Dublin 0-14 Meath 0-12:75,250 people descended on GAA headquarters for the opening blockbuster of the summer but they had to be satisfied with some light entertainment as an uninspiring Dublin stumbled past a Meath team lacking even the faintest glimpse of a football powerhouse from a previous era.
The impetuous nature of referee Martin Duffy saw eight yellow cards distributed throughout the 70 minutes when in reality the contest lacked the bite and intensity traditionally associated with this fixture.
The Dublin halfback line deserves its dues but proven Meath forwards like Stephen Bray and Brian Farrell struggled to make any impact.
Dublin were in complete control by the interval leading by six points, 0-11 to 0-5. It should have been by more with four goal chances spurned.
Darren Magee stormed onto a Bernard Brogan pass in the opening seconds only to roll his shot wide. Paul Flynn had a chance soon after, while Mark Davoren and Conal Keaney missed less clear-cut opportunities to kill off matters in their infancy.
It didn’t seem to matter as Meath’s solitary hot-streak was cooled by eight consecutive Dublin scores in the 15 minutes leading up to half-time.
Dublin also started the brighter with Keaney frees and a Paddy Andrews point setting Pat Gilroy’s new look side on their way. There were notable differences from previous campaigns with Alan Brogan dropping deep at centre forward into a play-making role, still chipping in with some decent scores, while captain Paul Griffin was operating at centre back.
The untested spine of the team remained just that with Magee and Ross McConnell dominating the midfield exchanges. Ger Brennan was full of enthusiasm but was lucky to stay on the field after two reckless challenges following a 15th minute yellow card.
Meath desperately needed some additional help from referee Martin Duffy for the tide to turn in their favour. Granted, Cian Ward and Bray pushed them into a temporary 0-5 to 0-3 lead before the wheels fell off their challenge; Dublin striding clear with Brennan’s levelling strike followed up by two quick points apiece from the Brogan brothers.
During this purple patch they could have had a goal but Duffy awarded a free out after debutant goalkeeper Paddy O’Rourke seemed to fall over his own line as Keaney challenged a high ball.
It mattered little as a comfortable lead was reached with two injury time points from another new face, Kilmacud Crokes full forward Mark Davoren – his height eventually beginning to tell after fullback Kevin Reilly won the early exchanges.
The wind certainly played a factor, O’Rourke’s kick outs barely reaching the 45, but really Meath looked like a mediocre Division Two side against, well, a mediocre Division One team.
On a positive note, Gilroy’s decision to omit the core of last year’s championship line-up was justified in the opening 35 minutes. They did register nine first-half wides but Meath began the levelling out of that statistic with three wayward shots after the break.
Caoimhín King did found his range to bring the deficit back to five points. Ward added a 45 soon after and when Shane McAnarney followed this up with another point the threat to Dublin’s provincial dominance became a reality once more.
Brian Farrell made it a two-point game on 43 minutes but Dublin’s response was immediate with Alan Brogan rifling over his third of the day, and Keaney his fourth free.
Ciaran Whelan and Jason Sherlock were then thrown into the fray soon after.
Seemingly coasting into the semi-final, against Wicklow or Westmeath, Dublin’s latest focal point in attack, Davoren, went over badly, sustaining what looked to be a serious knee injury.
That was it really. A lack of composure in attack ensured Dublin were unable to pull more than three points clear (the wide count totalled 17) but the Royals never looked like threatening Stephen Cluxton’s goal.
All told, a poor match. Nobody will fear either team as the summer unfolds.
Dublin: S Cluxton; D Henry, D Bastick, A Hubbard; G Brennan (0-1), P Griffin (capt), B Cahill; R McConnell, D Magee; P Flynn, P Andrews (0-1), B Brogan (0-2, one free); C Keaney (0-5, all frees), M Davoren (0-2), A Brogan (0-3). Substitutes: C Whelan for R McConnell, J Sherlock for B Brogan (both 49 mins), D Connolly for P Flynn (temp, 52–57 mins), P Burke for M Davoren (54 mins), D Connolly for P Andrews (59 mins), B Kelly for P Flynn (69 mins)
Meath: P O'Rourke; A Moyles, K Reilly, E Harrington; S Kenny, N McKeigue, C McGuinness; M Ward (0-1), N Crawford; S McAnarney (0-2), S Bray (0-1, capt), B Meade; C Ward (0-4, two frees, 45), C King (0-1), B Farrell (0-2). Substitutions: C O'Connor for M Ward (41 mins), B Sheridan for S McAnarney (46 mins), B Regan for N McKeigue (51 mins), P Byrne for S Bray (56 mins), J Sheridan (0-1) for B Meade (66 mins)
Referee: M Duffy (Sligo).