Offaly ensnared in Meath web

A whole host of familiar sights reminded everyone that the Bank of Ireland football championship has started in earnest. There was a warm day with the sun breaking through, nearly 50,000 people present at an expectant Croke Park but most of all, the ominous sign of implacable Meath pulling the wings off football's bright butterfly, their Leinster successors and current National League title holders Offaly.

Too much has probably been made of Offaly's perceived mission to bring beauty to the world of football but their reputation for attack-orientated play and near-faultless discipline has made them a popular team with neutrals.

Yesterday they found it difficult to counteract Meath's seamless defensive covering and by the final quarter had left themselves open at the back, a recklessness born of desperation that saw them carved up like a Sunday roast in the closing five minutes.

The scoreline flatters Meath but they were emphatic winners. After the bravura forward play that characterised Offaly's eight-point win in last year's Leinster final, this was a match with defences to the fore and although Meath managed three goals in attack, it was their defence that did the most crucial work.

Offaly's attack depends on two things to be effective: a good bit of space to exploit the pace of Roy Malone and Vinny Claffey and if space is a bit tight, accurate early ball to achieve the same end.

Yesterday they managed neither. Meath didn't give them an inch. Offaly's forwards nearly had to run around just to be able to breathe. Mark O'Reilly, having started in Claffey's corner, played his man with immense composure while beside him, Darren Fay was equally effective on Malone.

O'Reilly and Fay were absentees from last year's Leinster final and yesterday gave succour to theories that had they played last August, whereas Offaly might still have won, Meath wouldn't have been taken to the cleaners. Even well into the second half, with the match firmly in their grasp, Meath didn't let up for a moment.

To disrupt matters further, Meath's half forwards dropped deep to crowd the defensive areas to intolerable levels for Offaly's attack. In these conditions, Trevor Giles is the king. His speed and acquisitiveness combine with sublime powers of distribution to impose order on chaos. Yesterday this part of his game thrived, unruffled by some poor place-kicking.

The losers made things worse for themselves by an uncharacteristically poor display of kicking. In the cramped confines, they hardly ever picked out the telling ball and all too often kicks were intercepted, wentstraight to an opponent or out over the endline.

The obvious need to risk two semi-fit substitutes, Peter Brady and Tom Coffey - "I was trying to get the team going," said manager Tommy Lyons - weakened Offaly's hand further, particularly when both struggled to make an impression.

Meath's surprise tactic of naming Barry Callaghan at centre back was another success. Two years ago in the successful All-Ireland campaign, he enjoyed some good spells at centre forward where he displayed a sound positional sense and intelligent reading of the game.

Yesterday that was in evidence as he played the game plan to perfection. At times playing like a hurling pivot, he read the incoming ball perceptively and conceived of nothing more expansive than thrashing the ball out of defence in well-placed clearances.

Offaly worked out the tactic but again were unable to counter it successfully. Ronan Mooney was moved onto Callaghan in the second half to try to exploit these static routines but it was no more effective than previous strategy.

Centrefield was also overcrowded as the floating Meath population migrated between that sector and defence but John McDermott and Nigel Nestor outplayed their opponents, taking some high ball and hoovering up the scraps. Both also dug in at the back when necessary and McDermott's challenge on Roy Malone, after O'Reilly's slip had let in Claffey, was great defending.

If Roy Malone and Claffey are men for the sweeping movement and flamboyant finish, Brendan Reilly and Tommy Dowd work effectively in less pleasant conditions - forwards who could kick points in the Black Hole of Calcutta.

There was evidence of this yesterday. On an afternoon when Offaly were to be the ones under lock and key, Reilly had left his marker John Ryan for a point after only 20 seconds of the match starting.

For a long time, Ryan didn't do too badly. Some of the ball into the Meath captain was ill-conceived and played to Ryan's aerial strengths. At other times, Reilly seemed in need of fine-tuning, misjudging the bounce of the ball and just missing the break. But he was always a danger and as the guard slipped in the closing six minutes, Reilly helped himself to 1-2.

An edgy low-scoring opening saw defences well in the ascendant and by the 21st minute, it was only two points each. Towards the end of the half, Meath pulled away. They had looked more threatening in attack but Offaly had run the game for most of the opening 20 minutes.

Dowd, Graham Geraghty - set up by the lively debutant Ray Magee whose early touches had been blighted by an inability to let the ball go when appropriate - and Giles with two frees opened up the halftime lead of 0-6 to 0-2.

Claffey had hit a good chance wide when he rounded off his most successful break of the afternoon by blazing the ball wide after gliding past three defenders.

Offaly's last stand was a three-point burst between the 40th and 50th minute, comprising two frees from Colm Quinn and a point by Roy Malone. Their commitment to attack shortly afterwards undid them.

Finbar Cullen fouled the ball when up in attack. A quick free to the unmarked Geraghty and Offaly were in trouble. The pacy centre forward soloed to within range and his shot was deflected up in the air for the incoming Magee to palm to the net in the 51st minute.

Geraghty was involved in all three goals, scrambling the ball past Padraig Kelly to give substitute Stephen Dillon a tap-in and performing a similar service for the alert Reilly in the 65th and 69th minutes respectively.