Meath 1-19 Roscommon 0-9: It's proof positive. Meath football managers past or present can be the most difficult to please. After watching his creative side knock Roscommon out of the championship with verve and imagination, manager Eamonn Barry felt the performance did not merit full marks at Páirc Tailteann.
"I'd give them seven out of 10," said Barry. His iconic predecessor Seán Boylan standing close by reluctantly gave the side eight out of 10. In the context of the modern overlapping game, Meath were inventive and at times exhilarating before a crowd of 8,432.
Forwards dovetailed with backs to the bewilderment of the young Roscommon team.
A dejected Roscommon Manager John Maughan said his team lacked "upper-body strength". Maughan struggled to find the specific reason for defeat and simply said: "It was perhaps a combination of a number of factors - exhaustion, apprehension and the get-me-out-of-here syndrome."
Maughan insisted that he would not walk away from his job. "I would never do that. We are a young squad and there is a lot of good football talent in the county. Sure, we have a lot of work to do."
On the day Roscommon seemed to have about a half a dozen players at most with the capacity to cope. Meath's attacking ability and variation from the back looked ominous for Roscommon from the start.
Wing back Séamus Kenny got forward for a brilliant point. Left corner back Caoimhín King travelled the length of the pitch to come in at the end of a Graham Geraghty-Joe Sheridan probe to hit the back of the net for the game's only goal in the 27th minute.
That strike helped Meath to a 1-7 to 0-6 lead at half-time. At this stage, Roscommon were well on their way to compiling their eight wides. Meath had seven but they could easily afford them.
Roscommon's bid deteriorated at an alarming rate after Meath, inside only three minutes of the second half, tacked on three unanswered points.
Whatever about Barry's disappointment with Meath not converting chances that went astray during the closing stages, he seemed to be a very happy manager when indulging in the luxury of introducing five substitutes from midway in the second half.
The match was easily closed down at this stage and even Meath's midfielders Nigel Crawford and Mark Ward were replaced in the reshuffle. Barry Lynch, following injury, made a good return and scored two excellent points when coming on as a substitute early in the last quarter.
"The competition for places is extremely keen and I felt it was a good opportunity to give some players a chance," said Barry.
Meath outscored their opponents by 12 points to three in the second half and those three Roscommon points were kicked from placed ball - a 45 and two frees from Ger Heneghan and Cathal Cregg.
Meath's central defenders Kieran Reilly and Anthony Moyles along with Niall McLoughlin and, of course, King maintained good defensive standards.
Meath also outscored their opponents in terms of yellow cards, earning three against one for Roscommon.
MEATH: B Murphy; S Mac Gabhann, K Reilly, C King (1-0); N McLoughlin, A Moyles, S Kenny (0-1); N Crawford, M Ward (0-1); P Curran (0-4, three frees), G Geraghty, M Doran; D Regan (0-5, two frees), J Sheridan (0-5), B Farrell. Subs: G Robinson for Kenny, D White (0-1) for Doran, C McCarthy for Ward, B Lynch (0-2) for Crawford, N Kiegue for Mac Gabhann.
ROSCOMMON: G Claffey; S McDermott, D Casey, P O'Connor; S Daly, J Nolan, R Doran; S O'Neill (0-3), B Mullin; M Finneran, G Heneghan (0-3, two frees and 45), E Kenny; S Tiernan, C Cregg (0-3, one free), G Lohan. Subs: J Nolan for Tiernan; S Fahey for Lohan.
Referee: P McEnaney (Monaghan).
