NFL Division 2 final: Meath 1-22 Cork 2-17
Maybe it’s the new rules or maybe it’s just the unique ability of a group of talented attackers to momentarily catch lightning in a bottle, but purple patches of scoring have been a feature of Meath’s league campaign.
And so, a three-point deficit with 46 minutes on the clock at Croke Park didn’t unduly worry the Royal County supporters.
True to form, they caught fire for the next 15 minutes or so, reeling off eight points without response to provide themselves with a vital cushion to repel the anticipated late charge from Cork, securing a first piece of league silverware in 19 years.
All of Meath’s gifts were on display during that period as their towering midfield and powerful press laid waste to the Cork kick-out, providing the blank canvas for forwards like James Conlon and Eoghan Frayne to apply their broad brush strokes of genius.
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Conlon only came on in the 42nd minute but underlined just how important he is to Meath now with four points from play, three off his right foot, one off his left. The stylish St Colmcilles poacher won one of the three frees that Frayne converted too.
Conlon didn’t actually start a league game for Meath this season but has consistently delivered from the bench, making a pressing case for inclusion from the start against Westmeath or Longford in the Leinster SFC on April 19th.
Right at the end, when Meath were trying to run down the clock and keep hold of their two-point lead, Conlon was black carded for hauling down Cork defender Maurice Shanley. Cork manager John Cleary cried foul afterwards, saying his interpretation of the rules was that play should have been brought up 50 metres, which would have placed his team in two-point scoring range.
A review of the tape seems to confirm that Conlon didn’t prevent the free from being taken, which would have warranted the advancement, but simply committed the cynical foul for the black card. In fact, from Meath’s perspective, it was a textbook application of dark arts as time ran out shortly afterwards.
It does suggest that, in those sorts of circumstances, crime does pay.
“Sure what else would you do then only keep fouling, keep fouling,” said a dismayed Cleary. “That’s what’s going to happen, I think, as the championship comes in. If you are a point up with 40 seconds left, you are going to keep fouling.”
Either way, Meath deserved the win, just about. Although the fact that Cork beat Meath by two points in the group, and Meath won this rematch by two, speaks to just how little there is between the two counties.
Meath’s ability to pick off two-pointers, another feature of their campaign, was important and they outscored Cork by four to one on this vital count.
Ruairí Kinsella capped an excellent campaign with two of those orange flag scores, both of which came within seconds of each other in the fourth minute.
Jordan Morris offered just enough excellence with three important points in the first half, to make us all forget about the three wides he also tallied. Late on, he kick-passed wastefully and gifted Cork possession from a kick-out which led to Shanley’s possession and the Conlon black card.
Regarding the rules again, there was another point of debate when Conlon’s 51st-minute point was chalked off with play then brought back to allow Meath take a free from outside the arc. Goalkeeper Seán Brennan kicked wide and the Royals ultimately lost out on a score. Meath manager Robbie Brennan was oblivious as to why the score didn’t stand.
The Cork postmortem will focus on that barren period in the second half when they were simply unable to stop Meath’s flow. If the Conlon point had stood, it would have been nine singles in a row that Cork conceded.
They led by 0-12 to 0-10 at half-time and seemed to be in relative control. Steven Sherlock had Séamus Lavin in his pocket, taking Meath’s man-marker for six points and Sherlock finished the day with nine. Chris Óg Jones got the better of Meath’s All-Star full back Seán Rafferty, adding a 37th-minute goal to three earlier points.
With Colm O’Callaghan pitching in well from midfield and Mark Cronin influential, they were good value for their lead.
Sherlock’s seventh and eighth points of the afternoon left the Rebels 1-16 to 1-13 clear. With a Munster SFC quarter final against Limerick on the horizon on April 12th on Leeside, Cork looked set to approach that in a winning mood.
Even after the Meath blitzkrieg, Sherlock added a ninth point and Brian Hurley’s 65th-minute goal, after a turnover on Meath’s kick-out, cut the gap to just two.
But time ran out on their bid for a first Division Two title since 2007.
MEATH: S Brennan (0-1-1, tpf); S Lavin, S Rafferty, B O’Halloran; D Keogan, S Coffey, C Caulfield (0-0-1); B Menton, C McBride; J O’Connor (1-1-0), R Kinsella (0-2-1), J Flynn; J Morris (0-0-3, 1f), E Frayne (0-0-3, 3f), A Lynch (0-0-1).
Subs: J Conlon (0-0-4) for Lynch (42 mins); R Ryan for Lavin (45); C Hickey for McBride (50); K Smyth for O’Halloran (52); O Martin for O’Connor (61).
CORK: P Doyle; M Shanley, S Meehan, D O’Mahony; B O’Driscoll, T Walsh, L Fahy; C O’Callaghan (0-0-2), I Maguire; P Walsh (0-0-2), D Sheedy, S McDonnell; M Cronin (0-0-1), C Óg Jones (1-0-3); S Sherlock (0-1-7, 1f).
Subs: B Hurley (1-0-0) for Sheedy (43 mins); K O’Donovan for Shanley (50-52); R Deane for McDonnell (52); S Walsh for Cronin (56); R Maguire for Fahy 58.
Referee: B Griffin (Kerry).
