MEATH BOUNCED BACK from Leinster final heartbreak and opened their All-Ireland campaign with a four-point victory over Cork at Páirc Tailteann.
In Group 4, Leinster champions Louth fell to a six-point defeat against Monaghan (1-23 to 4-8), while Rian O’Neill returned for the first time this year as Armagh held off a late Derry comeback to win 2-21 to 2-17.
Jordan Morris’ excellent individual goal late in the first half ultimately proved key as Robbie Brennan’s Meath side picked up an important home victory in Group 2.
Cork, beaten Munster semi-finalists, trailed by three at the break but were unable to avail of the wind advantage in the second half as Meath kicked for home in the final 15 minutes.
After the sides exchanged a series of early wides, Mark Cronin opened the scoring for The Rebels before Meath goalkeeper Billy Hogan levelled proceedings with a free.
Meath led through another dead ball by Eoghan Frayne but the Rebels, playing into a stiff breeze, then enjoyed a three-point surge, with Chris Óg Jones firing over a couple from play on either side of a free by Mark Cronin.
Meath responded through a point by Matthew Costello and roared into the lead moments later: Jordan Morris found himself in a yard of grass and broke into open country beyond the Cork half-backs, selling a dummy before finishing powerfully past Micheál Aodh Martin.
The Royals tacked on another couple of scores with Costello from play and another Frayne free affording them a three-point lead, 1-5 to 0-5, at the break.
John Cleary’s Cork eroded that lead shortly after the restart, Matty Taylor chipping over before Colm O’Callaghan lashed over the first two-pointer of the game from just outside the arc.
But the hosts arrested that Rebel surge. Over the next 10 minutes, five unanswered points by different scorers — Frayne (free), Costello, James Conlon, Morris and Seán Coffey — kicked Meath into a five-point advantage with just under quarter of an hour to go.
To their credit, Cork dug in. Replacement Ruairi Deane reduced the deficit to four before Mark Cronin halved it from there, his two-pointer from play making the scoreline 1-10 to 0-11.
The visitors had built up a head of steam and Meath’s lead was lowered to the minimum when Chris Óg Jones swung one over on 58 minutes.
Meath, again, found an answer through a Costello free which steadied their nerves.
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With 10 minutes of normal time remaining, the Leinster finalists led by two points.
James Conlon further softened that cushion with a curling effort on 64 minutes: 1-12 to 0-12, and Meath back in the ascendancy.
Costello, from play, extended the lead out to four with five minutes to go, and the home side managed out the remaining minutes to pick up an important opening victory.
In Newbridge, Louth hit four goals against Monaghan but still came up short, losing 1-23 to 4-8.
Monaghan started strong, Stephen O’Hanlon finding the net in the second minute, and while they found it easier to add on points Louth kept in the fight with goals from Sam Mulroy and Tommy Durnin, with Louth only three points behind – 1-11 to 2-3 – at half time.
Louth’s Tommy Durnin scores a goal. Ciaran Culligan / INPHO
Ciaran Culligan / INPHO / INPHO
Monaghan hit the opening four points of the second half. The two teams then traded scores before Sam Mulroy added a third Louth goal from the penalty spot in the 53rd minute.
That score kept Louth in the contest but Monaghan pulled clear through a seven-point scoring run – including two-pointers from Rory Beggan and Mícheál Bannigan.
Durnin registered his second goal in the closing stages but Louth had been left with a mountain to climb.
O’Neill’s return to the Armagh jersey was the major talking point at the Box-It Athletic Ground.
The defending All-Ireland champions looked in full control against Derry, at one stage holding a 13-point lead, before Derry clawed the deficit back to just four points.
Rian O’Neill returned for Armagh. Ryan Byrne / INPHO
Ryan Byrne / INPHO / INPHO
Conor Glass registered the first score of the game for Derry before Armagh took control, moving into a 0-5 to 0-1 lead in the opening 10 minutes, including a two-point score from the boot of Oisín Conaty.
By the 20-minute mark the home side had stretched that advantage to six points, 0-10 to 0-4.
Derry managed to stay in touch and trailed by just three points at half time, 0-12 to 0-9.
Armagh then hit 1-4 without reply after the restart, Barry McCambridge raising a green flag after palming the ball into the net.
Derry hit the next three points, but Armagh responded with another goal through Conor Turbitt.
Armagh were in a commanding position heading into the final 10 minutes but Derry set up a nervy finish through two quick-fire goals – Glass scoring an excellent second goal before Dan Higgins also found the net.
Paul Cassidy followed-up with a two-pointer, leaving Derry just five points down entering the final minute.
Shane McGuigan added another two-pointer after Joe McElroy had split the posts for Armagh, but Derry’s spirited comeback came up short.
Scorers for Meath: M. Costello (0-5, 1 free), J. Morris (1-1), E. Frayne (0-3, frees), J. Conlon (0-2), B. Hogan (0-1, 45), S. Coffey (0-1).
Scorers for Cork: C. Jones (0-4), M. Cronin (0-4, 1tp & 0-2 frees), C. O’Callaghan (0-2, 1tp), M. Taylor (0-1), R. Deane (0-1).
Meath: B. Hogan; S. Lavin, S. Rafferty, R. Ryan; D. Keogan, S. Coffey, C. Caulfield; J. Flynn, B. Menton; C. Duke, R. Kinsella, M. Costello; J. Morris, J. Conlon, E. Frayne (c).
Subs: A. O’Neill for J. Flynn (inj), K. Curtis for E. Frayne (both 45); C, Hickey for C. Duke (50); S. Walsh for J. Conlon (64); J. McEntee for R. Kinsella (temp 67-69).
Cork: M.A. Martin; S. Meehan, D. O’Mahony (c), M. Shanley; P. Walsh, B. O’Driscoll, M. Taylor; I. Maguire, C. O’Callaghan; S. Powter, S. McDonnell, E. McSweeney; M. Cronin, C. Jones, C. O’Mahony.
Subs: R. Deane for S. Powter, R. Maguire for E. McSweeney (50); E. O’Hanlon for C. O’Mahony (56); C. Cahalane for P. Walsh (62); L. Fahy for M. Taylor (temp 64-ft); H. O’Connor for M. Cronin (68).
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Meath too strong for Cork, O'Neill returns as Armagh hold off late Derry rally
LAST UPDATE | 24 May
Meath 1-13
Cork 0-12
MEATH BOUNCED BACK from Leinster final heartbreak and opened their All-Ireland campaign with a four-point victory over Cork at Páirc Tailteann.
In Group 4, Leinster champions Louth fell to a six-point defeat against Monaghan (1-23 to 4-8), while Rian O’Neill returned for the first time this year as Armagh held off a late Derry comeback to win 2-21 to 2-17.
Jordan Morris’ excellent individual goal late in the first half ultimately proved key as Robbie Brennan’s Meath side picked up an important home victory in Group 2.
Cork, beaten Munster semi-finalists, trailed by three at the break but were unable to avail of the wind advantage in the second half as Meath kicked for home in the final 15 minutes.
After the sides exchanged a series of early wides, Mark Cronin opened the scoring for The Rebels before Meath goalkeeper Billy Hogan levelled proceedings with a free.
Meath led through another dead ball by Eoghan Frayne but the Rebels, playing into a stiff breeze, then enjoyed a three-point surge, with Chris Óg Jones firing over a couple from play on either side of a free by Mark Cronin.
Meath responded through a point by Matthew Costello and roared into the lead moments later: Jordan Morris found himself in a yard of grass and broke into open country beyond the Cork half-backs, selling a dummy before finishing powerfully past Micheál Aodh Martin.
The Royals tacked on another couple of scores with Costello from play and another Frayne free affording them a three-point lead, 1-5 to 0-5, at the break.
John Cleary’s Cork eroded that lead shortly after the restart, Matty Taylor chipping over before Colm O’Callaghan lashed over the first two-pointer of the game from just outside the arc.
But the hosts arrested that Rebel surge. Over the next 10 minutes, five unanswered points by different scorers — Frayne (free), Costello, James Conlon, Morris and Seán Coffey — kicked Meath into a five-point advantage with just under quarter of an hour to go.
To their credit, Cork dug in. Replacement Ruairi Deane reduced the deficit to four before Mark Cronin halved it from there, his two-pointer from play making the scoreline 1-10 to 0-11.
The visitors had built up a head of steam and Meath’s lead was lowered to the minimum when Chris Óg Jones swung one over on 58 minutes.
Meath, again, found an answer through a Costello free which steadied their nerves.
With 10 minutes of normal time remaining, the Leinster finalists led by two points.
James Conlon further softened that cushion with a curling effort on 64 minutes: 1-12 to 0-12, and Meath back in the ascendancy.
Costello, from play, extended the lead out to four with five minutes to go, and the home side managed out the remaining minutes to pick up an important opening victory.
In Newbridge, Louth hit four goals against Monaghan but still came up short, losing 1-23 to 4-8.
Monaghan started strong, Stephen O’Hanlon finding the net in the second minute, and while they found it easier to add on points Louth kept in the fight with goals from Sam Mulroy and Tommy Durnin, with Louth only three points behind – 1-11 to 2-3 – at half time.
Monaghan hit the opening four points of the second half. The two teams then traded scores before Sam Mulroy added a third Louth goal from the penalty spot in the 53rd minute.
That score kept Louth in the contest but Monaghan pulled clear through a seven-point scoring run – including two-pointers from Rory Beggan and Mícheál Bannigan.
Durnin registered his second goal in the closing stages but Louth had been left with a mountain to climb.
O’Neill’s return to the Armagh jersey was the major talking point at the Box-It Athletic Ground.
The defending All-Ireland champions looked in full control against Derry, at one stage holding a 13-point lead, before Derry clawed the deficit back to just four points.
Conor Glass registered the first score of the game for Derry before Armagh took control, moving into a 0-5 to 0-1 lead in the opening 10 minutes, including a two-point score from the boot of Oisín Conaty.
By the 20-minute mark the home side had stretched that advantage to six points, 0-10 to 0-4.
Derry managed to stay in touch and trailed by just three points at half time, 0-12 to 0-9.
Armagh then hit 1-4 without reply after the restart, Barry McCambridge raising a green flag after palming the ball into the net.
Derry hit the next three points, but Armagh responded with another goal through Conor Turbitt.
Armagh were in a commanding position heading into the final 10 minutes but Derry set up a nervy finish through two quick-fire goals – Glass scoring an excellent second goal before Dan Higgins also found the net.
Paul Cassidy followed-up with a two-pointer, leaving Derry just five points down entering the final minute.
Shane McGuigan added another two-pointer after Joe McElroy had split the posts for Armagh, but Derry’s spirited comeback came up short.
Scorers for Meath: M. Costello (0-5, 1 free), J. Morris (1-1), E. Frayne (0-3, frees), J. Conlon (0-2), B. Hogan (0-1, 45), S. Coffey (0-1).
Scorers for Cork: C. Jones (0-4), M. Cronin (0-4, 1tp & 0-2 frees), C. O’Callaghan (0-2, 1tp), M. Taylor (0-1), R. Deane (0-1).
Meath: B. Hogan; S. Lavin, S. Rafferty, R. Ryan; D. Keogan, S. Coffey, C. Caulfield; J. Flynn, B. Menton; C. Duke, R. Kinsella, M. Costello; J. Morris, J. Conlon, E. Frayne (c).
Subs: A. O’Neill for J. Flynn (inj), K. Curtis for E. Frayne (both 45); C, Hickey for C. Duke (50); S. Walsh for J. Conlon (64); J. McEntee for R. Kinsella (temp 67-69).
Cork: M.A. Martin; S. Meehan, D. O’Mahony (c), M. Shanley; P. Walsh, B. O’Driscoll, M. Taylor; I. Maguire, C. O’Callaghan; S. Powter, S. McDonnell, E. McSweeney; M. Cronin, C. Jones, C. O’Mahony.
Subs: R. Deane for S. Powter, R. Maguire for E. McSweeney (50); E. O’Hanlon for C. O’Mahony (56); C. Cahalane for P. Walsh (62); L. Fahy for M. Taylor (temp 64-ft); H. O’Connor for M. Cronin (68).
Referee: N. Mooney (Cavan)
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