Meath…0-22
Sligo…1-13
Padraig O’Hanrahan scored more points for Meath than Sligo managed in their entirety as the visitors came away from the foot of Mount Benbulben with two crucial points in what is turning out to be a feverishly competitive Div. 2B of the Allianz NHL.
The deadly accurate Ratoath player hit 0-15 in all and every one of them proved pivotal in a performance that was far from being poetry in motion in the home of WB Yeats. Still, they showed commendable composure from being, as the Meath GAA Twitter feed put it, “Right up against it” for a period in the first half.
By the midway point, though, Seoirse Bulfin’s team had recovered to hold sway by 0-12 to 0-09, with the Royal County’s ace marksman having clocked up the same amount of scores as his county’s opponents at that stage.
Whatever about in the first half, our lads certainly were up against it when the exceptional Charlie Ennis was eventually beaten by the home side’s Joe McHugh for a ‘major’ which tied things up at 0-14 to 1-11. Indeed, the score certainly seemed to afford the locals an infusion of impetus as they nosed in front for the final time thereafter.
O’Hanrahan restored parity rapidly afterwards and scores followed from midfielders Pa Ryan and Martin Healy, Niall McLarnon and the introduced Jack Regan, whose arrival also steadied the ship.
Scorers: P. O’Hanrahan (0-15), P. Ryan (0-3), M. Healy, P. Ryan, N. McLarnon and J. Regan (0-1 each).
MEATH: C. Ennis; S. Morris, A. O’Connor, B. McKeon; K. Donnelly, J. Toher, J. Kelly; P. Ryan, M. Healy; S. Ennis, N. Potterton, N. McLarnon; S. Quigley, M. Cole, P. O’Hanrahan.
SUBS: M. Burke for O’Connor, J. Regan for M. Cole, P. Barnwell for Ennis, J. Cole for McLarnon, T. Shine for Quigley.