Kildare 0-24
Meath 0-14

Kildare outclassed Meath in this Allianz HL Division 2B opener at Trim on Sunday.

Kildare, who have former Meath minor footballer and Munster rugby player Niall Ronan assisting them with their fitness, were a cut above the home side this time.

Meath were a pale shadow of the side that scored a facile Kehoe Cup final win over Wicklow at this venue seven days earlier.

After a closely contested opening quarter, Brian Lawlor's men pulled clear. Meath rallied briefly from the resumption to get within six points of Kildare but that was as good as it got for Martin Ennis's side.

Kildare wing-back David Young - who featured in Tipperary's 2010 All-Ireland SHC final win - capped an impressive display with two points from play. By the end The Lilywhites had 10 different scorers. .

Both Marc Delaney and Paul Divilly proved reliable free-takers while wing-forwards Gerry Keegan and Bernard Deay chipped in with seven points from play between them.

But for a fantastic save in each half by Meath 'keeper Charlie Bird, Keegan and Evan Dempsey would have goaled for Kildare.

Two Divilly points in quick succession for a 65 and a free quelled Meath's mini-revival and Kildare moved 13 points clear by the 61st minute.

The Royals lost Damien Healy to a second yellow card in the shortly after but outscored the Ring Cup holders by 0-3 to 0-1 in the final five minutes when the outcome was long past doubt.

Meath led twice in a low scoring opening quarter through team captain Sean Heavey and top scorer Anthony Healy (free). Both scores were countered by Marc Delaney 65s.

Kildare hit the front for the first time in the 19th minute through Leo Quinn who dummied Keith Keoghan before scoring at the town end to leave it 0-3 to 0-2.

Brian Lawlor's men bossed the second quarter and continued a sequence begun in the 11th minute of seven points on the spin.

Meath attempted to address the situation by replacing Padraig Keogh with county dual player Mickey Burke.

Anthony Healy's 29th minute free ended a 21-minute scoring blank for Meath. He added another  before half-time while Paddy Conneely also got off the before the break.

However, despite recording six first-half wides to Meath's three, Kildare responded positively to the concession of a score and led by 0-13 to 0-6 at the break. As conditions dampened, the physical superiority of the visitors was noticable.

Kildare - Paul Dermody; Mark Grace, Fiachra O Muineachain, John Doran; David Young (0-2), Martin Fitzgerald (0-1), Eanna O'Neill; Mark Moloney (0-2), Paul Divilly (0-5, 3fs, 1 65); Gerry Keegan (0-4), Leo Quinn (0-1), Bernard Deay (0-3); Evan Dempsey (0-1), Johnny Byrne (0-1), Marc Delaney (0-4, 2 65s, 1f). Subs - Willie Green for Delaney (ht), Kevin Whelan for Fitzgerald (57), Niall Kenny for Dempsey (58), Dinny Stapleton for Keegan (58), Conor Gordan for Grace (61).

Meath - Charlie Bird; Cormac Reilly, Shane Brennan, Shane Whitty; Damien Healy, Keith Keoghan, Padraig Keogh, Stephen Morris, Sean Heavey (C) (0-2), Patrick Conneely (0-1), James Toher, Alan Douglas (0-1); Jack Regan (0-1), Anthony Healy (0-7, 36s), Willie McGrath (0-1). Subs - Mickey Burke for Keogh (26), Sean Quigley for Conneely (50), Adam Gannon (0-1) for McGrath (59), Darren Reilly for Morris (60), Eoin Marsh for Toher (66).

Referee - Paud O'Dwyer (Carlow)

Tweet

Most Read Stories