Royals dispatch Rossies with ease

Meath got their Christy Ring Cup campaign back on track with a comfortable win over Roscommon on Saturday

Meath 0-28

Roscommon 2-12

The concession of two goals were the only negatives for Meath in an otherwise flawless victory over Roscommon as Johnny Greville’s side got their Christy Ring Cup campaign back on track in Ballyforan.

After a disappointing outing last week against Kerry, Meath put the home side to the sword as nine points in the opening 10 minutes set the tone for what was a strong performance in round two on Saturday.

Meath responded well to an early Roscommon goal and scored eight points on the spin. Meath had the aid of a strong breeze in the first-half but they still had to convert scores and they duly delivered. By the 20th minute, they led by 0-12 to 1-2 and when the half-time whistle sounded, the Royals had extended that gap to nine points.

Three points on the spin for Tom Shine left Roscommon with a lot of ground to make up and despite the concession of a second goal, Meath closed out the game well. Roscommon missed a penalty in the 50th minute which would have put a little bit more gloss on the scoreboard for the men in yellow and blue.

The result rarely looked in doubt though as 10 different scorers contributed to Meath’s fine tally of 0-28 of which Tom Shine accounted for 0-12. Meath had a little bit of a nervy start when Sean Canning’s (nephew of Joe Canning) shot which was initially saved by Gavin King was rebounded into the net by Conor Mulry.

That goal seemed to ignite a fire in the Royals and in particular Mark Leavy has he split the posts with two fine points before he set up Daire Shine for a nice score. Daire Shine then contributed another as Meath led 0-6 to 1-0 after eight minutes.

Meath continued their momentum and three further points courtesy of Mikey Cole, Damien Healy and Lorcan O’Connor saw the Royals widen the gap to six points.

A brace of frees from Conor Morris reduced the gap back to four before a fantastic move that had some nice link-up play between Sean Coloe and Eoin Donegan was well finished off by a wonderful Leavy strike from a wide angle.

Kyle Donnelly’s well-hit sideline cut provided the assist for Mikey Cole before two Tom Shine frees handed Meath a 0-13 to 1-2 advantage after 25 minutes.

Two Morris frees were cancelled out by a brace of Lorcan Byrne points and Tom Shine added his fifth free as Meath led at the interval by 0-16 to 1-4.

Soon after the restart Morris and Darren O’Higgins traded scores before Adam Donnelly pulled one back for the home side with a long-range effort. Tom Shine responded for Meath and turned the screw further as he scored three points on the spin.

Between the 47th minute and the 50th minute, Roscommon had a brief bright spell. Morris set up Michael Hussey who dispatched the ball past King. The home side were then awarded a penalty but Donnelly failed to hit the target.

Points from Kyle Ennis and Leavy got Meath back on track and a further pair of frees from Morris was cancelled out by scores from Tom Shine and Byrne.

In the 64th minute, Roscommon raised their first white flag from play through Ronan Finn before Morris added another free. Meath finished with a flourish though with contributions from Tom Shine and Joey Cole. Next up for the Royals is a tricky trip to Aughrim to face Wicklow next Sunday.

Meath - Gavin King; Jarlath Ennis, Sean Geraghty, Lorcan O’Connor (0-1); Eoin Donegan, Daire Shine (0-2), Anthony Healy; Sean Coloe, Kyle Donnelly; Damien Healy (0-1), Lorcan Byrne (0-2), Tom Shine (0-12 eight frees, one ‘65’); Mikey Cole (0-2), Darren O’Higgins (0-1), Mark Leavy (0-4). Subs - Simon Ennis for Donnelly half-time, Kyle Ennis (0-1) for Cole 48m, Fergal Flynn for J Ennis 55m, Joey Cole (0-1) for Donegan 57m, Jack Walsh for A Healy 65m.

Roscommon - Enda Lawless; Michael Hussey (1-0), James Dillon, Jack Dowling; Keelan Ryan, Tommy Morris, Darragh Finn; Ethan Connaughton, Cian Murray (0-1); Adam Donnelly (0-1 free), Cian Bowes, Sean Canning; Conor Mulry (1-0), Jason Martin, Conor Morris (0-8 frees). Subs - Liam Og Coyle for Bowes 24m, Eamon Mulry for Connaughton 25m, Ronan Finn (0-1) for C Mulry 56m, Karl Feehily (0-1 free) for Ryan 66m, Brian Lawlor for Morris 70m.

Referee - James Judge (Mayo).