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Geraghty provides the vision

National Football League: Division Two B: A major shock looked on the cards in Navan yesterday when the home side trailed by…

Mon Feb 14 2005 - 00:00

National Football League: Division Two B: A major shock looked on the cards in Navan yesterday when the home side trailed by 0-3 to 0-8 at the break.

But then a strong start to the second half paved the way for a Meath recovery and they went on to score an unimpressive victory.

The swirling wind made conditions difficult for the sides, but Antrim coped better in the first half - with Brendan Herron looking dangerous at full forward and wing back Shane Devlin kicking two points.

From a Meath perspective, the best moment of the first period come from a terrific long-range point by Trevor Giles.

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Joe Sheridan kicked over the first three points on the resumption, the first of them from a 45 after "man of the match" Graham Geraghty was foiled by goalkeeper Patrick Murray.

Meath missed a bagful of goal chances, but the one which did not get away arrived 11 minutes into the second half.

And it was Geraghty who scored it. The 1999 All-Ireland winning captain was involved in virtually every Meath attack and he got on the end of a perfect delivery from newcomer Peadar Byrne to fire to the net and leave the board reading 1-6 to 0-8.

There was only one yellow card issued, with Meath midfielder Niall Kelly the recipient early in the last quarter. And, although Meath were unable to pull clear, they finished on a high with Ollie Murphy closing the scoring just after coming on.

MEATH: D Gallagher; N McLoughlin, M O'Reilly, S MacGabhann; T O'Connor, D Crimmins (0-1), C King; N Kelly, A Moyles (0-1); M Burke (0-1), G Geraghty (1-0), P Byrne; D Regan (0-2), T Giles (0-1), J Sheridan (0-3). Subs: J Cullinane for Kelly, B Farrell for Byrne, B O'Reilly for M O'Reilly, O Murphy (0-1) for Regan.

ANTRIM: P Murray; B McCann, C Brady, D Gault; S Devlin (0-2), T Scullion, S Kelly; J Quinn, M McCarry; T O'Neill (0-2). K Brady (0-2), P Doherty; K Close, B Herron (0-1), K Madden (0-2). Subs: G Adams for Scullion, N Doyle for Doherty, K Murray for McCann, D Gallagher for Close, J McAleese for Herron.

YELLOW CARDS - Meath: N Kelly replaced by J Cullinane (54 mins). Antrim: none.

Referee: M Meade (Limerick).