MEATH… 0-24
DOWN… 1-18
The iconic John ‘Hanibal’ Smith character in the A-Team was renowned for regularly proclaiming that he “Love(d) it when a plan comes together”, and it’s not hard to imagine similar sentiments being expressed in the Meath dressing room and around the camp after Robbie Brennan’s charges recorded a perhaps mildly surprising but wholly merited victory over Down in Round 3 of the Allianz NFL at Pairc Esler, Newry on Saturday evening.
‘The Plan’ in this case, it could be fairly safely guessed, would have been to make better use of the two-point scoring option. Yes, they had already improved from the Cork match to Cavan but on Saturday their efficiency in that department reached another level again as what could be genuinely called the best football a Meath team has played in quite a while pointed them towards the winning post.
In what’s known as the moving quarter in the Australian Football League, the Royal County took the sentiment completely to the letter under the Saturday night lights as Ronan Jones, Jordan Morris, Eoghan Frayne and Ciaran Caulfield cut loose to catapult themselves into a position they would ultimately not relinquish. Though in fairness to a typically spirited Down side, it wasn’t for the want of trying on their part.
After the visitors had got away to a highly encouraging start with Bryan Menton and Ronan Jones (1 x 2PT each), Shane Walsh and Jordan Morris and Eoghan Frayne posting fine scores, though all of that seemed to come unstuck when points from Pat Havern, Danny Magill and Odhran Murdock got the men from the Mourne Mountains right back into the contest before a sloppily conceded Ryan McEvoy actually put Conor Laverty’s side into an unlikely three point lead edging towards towards half time.
However, hindsight has proven that perhaps a mighty point from a mighty man, Bryan Menton, was the most pivotal score of the lot as it meant the visitors were only a good long range shot away from getting back to parity.
With the calibre of big booted boomers in Brennan’s brigade referred to throughout this piece, they would have been entitled to quiet confidence that they would’ve been more than capable of using the two-point option to get themselves back into the contest. But of course they did much more than that, effecting a nine point turnaround. Going from two points down to seven up. Via scores from Ciaran Caulfield and Menton and Morris and Frayne.
Not that any less would have been expected, but, again the red and black came barnstorming back yet again but what was nothing short of selfless, brave defending from relative newcomer Sean Rafferty, Sean Coffey, Donal Keogan and Caulfield repelled the best the stars of the County Down could throw at them.
Thus, after looking like they were in trouble at different stages, they held on to record a hugely significant victory. We are not the A-Team yet by any means, but we are on the move again, with at least the option of looking up rather than down. That’s progress.
Scorers – J. Morris and E. Frayne (0-8 each), B. Menton (0-2), R. Jones (1x2PT), B. Hogan, C. Caulfield, B. Menton, J. Flynn and S. Walsh (0-1 each).
MEATH – B. Hogan; S. Lavin, S. Rafferty, D. Keogan; B. O’Halloran, S. Coffey, C. Caulfield; J. Flynn, B. Menton; C. Duke, J. Kinlough, R. Jones; J. Morris, S. Walsh, E. Frayne.
SUBS – A. O’Neill for O’Halloran, J. Conlon for Walsh, K. Curtis for Duke, D. McGowan for Kinlough, R. Ryan for Rafferty.
Referee – Sean Lonergan (Tipperary).
Leave a Reply