor Grimes; Ryan Burns, Sam Mulroy, Ciaran Downey. Subs - Ciaran Byrne for Duffy 53m, Leonard Grey for Lennon 59m, Paul Matthews for Burns 61m, Conor Early for Keenan 66m, Dermot Campbell for Corcoran 71m.

Meath - Billy Hogan; Donal Keogan, Adam O’Neill, Ronan Ryan; Harry O’Higgins, Darragh Campion, Sean Coffey; Ronan Jones, Cian McBride; Ciaran Caulfield, Cillian O’Sullivan, Cathal Hickey; James Conlon, Mathew Costello, Eoghan Frayne. Subs - Conor Gray for McBride, Brian O'Halloran for O'Higgins both half-time, Jordan Morris for O'Sullivan, Jack O'Connor for Conlon both 44m, Michael Murphy for Coffey 54m.

Referee - Paul Faloon (Down).