Young Royals grind out win against the Faithful
It wasn't always pretty on the eye but in the end Meath did enough to carve out a 0-8 to 0-5 victory over Offaly in Leinster MFC at Pairc Tailteann this evening.
Played in wintry conditions this was far from a classic with the low-scoring nature of the game an indication of how scrappy the play was at times.
However, the important aspect of the evening from a Meath perspective is that they won - something they needed to do after losing to Dublin.
The young Royals were ahead 0-3 to 0-0 early on with two points from Niall Finnerty and one from Pearse Sheridan but Offaly hit back to lead 0-4 to 0-3 at the break. Sheridan also went close to finding the net in that opening half with a low drive.
Finnerty went on to get another point in the second-half with Meath, and particularly David Bell, finishing strongly. Bell fired over four points all inside the last quarter to ensure the home side got the victory they sought.
Offaly failed to score from play with Cormac Delaney their leading marksman with four points, all frees. Meath hit 14 wides over the hour.
Meath now face Wexford in another crunch encounter.
Meath - Dean Pluck (Ballinabrackey); James Fagan (Kilmainhamwood), Cillian Hegarty (Donaghmore/Ashbourne), Harry Corscadden (Meath Hill); Sean O'Donoghue (St Colmcille's), Aaron Chinchilla (Simonstown Gaels), Ciaran Caulfield (Trim); Josh Carolan (Simonstown Gaels) Endi Ehichoya (St Colmcille's); Shane Smyth (Skryne), Niall Finnerty (Skyrne 0-3), Eoghan Frayne (Summerhill); Pearse Sheridan (Oldcastle 0-1), Barry Thompson (Ballinabrackey), David Bell (St Colmcille's 0-4 two frees). Subs - Evan Corrigan (Wolfe Tones) for Sheridan 41 mins, Jamie Browne (Donaghmore/Ashbourne) for Thompson 50m, Jamie O'Shea for Finnerty 53m, Adam McDonnell (Summerhill) for Smyth 61m.
Further details and analysis as well as photographs from the game in next week's issue of the Meath Chronicle