Early signs of Meath becoming a force again

Football / O'Byrne Cup Final / Meath 3-14 Offaly 0-14: Early comparisons between Eamonn Barry and Seán Boylan were so inevitable that maybe this was staged as a teaser.

The first trophy - and the last trophy - that Boylan won during his 23 years as Meath manager was the O'Byrne Cup, and so Barry sets out on the same footing.

But for now that's where the comparisons end. Barry has brought the honour to Meath for the eighth time with a young and almost entirely redesigned team, playing a very different style of football, and just weeks after he apparently faced an early eviction. That's worthy of talk on its own merits.

Eight players who started yesterday made their Meath debut under Barry and there was no denying the fresh, hungry attitude that runs through the team. That hunger exploded at the outset of an entertaining contest played before a crowd of around 10,000. Meath were 1-4 to no score after 10 minutes, and 1-8 to 0-1 after 20 minutes.

Offaly were too proud to let that scoreline get any worse and in fact closed it to four points with just over 10 minutes to play. Two late goals from Meath, however, finally killed the game and took whatever heart was left in Offaly. The first was a sublime chip by substitute Ger Robinson, before Joe Sheridan fisted home his second goal moments before the end. They were Meath's second-half highlights, but for the opening 30 minutes or so they were unstoppable.

Peter Curran, one of the many newcomers, chipped in with some early points, and Meath's superb teamwork was reflected in the first goal - with Sheridan doing a one-two with Graham Geraghty before his thunderous finish.

There was something newly impressive about Meath's play. At times they resembled the hard-working, fast-moving and rapid interchanges of Tyrone, and if that develops they'll be a force come the Leinster championship. The experienced Nigel Crawford has stepped up his game at midfield while other newcomers, Paddy Nugent and Rory Maguire, look the part.

Not that Barry was getting carried away: "It was pleasing," he admitted, "mostly because of the huge response I've got from the players. And more so from the general public. You saw the crowd that was here today. There is a bit of pride and passion back in Meath football so hopefully we can build on it, but we're not getting too excited either.

"A lot of counties don't take this competition too seriously, and we probably took it a little more serious than others because we'd a point to prove. We've had four good competitive games now, including coming under pressure there for the last 10 minutes, which we answered."

With Meath leading 1-10 to 0-4 at the break, Offaly could really only improve - which they did, out-scoring Meath 0-7 to 0-2 in the next 25 minutes. Thomas Deehan's free-taking led the way. Still, Meath defended well, packing players back if necessary and again reminiscent of northern counterparts.

"Well the game has changed so much now that when you lose possession you have to try to get back and defend," explained Barry, "and get the tackles in and try to win back possession."

For Offaly manager Kevin Kilmurray, the problems started earlier when Scott Brady, Colm Quinn and Neville Coughlan all withdrew from the starting line-up. Yet the second-half rally was encouraging, with Ciarán McManus leading the way having moved back to midfield.

"Fair dues to Meath, they've built up a momentum now and they're flying," said Kilmurray. "Their second goal killed us, but I was delighted by the performance of our lads. They worked their socks off, and it's very hard to be critical of them.

"And I think overall the O'Byrne Cup has been terrific for us. That full-back line is all under 21. We've done well, and got to a final. And I'm delighted with the way January went for us. But we've never lost sight of the fact we've a very tough schedule in the league, and a good start is vital if you want to stay in the league, and do well in the league. But I think we will."

MEATH: R Nolan; P Nugent, T O'Connor, C King; N McLoughlin; J Donoghue, S Kenny (0-1); B Lynch (0-1), N Crawford (0-3); P Curran (0-4, two frees), J Sheridan (2-0), S McAnarney; R Maguire (0-2), G Geraghty (0-1), M Doran. Subs: R Kearns for O'Connor (42 mins), T Brosnan (0-2) for Maguire (55 mins), G Robinson (1-0) for Doran (63 mins), W Reilly for Lynch (65 mins), J Magee for McAnarney (67 mins).

OFFALY: P Kelly; K Lynam, S Sullivan, P McConway; T O'Connor, B Mooney, N Grennan; R Connor, A McNamee (0-2); J Reynolds, C McManus (0-3, one free), L Mooney; S Ryan (0-2), P Kellaghan (0-1), T Deehan (0-5, frees). Subs: S Casey for Sullivan (7 mins) inj, N McNamee (0-1) for Mooney (32 mins), J Rafferty for McConway (half-time), P Bracken for Connor (65 mins).

Referee: P Fox (Westmeath).