Royals dazzle under the Saturday night lights

Meath get NFL promotion hopes back on track with big win in Newbridge

Meath .............................1-2-17 (24)

Kildare.............................. 0-2-6 (10)

Any fears of a hangover from the Cork defeat six days earlier were emphatically put to rest at Newbridge on Saturday night as Meath got their NFL Div 2 promotion bid back on track with a devastating victory over shell-shocked Kildare.

The reaction to that setback in Rebel heart land was phenomenal. Meath were everything they know they can be in attack, and even better defensively as they restricted the home side to just five scores from play, while adding 1-16 from play themselves, with the only scores from placed balls coming from Sean Brennan's superbly struck two two-point frees and a '45'.

From start to finish this was a near complete Meath performance. As always there are a number of areas to improve on, such as the 13-minute barren spell in a dominant opening half and the waywardness from four two-point attempts when the breeze was at their backs after the break.

Pointing out those flaws is nit-picking, but should temper any complacency - not that this group of Meath players appear to be taking anything for granted. The Royal feet appear firmly planted on the ground, they don't get too high with the highs, or low with the lows.

That calm, composed, measured approach, founded on hard work and superb organisation, ensured Meath were dominant from the off. Kildare threatened to hang on their coattails with a couple of two-pointers in the opening half and by scoring four of the first seven points after the resumption, but the Royals never looked rattled.

Boosted by the return of Sean Rafferty, Meath were excellent defensively and the rampaging nature of their half-back line constantly pushed Kildare on to the back foot.

Ciaran Caulfield was immense and with Jack Flynn showing a turn of foot that a champion chaser would be proud of in Cheltenham next week, Meath were elusive and lightning quick.

Jordan Morris picked up the man-of-the-match award from RTE following his 1-5 return and with Aaron Lynch turning the Kildare full-back line inside out and Ruairi Kinsella and Eoghan Frayne picking the locks Meath created chance after chance.

No team will ever produce the complete 70 minute performance, and Meath certainly had moments where they will reflect that they might have done better, but this was mightily impressive all over the field, and with debuts for Charlie O'Connor and Jamie Murphy and an excellent cameo from Oisin Martin, it won't get much better than this in terms of complete displays.

The tone was set early on. Despite playing against the stiff breeze Meath dictated the play. The excellent Jack O'Connor gave an indication of his impact by hitting the upright inside a minute before Morris opened the scoring 60 seconds later with a fisted score.

The only significant flaw of Meath's performance was their failure to score a two-pointer from play. Frayne dropped one short in the fourth minute and there were a couple of other wayward attempts, as well as the four wides from outside the arc in the second-half.

After missing early on, Jack O'Connor found his range with two points in 90 seconds, after Alex Beirne had levelled for Kildare from a free.

Lynch made it 0-4 to 0-1 following great work by Donal Keogan and Frayne, and then Meath grabbed the only goal as Ciaran Caulfield's long ball was flicked on brilliantly by Lynch into Morris's path. Morris was dispossessed as he tried to round the goalkeeper, but he won possession back and fired to the net from close range.

The onslaught continued with Jack O'Connor scoring a replica of his previous point before Frayne and Morris made it 1-7 to 0-1.

Kildare did manage to hang in with two-pointers from Darragh Kirwan and Brian McLoughlin in a three-minute spell, but Jack O'Connor replied with his fourth point to make it 1-8 to 0-5.

Kildare threatened a goal, but Keogan cleared off the line as Beirne centred and it was Kinsella who ended a 13 minute barren spell with the closing score of the half to secure a 1-9 to 0-5 interval advantage for the Royals.

Kildare resumed with a strong press on Meath's possession. It took a while for Meath to weather the pressure before Flynn pointed following a great run from defence. Colm Moran and Ben Loakman replied for Kildare, but after kicking four wides in the opening 11 minutes of the second-half Meath settled again with Morris pointing after a great turnover by Flynn in his own half.

Loakman (free) traded points with Morris as Meath maintained a seven-point cushion at the three-quarters mark. Loakman tapped over another free which was moved up after Flynn was deemed to prevented a quick free, but then Meath assumed control again for the final 10 minutes, outscoring Kildare 0-9 to 0-1.

Charlie O'Connor scored with his first touch as a temporary replacement for Bryan Menton. Keith Curtis marked his return from injury with a score, while Kinsella made it 1-15 to 0-9 after a great catch by Cian McBride.

McLoughlin added Kildare's sole reply as Morris brought his tally to 1-5 before Brennan took over with a converted '45' and two long range two-point frees to add some gloss on the already excellent paint job by the Royals.

Meath - Sean Brennan (0-5 two two-point frees, one '45'); Seamus Lavin, Sean Rafferty, Brian O’Halloran; Donal Keogan, Sean Coffey, Ciaran Caulfield; Bryan Menton, Jack Flynn (0-1); Jack O'Connor (0-4), Ruairi Kinsella (0-2), Adam O'Neill; Jordan Morris (1-5), Eoghan Frayne (0-1), Aaron Lynch (0-1). Subs - Oisin Martin for O'Connor 45m, Cian McBride for O'Neill 51m, Keith Curtis (0-1) for Lynch, Charlie O'Connor (0-1) for Menton (temporary) both 56m, Jason Scully for Kinsella 69m, Jamie Murphy for Frayne 72m.

Kildare - Cian Burke; Harry O’Neill, Padraic Spillane, Brian Byrne; James Harris, Eoin Lawlor, Jack McKevitt; Callum Bolton, Brendan Gibbons; Brian McLoughlin (0-3 one two-pointer), Darragh Kirwan (0-2 one two-pointer), Colm Moran (0-1); Ben Loakman (0-3 two frees), Alex Beirne (0-1 free), Colm Dalton. Subs - Ryan Burke for McKevitt 21m, Kevin Feeley for Beirne half-time, Eoin Cully for Moran 45m, Sam Doran for Dalton 57m, Liam Kelly for O'Neill 66m.

Referee - Sean Hurson (Tyrone).