Early blitz sees Meath through

All-Ireland SFC Qualifier/Meath ... 2-10 Monaghan ... 0-12:  The qualifiers by definition are not so much about performance as survival. Form is always secondary to the result. So Meath beat Monaghan on Saturday, first because of their ability to perform, and ultimately because of their ability to survive. Ian O'Riordan reports from Clones

As a contest it was largely decided in the first quarter of an hour. Clones being the bottleneck it is, there were many supporters - and a couple of unfortunate journalists too - still stuck in traffic out the road by the time Meath had notched up 1-5.

Most of that momentum was maintained until half time, and by then the 12-point difference had dispelled all excitement from the warm air.

Meath did have problems keeping the foot on the pedal and, not for the first time this summer, players drifted wildly out of the game. Without much effort, Monaghan outscored them 10 points to two in the second half.

Still, that merely prolonged the inevitable as the goal that Monaghan badly needed never looked like materialising.

It all left Colm Coyle with plenty to ponder upon after his first season as manager. Four championship games - with two wins - is as mush as Monaghan have enjoyed since 1988. Beating the All-Ireland champions always means a lot, and 52 points in four games (albeit without any goals) is not a bad return.

Afterwards, Coyle felt the season had brought some progression to Monaghan football, but admitted Meath still gave them a lesson in that first half in how to play the game at maximum pace. In other words, there was still plenty of room for improvement.

Meath can improve too, the difference being they have room in the rest of the season to do so. The way they allowed Monaghan to come back at them in the second half was symptomatic of a team that had been out four weekends in succession.

Seán Boylan hoped more than admitted that tiredness was not so much a factor in their closing slump as the determination of Monaghan, but clearly some of his players were drained.

What carried them through it all were the fresh legs of Nigel Crawford and Nigel Nestor, both back in the starting line-up after their recent bouts of injury. Crawford was particularly central to the victory, claiming handfuls of ball when Meath were on top, and halting many Monaghan forays when the pressure came on.

Together with Charles McCarthy he helped Meath get a total hold on midfield up to half time. Trevor Giles played deep in his own territory once again and was frequently joined by Graham Geraghty, whose hunger and desire for the ball in the first half were quite remarkable.

Without delay then, the Meath half forwards started putting to good use all the breaks of Crawford and McCarthy. Shane McKeigue and Giles had scored from play in the opening two minutes, and the latter set up Geraghty for a fisted goal after seven minutes.

Defensively, Meath were holding up like a brick wall, and most of Monaghan's forwards were getting dizzy running around in circles. But there were signs, too, that Paul Finlay - Monaghan's best forward to date - wasn't going to enjoy a good day with his free-taking. And he didn't.

Two points for David Crimmins followed by a storming run, dance and then beautiful point by Geraghty extended Meath's total to 1-7 after 25 minutes. Monaghan had 0-2 in that same period, the opening point coming from Tom Freeman, and the second a rare successful free from Finlay.

Meath closed out the half in merciless mood. Giles was having his best period of football this summer and also set up the second goal, this time with a similarly well delivered ball to Crimmins, whose thundering shot went straight into the net.

Still in stoppage time, Giles collected another loose ball and slipped it straight over the bar. Down 2-8 to 0-2, Monaghan hearts were sinking.

That Meath played out the second half as a pale shadow of their first-half selves wasn't totally surprising.

Monaghan's threat appeared so limited that maintaining such hunger for the ball was practically impossible.

But fatigue had to creep in too, and as both teams started altering their formations, it was Monaghan who found the better direction.

Rory Woods was the most effective of the substitutes, causing plenty of problems for the Meath full-back line, and Darren Fay had to be at his best until the end. While their scores were coming fast, they weren't coming thick enough, and a couple more squandered chances by Finlay - compounded by the dearth of genuine goal chances - killed off any likelihood of a dramatic comeback.

Clearly Meath were having scoring problems, with John Cullinane's fisted effort on 49 minutes and Evan Kelly's point some 14 minutes later their only say in the second half.

Normally that sort of return would be fatal, but by then survival after the first half was the only task demanded of them.

And the pressure on the lead was never enough to spell panic. Ollie Murphy was introduced as a sort of token gesture, as was Mark O'Reilly, and some of those same supporters that had been late in arriving were now leaving early, determined to beat the traffic this time.

MEATH: 1 C Sullivan; 2 N McKeigue, 3 D Fay, 4 C Murphy; 5 P Reynolds, 6 H Traynor, 19 N Nestor; 20 N Crawford, 9 C McCarthy; 11 T Giles (0-2), 8 J Cullinane (0-1), 14 G Geraghty (1-1); 13 D Regan (0-1, a free), 15 D Crimmins (1-2), 12 S McKeigue (0-2).

Subs: 10 E Kelly (0-1) for Regan (36 mins, inj), 18 R Kealy for Crimmins (half-time), 25 O Murphy for S McKeigue (64 mins), 17 A Moyles for McCarthy (68 mins), 24 M O'Reilly for Reynolds (71 mins).

MONAGHAN: 1 G Murphy; 2 JP Mone, 3 D McKenna, 4 P McKenna; 5 D Duffy, 6 J Coyle, 7 A Rooney; 8 E Lennon, 9 J Hughes; 10 N Corrigan, 13 M Slowey, 27 D McArdle; 12 P Finlay (0-4, two frees, one 45), 14 R Ronaghan, 11 T Freeman (0-1).

Subs: 17 R Woods (0-6, four frees) for Slowey (26 mins), 21 K Tavey (0-1) for Corrigan (half-time), 29 F Markey for Hughes (57 mins), 18 D Larkin for McArdle (60 mins).

Referee: M Collins (Cork).