Meath take full control after shaky opening

Meath 0-16 Wicklow 0-11:RARELY HAS a Meath football team looked more nervous, unsure of themselves – flaky even – in the opening plays of a championship match. And rarely have they finished looking more composed.

Given the backdrop here and that strangely ill-timed move to get rid of manager Séamus McEnaney, no one was entirely sure how Meath would show – and Wicklow supporters certainly didn’t travel without hope of only a second ever championship win over their more esteemed opponents.

In the end it was all too easy, the old Meath had far too much for the old Wicklow to handle. There were select moments when Meath actually played quite dazzling football to match the smashing sunshine, and McEnaney could afford to bask in the minor moment of glory afterwards.

“The only thing that matters to us is what’s inside those four walls”, he proudly declared, pointed at the Meath players in the dressingroom, and there’s no denying the spirit of the team is rising.

With Carlow to come in two weeks’ time it’s looking likely Meath may yet have a say in the destination of this Leinster title, although there will definitely be far bigger mountains to climb than this.

Wicklow always knew their best chance here was to catch Meath early on, question their fragile mental state, and perhaps hold out. They sure tried, in fairness, and were five points clear after 20 minutes, 0-7 to 0-2, although the subtle breeze was a definite help.

By half-time, however, Meath closed the gap to a single point, and they then went on to outscore Wicklow nine points to three in the second half.

They probably should have won by even more had they not started so shaky, and it’s fair to assume the four debutants here – Donnacha Tobin, Alan Forde, Mark Collins and Conor Gillespie – will look even more comfortable the next day.

McEnaney made positional switches in every line except full forward, the most notable being Graham Reilly, starting at midfield, where he delivered a man-of-the-match display – and five superb points. He had been played there in training for the last few weeks and he also injected some pace into midfield, allowing Brian Meade play an equally effective role at wing forward.

Kevin Reilly also delivered a standout performance at full back, and Brian Farrell and Joe Sheridan both stood up for the scores when Meath eventually went looking for them. Cian Ward has had better days and the likelihood is that he still will.

There were problems – not least of all losing captain Séamus Kenny after just nine minutes to a knee injury (medial ligament damage) although Donal Keogan proved a deft replacement, with some searching runs that proved crucial in bringing Meath into scoring positions.

Wicklow had an even greater loss in the opening minutes of the second half when their captain Leighton Glynn sustained a serious ankle injury when blocking a shot from Ward. After five minutes of attention he was stretchered off, with early indications being the ankle is broken, and with that his season is almost certainly over.

They also played the last 10 minutes with 14 men after losing James Stafford to a second yellow card, but there was an air on inevitability throughout the second half that Meath, once their heads were cleared, always had something extra, physically and tactically.

Still, Meath couldn’t get some of the basics right in the opening 15 minutes, giving the ball away like loose change, and at times stuck in defence mode. Wicklow happily progressed on the back of this, with Hannon scoring two frees and a 45, John McGrath and Stephen Byrne chipping over a couple of nice points too.

But even with the dominance on the scoreboard, Wicklow never appeared superior. Sheridan had one early goal chance that forced a great save from John Flynn, and once Meath began passing the ball around a little better the scores soon followed. They added five points to Wicklow’s one in the last 10 minutes of the half – that effectively turned the game into an uphill struggle for Wicklow.

Both managers indulged in their five replacements, and Conor McGraynor made a couple of threatening runs at goal for Wicklow. Jamie Queeney did add two scores for Meath, and that strength in depth summed up the day.

MEATH: D Gallagher; S McAnarney; K Reilly, D Tobin; M Burke, B Menton, S Kenny; C Gillespie, G Reilly (0-5); B Meade, M Collins (0-1), A Forde (0-1); B Farrell (0-4), J Sheridan (0-2), C Ward (0-1, a free). Subs: D Keogan for Kenny (9 mins, inj), J Queeney (0-2) for Collins (55 mins), P Byrne for G Reilly (65 mins), B Sheridan for Ward (70 mins), D Carroll for Forde (74 mins).

WICKLOW: J Flynn; C Hyland, A McLoughlin, A Byrne; S Byrne (0-1), S Kelly, D Healy; J Stafford, R Finn (0-1); D Hayden, D O’Sullivan, L Glynn; J McGrath (0-3), S Furlong (0-1, a free), T Hannon (0-5, three frees, two 45s). Subs: P Burke for O’Sullivan (half-time), P Earls for Glynn (42 mins, inj), N Gaffney for A Byrne (47 mins), C McGraynor for McGrath (54 mins), J Bolger for S Byrne (61 mins).

Referee: P Hughes (Armagh)

McENANEY ‘DELIGHTED’ WITH PERFORMANCE

IT’S UNCLEAR if that’s relief more than satisfaction written all over the face of Séamus McEnaney, but either way the Meath manager is a happy man, and for good reason.

“Delighted to get the result,” he says, after finding a nice spot in the shade. “And delighted with the performance as well, because we worked extremely hard, knowing it would take some of the newer players a wee while to settle into the game.

“It’s Carlow now in 14 days’ time, but there’ll be a real competitive edge in training now. We played 20 players, and I think the younger players have added a little extra strength and depth.”

McEnaney knew the next question was coming before we asked it, but gladly passes up on any temptation to gloat: “There’s been a lot of talk, full stop. But we never lost our focus on this match. Whatever is said outside of this group is totally irrelevant.

“The only thing that matters to us is what’s inside those four walls, and you wouldn’t believe how hard these fellas have worked over the last four weeks, and are prepared to fight tooth and nail for each other.”

It’s unclear too if this win lifts more pressure off Meath that it might actually apply: “Every championship match brings pressure. But there’ll be pressure again for Carlow, and the more you go the more pressure there is.”

Wicklow manager Harry Murphy is equally straight-talking and in no way disguises the fact the better team won: “We started quite well, but Meath have big men all over the place, and when they started running at us, we didn’t have much way of defending it.

“They took over midfield, and we just didn’t have the strength, and no answer. We had a few chances again there in the end, but didn’t have the physique, to be quite honest.

“They’re still a fair few steps up the ladder, in fairness. We’ve five weeks now to get ready for the qualifiers, but in the meantime it doesn’t look good for Leighton Glynn, and we just hope he can recover alright.”