A learning curve for Meath's U21 hurlers
November 30, 2009The Royal County were managed by Dunderry's Kevin Dowd, who has been a county senior player and selector in recent years, but his tenure as boss of this particular bunch of young players was very short lived as a dominant Westmeath team won by all of 12 points on a score line of 4-12 to 1-9.
It represented a disappointingly short campaign in a grade that is important in the development of future senior players, but there was no denying that the midlanders were worthy winners and they weren't in any way flattered by the clearcut margin of their victory.
Indeed, it took a late goal from top marksman, Dunboyne's Michael Dunne, to take some of the bad look off the final score line from a Meath point of view and selector Mickey Cole readily admitted afterwards that the better team had triumphed.
A good start is always important and so it proved on this occasion for Westmeath as they inflicted serious damage on Meath's prospects before they even had an opportunity to settle into the game. The winners tallied four goals to their rivals one over the hour and two of them came in a 60 second blitz in the early stages to set the tone for a dominant showing overall.
Only five minutes had elapsed when Westmeath struck for their first goal, with the Meath defence looking decidedly hesitant and unsure. Talented Castlepollard player Alan Devine provided the finishing touch in ruthless fashion and his team had made the dream start which propelled them towards a runaway success.
Another Castlepollard player, Andrew Dermody, demonstrated tremendous pace to surge through the troubled Meath rearguard soon after and when the net rattled for a second time Dowd's charges were in all sorts of trouble. Those scores had dealt a savage double blow to their prospects of making a winning start to the championship and they were visibly struggling to gain any sort of a foothold as Westmeath looked full of confidence and poise.
The Meath lads needed a score or two to settle things down after such a disastrous start and they arrived in the shape of two pointed frees from Dunne who has all the appearances of a seriously talented player. However, it wasn't until the 20th minute that the Royal County managed to get their first score from play when Rathmolyon's Sean Dalton fired over a superb point from all of 65 metres.
But Meath were still struggling to a major extent and Dowd didn't delay in making a double substitution after 25 minutes in the hope of rescuing a difficult situation. Na Fianna's Barry Slevin and Derek Doran of Kildalkey were introduced in place of Eoin Potterton and Michael O'Grady, but it was all to little avail as Westmeath struck for a third goal which helped them gain complete control and further shattered Meath's fragile confidence.
It was Devine who again found the net and the midlanders were looking very good with a wind-assisted 14-point interval advantage, 3-8 to 0-3. The fact that they had managed only a solitary point from play in the first half was certainly a worrying statistic from a Meath point of view and further changes were made by management in the hope of achieving a significant improvement in the second period.
But instead of things getting better, they got worse and the concession of a fourth goal killed off any slim hopes the Royal County might have been entertaining of mounting a serious recovery mission. This time it was Dermody who doubled his goal tally as the Castlepollard attacking influence continued to haunt the Meath defence.
That goal helped Westmeath to a massive advantage of 16 points by the three-quarter stage and the final quarter must have seemed like a lifetime to the Meath players as they waited for Offaly referee Tony Carroll's long whistle to bring the one-sided contest to a conclusion and put them out of their misery.
After giving away four goals and falling so far behind, it appeared that things couldn't get any worse for Meath, but they did as a result of a double sending off. Michael Lynch of Kilmessan was red carded by Carroll five minutes from the end and soon after Killyon's David Raleigh and Westmeath's Robbie Jackson also received their marching orders.
It just about summed up a dismal afternoon for the Meath lads. There were very few positives that could be drawn from such a comprehensive defeat. However, one of them was the showing of Dunne who finished with an impressive personal tally of 1-8, including his side's only goal which he belted home from a 20 metre free with five minutes remaining.
He also fired over six second half frees, but a worrying statistic with the future of Meath hurling in mind was the fact that midfielder Dalton was his team's only other marksman with that fine first half point from distance. Navan O'Mahonys' player Michael Kelly posed a fair amount of problems for the winners' defence at right corner-forward, but overall Meath were lacking the necessary fire power and cutting edge in attack to build a decent tally.
There was also a certain lack of discipline which hindered Meath, while Westmeath were much better when it came to pace, score creation and accuracy. In a nutshell, they were a vastly superior team on the day and fully worthy of their big victory margin.
Meath could be considered unlucky to have drawn them in the first round when they could have been pitted against a less imposing team. To get an early victory against whatever standard of opposition might well have inspired confidence for greater challenges ahead. However, a number of these players will get an opportunity to do much better next year when they are again eligible for the under-21 grade.
Selector Cole, who has been one of the outstanding Meath hurlers of the modern era and who was part of the Nicky Rackard Cup-winning team this year, was making absolutely no excuses after the defeat and accepted that Westmeath were a superior team.
"The pace of the game caught our lads out and they are going to have to learn from that experience as a lot of them will be eligible for this grade again next year," Cole said after the match. "Maybe they are just too used to playing at club level and the step up to inter-county level might have caught them by surprise."
Cole also believed that Meath didn't exactly enjoy the best of fortune when the draw for this stage of the competition was made.
"If we had drawn a different team like Louth or Longford, then the players might have had a chance to adjust to a slightly faster pace before they faced a team like Westmeath," he added. "That was a baptism of fire for some of those players. We had warned them about what to expect and they will learn from it. It's a harsh way to learn. We were chasing the game almost from the start, but at least they put in a reasonable effort."
Conceding two goals so early in the match was a massive blow to Meath and something they never managed to recover from. It was always a case of playing an unsuccessful game of catch-up after that.
"The concession of the early goals was a big setback and then the wind died away in the second half when it was in our favour, which didn't help either," Cole said. "Some of our players lost their discipline. I saw some of the stuff that was happening, but the red cards didn't cost us the game. We were beaten at that stage.
"There is no room for that type of behaviour as far as I am concerned and I think it was more out of frustration than malice. While I can understand it, it shouldn't have happened."
However, Cole was pleased with the performances of some Meath players, despite the heavy nature of the defeat, and singled out two of the forwards for particular praise.
"Michael Dunne and Michael Kelly showed up well for us and they will both benefit from the experience," he added.
The Meath team was: Matthew Bissett (Kilmessan); Eoin Potterton (Kildalkey), Jimmy Boyle (Lough Lene Gaels), David Kennedy (Killyon); Ger Murphy (Dunboyne), Padraig Keogh (Kildalkey), William Mahady (Kiltale); Sean Dalton (Rathmolyon, 0-1), Ian Douglas (Kiltale); Malcolm Doyle (Kilmessan), Bob Doherty (Dunderry), Michael O'Grady (Dunboyne); Michael Kelly (Navan O'Mahonys), Michael Dunne (Dunboyne, 1-8), David Raleigh (Killyon). Subs - Barry Slevin (Na Fianna) for Potterton, Derek Doran (Kildalkey) for O'Grady, Michael Lynch (Kilmessan) for Doyle, Richie Donohoe (St Patrick's) for Kelly. Tweet
