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Mike O’Halloran was in Navan yesterday to see Kerry defeated by Meath in the Leinster Hurling Championship Round Robin series….
Meath 3-20
Kerry 2-17
Meath caused a major upset by defeating Kerry in the Leinster round robin series in Navan on Sunday when the carried on the winning ways they developed while winning their division in the national hurling league and The Chrisy Ring Cup.
The Kerry hurling side defeated by Meath. Photo by Mike O’Halloran
Meath were rocked within 20 seconds when Shane Nolan showed all his wonderful skill and struck for goal.
It looked as if that goal would make up for the loss of Padraigh Boyle who was unable to line out due to injury.
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Within a few minutes it was obvious that Meath were to be a stern challenge, they were first to every ball, their skill level was amazing with their first touch immaculate.
Meath deployed their midfielder Joe Keena as sweeper and he commanded the space in front of the Kerry inside forwards at his ease.
Kerry led by 1-2 to 0-3 before Sean Quigley stroked a sideline cut to the corner of the net from about fifty meters and from then on it was all one-way traffic.
Meath managed their pucks out to perfection, at some times their keeper had two free men to aim his pucks to.
Meath’s ability to move the ball from one end of the field to the other in two or three pucks was a feature of a lot of their scores.
Try as they might, Kerry could not get to grips with the pace of the game and were in bother in a lot of areas of the pitch.
Meath went in at half time leading 1-10 to 1-07 after shooting a number of wides.
Kerry lost Patrick Kelly for the second half and the Meath machine rolled on. They led 2-15 to 1-10 at one stage before Kerry rattled off four point in a row, Meath were also denied two goal chances by Aiden McCabe with point blank saves.
Michael Boyle got Kerry within three points in injury time when he rattled the net with a left-footed kicked goal.
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Michael and Colum Harty were within inches of an equalizer, their shots being smothered on the line, Meath were in all sorts of panic but eventually moved the ball to the side their corner back cleared under huge pressure.
The ball was moved quickly out field and Cathal McCabe gave Aiden McCabe no chance when he blasted to the net at the death.
A disappointing day for the Kerry boys who will now have to regroup for another stern test on Sunday next when they visit Mullingar to take on Westmeath who were defeated by Laois.
A tough game lies ahead but if Padraigh Boyle recovers on time they might just about overcome that challenge. The return of Mike and Brendan O’Leary will also bolster their chances.
Kerry: Aiden McCabe; Tom Murnane, Rory Horgan, Sean Weir; John Buckley, Brian Murphy (0-01), Darren Dineen; Tommy Casey ( Jack Goulding 0.01), Paudie O’Connor; Michael Boyle (1-01), Patrick Kelly (Mike O’Leary 0.02), Keith Carmody (Maurice O’Connor 0.01); Philip Lucid (0-01)(Brendan O’Leary), Shane Nolan (1-09, 0-06f), Jordan Conway (0-01)(Colum Harty).
Meath: S McGann; C Reilly, D Healy( S Geraghty), S Whitty; K Keogan (0-01), D Kelly (0-01)( K Keena), S Brennan; A Forde (0-01), J Keena; S Quigley (1-03 ) (N Heffernan (0.1), S Clynch (0-07, 0-06f), J Kelly; G McGowan (0-01)(C.McCabe (1.0), M O’Sullivan (0-02), A Gannon (0-03) ( P Kelly).
