Published: Wednesday, 24th February, 2010 4:59pm

No joy for Royal County

by Conall Collier

Cork 0-16, Meath 2-7

Liam Tolan in action for Meath during Saturday's All-Ireland VEC Inter-County SFC semi-final against Cork at Templemore.
Pic by==: 97

Meath made another semi-final exit in their quest for All-Ireland VEC inter-county SFC success when they were beaten by Cork at Templemore on Saturday.

Team manager Kit Henry had no complaints about the result although he was, understandably, disappointed to bow out of the competition on a losing note for the fourth successive year.

"I can't complain about that result, we gave it our best shot and were beaten by a very good Cork team," he told the Meath Chronicle.

Henry was forced to make some changes from the Leinster final victory over Wicklow at Parnell Park with Ashbourne student Andy O'Brien absent through injury.

O'Brien started at full-forward in the victories over Offaly, Longford and Wicklow and claimed seven points as the Royal County recorded impressive victories on the way to a fourth successive Gael Linn Cup.

However, O'Brien was initially unavailable for Saturday's decider due to a skiing trip with his school despite efforts to facilitate an early return.

Apparently, there was no teacher available to accompany the student home from the trip, but then he sustained an injury while skiing and had to return home early anyway.

Unfortunately that injury ruled out any possibility of a place in the starting line-up and regular centre-back Paddy Haslam was thrust into the crucial attacking role.

Haslam's place in the heart of the defence was taken by Dunshaughlin student Paddy Kennedy, his first start since the opening round victory against Offaly at Dunganny.

While it is difficult to assess the impact of the changes, the fact that Meath lost to a series of late points allied to the areas where they were deficient suggests that O'Brien's absence was significant.

Meath started well and were ahead by 1-3 to 0-0 after seven minutes. The players showed commendable courage and determination to lead at half-time by 1-6 to 0-7, but it was their inability to find any sort of rhythm after the resumption that ultimately proved costly.

Liam Tolan claimed the early points, two from play, and Haslam finished to the net from Bryan McMahon's pass for what was a perfect start.

Cork looked a little ring-rusty which could be attributed to the fact that they won their sixth successive Munster title on 5th December with a 4-17 to 0-8 victory over Limerick at Mallow.

That was a one-game championship success for Cork, but once they found a rhythm against Meath they started to show some class.

Michael Vaughan got the Munster champions off the mark before Declan Murphy had a goal-bound shot turned over by Conor McHugh while Tolan (two) and Phelim Dowling kept Meath in the ascendancy.

Cork continued to pick off the points with Brian Hurley (three), Ring and Kevin Hoare which closed the interval gap to two points

The fact that Meath only managed a solitary second-half point from Haslam adequately reflects the problems they encountered as they tried to create chances.

The dire consequences of Meath's second-half fade-out were diluted considerably by a superb McHugh penalty save from Ring four minutes after the resumption and a fortunate McMahon goal at the end of the third-quarter.

Contrast that with the six-point return for Cork's impressive corner forward Hurley who was a constant threat to the Meath rearguard and made a big contribution to his side's success. The penalty was awarded after Tipperary referee Derek O'Mahony penalised full-back Conor McGill for his challenge on Ring, but McHugh enhanced his reputation between the posts with a fine save.

Hurley's brace of points had Cork on terms three minutes into the second-half, but the Munster champions spurned chance after chance with a tally of six wides in as many minutes until Ring split the posts for a 0-10 to 1-6 lead.

When Meath substitute Anthony Owens lofted a centre towards the Cork square in a rare Meath attack towards the end of the third-quarter, the ball broke kindly and McMahon finished to the net.

That was the type of score that suggested Meath might regain the initiative, but it was only an illusion and Cork eased back on terms through Hurley and substitute Patrick Cronin.

Meath hit the front briefly again (2-7 to 0-12) with 10 minutes remaining from Haslam's point, but Hurley countered again for Cork and brought another good save out of McHugh.

Meath couldn't contain Hurley and he got through for three of their final four points which sent them into the All-Ireland final against Monaghan.

Cork - J Crowley; D Crowley,S O'Shea, G Ryan; T Clancy, R O'Sullivan, P Crowley; J Collins, K Hoare (0-1); M Vaughan (0-1), M Sugrue, A Gould; D Ring (0-3, one free), D Murphy (0-1), B Hurley (0-9, two frees). Subs - P Cronin (0-1) for Sugrue half-time; S Ryan for Murphy 49 mins, M Howard for Gould 55m.

Meath - Conor McHugh; Alaister Doyle, Conor McGill, Gavin Eiffe; Matthew Devine, Paddy Kennedy, Ryan Tighe; Phelim Dowling (0-1), Cian O'Brien; Sean Sheridan, Danny McGovern, Bobby O'Brien; Bryan McMahon (1-0), Paddy Haslam (1-1), Liam Tolan (0-5, two frees). Subs - Anthony Owens for McGovern 36 mins, Niall Shortall for Kennedy 37m, Colm McCullagh for O'Brien 50m.

Referee - Derek O'Mahony (Tipperary).

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