All-Ireland SFC Qualifiers: Meath 1-17, Carlow 0-12 A labour-intensive display by Carlow - undermined too often by lack of self-belief - came up short against a more organised and experienced Meath before an estimated crowd of 8,000 at Dr Cullen Park, Carlow, yesterday.
Except for a stop-start mid- second-half display, everything went right for Eamon Barry's team.
Convincing does not even begin to describe Meath's blistering first-half performance. If Barry's men set out to target Carlow's brittle challenge and confidence from the start they succeeded admirably, establishing a 1-1 to 0-0 lead inside three minutes.
Joe Sheridan opened with a point off a wind-assisted 45 inside the first minute. Then followed a trademark Meath attacking move that saw Graham Geraghty give Gerry McGill no chance with a well-placed shot to the net.
"That goal was a huge blow to us," admitted Liam Hayes, the former Meath hero and now Carlow's manager.
McGill's counterpart at the other end, Brendan Murphy, saved twice, the second one from Simon Rea, being something special.
Rarely has a Meath team, even under the baton of Seán Boylan, looked so co-ordinated, determined and skilful as during that first half.
The two managers afterwards revealed their teams were determined to start well. Barry had the players to fulfil this aim. The wind was a little help but the capacity of the Meath players such as Sheridan, Geraghty, Crawford, Daithí Regan and Caobháin King was highly impressive.
It was difficult to keep track of their slick interchanging moves in that first half, with Sheridan moving to full forward and Geraghty leading the attack. Geraghty's unselfish work often saw him back covering at midfield. He seemed to personify the attitude of Meath, who led by 1-10 to 0-6 at half-time.
Kerry referee Aidan Mangan made few friends with some inconsistent decisions. This perhaps contributed to a somewhat poisonous atmosphere entering into the exchanges in the second half; there was much handbagging and many yellow cards.
Carlow's defender Trevor Smith, who had come on for wing back John Hayden, was shown a red card in the last quarter when Meath had secured the win. Carlow's troubles never ended and they made untypical unforced errors. Midway through the second half they lost their ace attacker Mark Carpenter.
Liam Hayes said afterwards, "Our players sometimes showed a disbelief in themselves and in their own ability." He added, "It seems as though they felt no right to win."
Geraghty sustained an injury in the second half and was given a standing ovation as he left the pitch.
A similar ovation welcomed Ollie Murphy's return with about 15 minutes remaining but the popular Meathman did not figure in the scoring
Simon Rea was impressive in the Carlow attack and David Byrne lifted the side on numerous occasion when he entered the fray in the second half. Paddy Hickey on the left wing was accurate from placed balls, but in general the Carlow attack were too prone to lose possession as a score seemed imminent.
This failure was never evident in the more confident Meath attack. Nigel Crawford, Anthony Moyles, King, Niall McLoughlin and Sheridan generally had the exchanges tied up in midfield.
MEATH: B Murphy; S Mac Gabhann, K Reilly, C King (0-1); N McLoughlin, A Moyles, S Kenny; N Crawford, M Ward; P Curran (0-1), J Sheridan (0-4, one free and 45), G Geraghty (1-1); D Regan (0-3), M Doran (0-2), B Farrell (0-1). Subs: C McCarthy (0-3) for M Ward, O Murphy for Geraghty, R Magee (0-1) for Curran,
CARLOW: G McGill; J Ryan, M Brennan, B Farrell; J Hagan, J Byrne, B Hannon; P Walsh, T Walsh (0-1); B Carbury, A Kelly, P Hickey (0-3, one free); S Rea (0-6, four frees, one 45), M Carpenter, B Kelly. Subs: D Byrne (0-1) for Carbury, J Fitzgerald for Carpenter, T Smith (0-1) for Hayden, S Kavanagh for Kenny.
Referee: A Mangan (Kerry)
