Rampant Royals dispatch Wicklow

Johnny Greville's Meath had a huge statement Christy Ring Cup victory over Wicklow on Sunday.

Meath 2-24

Wicklow 1-19

Three points on the spin between the 66th minute and the 68th minute closed out a fantastic statement of intent performance from the Royals as they continued their momentum in the Christy Ring Cup with a comfortable victory over Wicklow in Aughrim on Sunday.

In the second minute, Lorcan Byrne found the back of the Wicklow net and Meath never relinquished the lead as Johnny Greville's men set themselves up nicely in the tier three hurling championship with two games remaining in the league phase.

Meath took full advantage of space in front of the full-forward line and raced into an early 1-4 to 0-1 lead. The Royals' second goal in the 22nd minute was fortunate but nevertheless it handed them a six-point advantage with just under 15 minutes remaining in the first-half.

Tom Shine, who finished with a fine tally of 0-12, had a role to play in Meath’s final four scores of the half and at the break the Royals led by eight.

For the majority of the second-half, Meath kept the Garden County at arm's length but in the 65th minute, Padraig Doyle fired a bullet free into the Meath net to reduce the gap back to five. The Royals responded well and closed out in the game with a flourish with three points on the spin.

Wicklow only scored seven points from play as Doyle contributed 1-11 from dead-ball scenarios. Some of those frees were avoidable but Meath’s defenders have to be commended for the intensity and work-rate that they brought to the contest. In particular, Sean Geraghty was phenomenal at full-back.

The likes of Geraghty, Damien Healy, Eoin Donegan, Sean Coloe and Kyle Donnelly matched the sheer physicality that Wicklow are infamous for. In the forwards Tom Shine, Joey Cole, Kyle Ennis, Lorcan Byrne and Mark Leavy all provided that bit of class that Meath needed to rack up an impressive tally. Overall, it was a brilliant performance from Johnny Greville’s men.

In the second minute, Byrne turned his marker inside out and set the tone for Meath with a brilliant finish to the back of the Wicklow net. After he was set up by Ennis, Byrne almost raised a second green flag but his effort was just a tad high. Ennis then got on the scoresheet himself before a brace of Shine points put Meath ahead by six after just 10 minutes.

Doyle then contributed three frees for Wicklow and after 20 minutes only Byrne’s early goal separated the sides. Donegan did extremely well to turn over possession before he linked up with Healy who played a nice pass to Ennis. Ennis ran out of steps on the edge of the D and took a wild swing at the sliotar.

The sliotar then took a wicked bounce off the astro turf in front of the Wicklow net-minder Conor McNally before it rattled the net. McNally should have dealt with the shot better but that made no odds to Meath as they extended their lead to six.

A couple of Doyle frees were cancelled out by scores from Leavy and Ennis. Shine scored his first point from play before he set up Byrne and Donnelly. Shine then split the posts with another free on the cusp of half-time and Meath led at the interval 2-11 to 0-9.

Wicklow’s brightest spell came just after the restart and between the 35th and 48th minute they outscored Meath 0-5 to 0-2. The highlight of that spell from a Meath perspective was a fantastic sideline cut scored by Joey Cole.

The Royals regained momentum with points from Shine and Ennis before a fantastic move was polished off by Damien Healy who raised a white flag which put Meath ahead by 2-16 to 0-15 after 50 minutes.

Wicklow chipped away at Meath’s lead with frees from Doyle and Brandon Ryan but the Royals kept their opponents at bay with three points from the hurl of Shine and one from Joey Cole who linked up well with his brother Mikey for his second-point.

In the 65th minute, Wicklow were awarded a free deep into Meath territory. Doyle dispatched the sliotar to the net which reduced the gap back to five and kept the home side's slender hopes alive. However, Meath finished with a flourish and capped off a brilliant performance with points from Leavy, Healy and Shine.

Meath - Gavin King; Jarlath Ennis, Seán Geraghty, Lorcan O'Connor; Eoin Donegan, Daire Shine, Anthony Healy; Seán Coloe, Kyle Donnelly (0-1); Damien Healy (0-2), Lorcan Byrne (1-2), Tom Shine (0-12 0-6 frees, one ‘65’); Joey Cole (0-2 one sideline cut), Kyle Ennis (1-3), Mark Leavy (0-2). Subs - Noah Conroy for Donnelly 51m, Fergal Flynn for A Healy 52m, Mikey Cole for Coloe, Darren O’Higgins for K Ennis 55m, Simon Ennis for Donegan 58m.

Wicklow - Conor McNally; Ben Kearney, Bryan Kearney, Brandon Ryan (0-2 one free); Padraig Doran, John Henderson, James Boland; Tommy Collins, Sam O’Dowd (0-2); Andrew Kavanagh, Jack Phelan (0-1), Luke Evans (0-2); Jack Doyle, Padraig Doyle (1-11, 1-10 frees, one ‘65’), Seanie Germaine. Subs - Fionn Darcy (0-1) for J Doyle, Kenneth Cullen for Germaine 57m, Ian Clancey for Ben Kearney 62m.

Referee - Matthew Redmond (Kildare).