Hurlers humiliated by rampant Kerry side
Kerry 3-30 Meath 3-10
Meath hurling selectors Brendan Fitzsimons (left), Anthony Kirby and TJ Reilly (manager) with team coach Paddy Williams from Tipperary.
The gulf in class between unbeaten Kerry and Meath was obvious from as early as 10 minutes into this NHL Div 3A mismatch at Austin Stack Park Tralee on Sunday.
Shane Brick inspired the Kingdom to victory, but this was not a contest as a new-look Kerry team, under the watchful eye of new boss John Meyler and his management team appear to be pressing all the right buttons at the moment.
This time last year Kerry were in turmoil in Div 2 as they were hammered in every game, but one more win against either London or Armagh will see the Munster side in the league final.
Meath will be disappointed with their display and only Enda Fitzgerald and Brian Coughlan looked up to the mark in defence.
Kilmessan's Stephen Clynch worked hard at midfield while only full forward Neil Hackett looked dangerous up front, but then when you concede 3-30, its tough for a forward on the losing side.
One possible positive for the Meath manager TJ Reilly was that his players never gave up and scored 2-1 in the final minutes, but overall it was a bad day for he Royal County who have traditionally been more than a match for the Kingdom.
Meath jumped 1-1 to 0-2 clear inside the opening eight minutes from a Joey Keena goal and a Clynch point, but it was merely a mirage as Meyler's revitalised Kerry cut loose and scored 1-5 without reply between the 10th and the 15th minutes.
Gary O'Brien claimed the goal when he finished an Andrew Keane long delivery to the Meath net and Brick added three points with Darragh O'Connell and O'Brien getting one apiece.
Brick continued to plunder points from frees and play while O'Brien struck for his second goal in the 18th minute as Kerry established a 2-14 to 1-6 advantage at the interval.
Andrew Keane, Colin Harris, Jason Casey and James McCarthy were hurling well at the back for Kerry while Mike Conway and John Griffin were winning the midfield battle and as a consequence, the Kerry attack was getting a plentiful supply of quality ball.
Kerry introduced youngsters Colm Harty and James Flaherty for the second half and both scored as Kerry continued their fast and slick striking, with wing forward Mikey Boyle adding five points from play as the Kingdom cruised to a facile win.
Boyle fired over some superb points while Darragh O'Connell also caught the eye on the day when Kerry claimed 30 points against Meath who conceded seven goals the last time they visited the Kingdom.
Meath scored two late goals from Hackett and Peter Durnin which gave the scoreboard a false look.
Kerry - JB O'Halloran; C Harris, A Healy, A Keane; J McCarthy, L Boyle, J Casey; M Conway (1-1), J Griffin; M Boyle (0-6), S Brick (0-15, six frees, two '65's), D O'Connell (0-4); JM Dooley (0-1), G O'Brien (2-1), S Nolan. Subs - C Harty (0-1) for Dooley, J Flaherty (0-1) for Nolan both half-time, J Godley for O'Brien 55 mins, N Young for Harris 60m, J Fitzgerald for McCarthy 60 mins.
Meath - S Quinn; M Foley, E Fitzgerald, B Coughlan; M Horan, S O'Donoghue, J Boyle; P Keogh (0-1), S Clynch (0-4, one free); P Garvey (0-1), N Horan (0-1), P Durnin (1-1); J Keena (1-0), N Hackett (1-2, two frees), K Keena. Subs - D O'Donoghue for J Keena 33 mins, M Lynch for M Horan 48m, P Fagan for Foley 62m, G Murphy for K Keena 62m, D Muldoon for Coughlan 68m
Referee - Micheal O'Connor (Limerick).
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