Kildare 0-16 Meath 0-10:Meath saw a good goal disallowed and Kildare hit a bucket full of wides but the Lilywhites were deserved winners over the Royal County in the Leinster SFC quarter-finals at Croke Park this afternoon.
Kieren McGeeney’s side were favourites heading into this tie, but it was never going to easy and that showed in the first half, as Meath went in two points up. After the break, fitness and variety told for Kildare as they turned a two-point deficit into a six-point win.
Controversy wasn’t far away however, as referee Syl Doyle appeared to overrule his umpires – his son and brother – and award a square ball after substitute Graham Geraghty leapt to fist home what would have been a crucial second half score.
Kildare will point to their dominance in possession and six unanswered scores after the break as evidence of their superiority. Ultimately they scored 11 in the second half to Meath's three and it could have been more had they not been so typically wasteful in front of the posts.
Seamus McEnaney opted to start Paddy O’Rourke ahead of Cian Ward at corner forward and his tactics were clear early on. Effective, too.
Long balls over midfield were routinely claimed by the big man, more used to life between the posts, while his cousin Shane O’Rourke worked well off him. With John Doyle playing in midfield for Kildare it meant he was bypassed for much of the first half and quite often sucked into defence.
Kildare opened the scoring after just 23 seconds through Alan Smith, but Joe Sheridan landed a huge point and Paddy O’Rourke got his first.
Doyle levelled the scores when afforded too much space soon afterwards, though Shane O’Rourke found the target twice in quick succession to open up a two-point lead for Meath.
Smith and James Kavanagh restored parity before Paddy O’Rourke’s second from a 45. Eoghan O’Flaherty’s point in the 22nd minute, Kildare’s best of the half, was to be their last before the break.
Meath’s defensive work was excellent from there on in, and Stephen Bray’s first of the day, coupled with Shane O’Rourke’s free gave Meath a two-point lead at halftime.
Kildare needed to up the accuracy of their passing and shooting in the second half and Doyle laid the foundations with a great run and point almost immediately after the restart. His was the first of six points with no reply as the Lilywhites reversed the advantage in the space of nine minutes.
He added another after Meath goalkeeper Brendan Murphy began a shaky spell with a foul and Eamonn Callaghan added three-in-a-row as Kildare found their rhythm through the middle of the park.
Then came an exceptional point when Kildare broke from defence and handpassed their way up the left side before Doyle cut in on his right boot and curled it over the bar for a four-point lead.
The boost Meath needed came from Joe Sheridan who halved the deficit with a quickfire brace but Brian Farrell’s dismissal on 55 minutes, quickly deflated the Royals. Farrell was harshly sent packing for an off-the-ball slap on Emmet Bolton and the red card delayed the reintroduction of Geraghty to the Meath side.
It wouldn’t be Geraghty if there wasn’t controversy but what followed wasn’t of his making. After coming on and heading right up top, the 38-year-old appeared to time his run to perfection when latching on to Sheridan’s dropping ball and fisting it into the net.
The umpires appeared to be in agreement it was a good score but after consultation with the referee it was ruled out. It was bad decision and a costly one for Meath. An O’Rourke point closed the gap to three but it could have been all square at that stage.
Kildare took their warning and killed the game off with points from O’Flaherty and Kavanagh.