D2: Meath defeat Armagh in Navan
Padraic Harnan
ALLIANZ FOOTBALL LEAGUE DIVISION II: MEATH 1-10 ARMAGH 0-8
By Paul Keane at Páirc Tailteann
Full-forward Mickey Newman led the scoring with 1-4 in Navan as Meath launched their bid for promotion from Division II of the Allianz Football League with an impressive win.
A week on from their Bord na Móna O'Byrne Cup final win over Longford, the Royals returned to Pairc Táilteann and scored another important success.
Mick O'Dowd's side, trailing by a point at half-time, took advantage of the strong breeze behind them in the second-half to hold Armagh scoreless for the entire 35 minutes.
It was a wretched experienced for Kieran McGeeney's visiting Armagh who had morale boosting pre-season wins over Monaghan and Cavan but, after that bright start, faded out. A bad day for the Ulster men was compounded late on with the red carding of half-back Aidan Forker for a second booking.
It was all the more impressive from a youthful Meath side as they lost talisman forward Graham Reilly to injury beforehand. Meath came into the game high on confidence after their pre-season success and seeking a home win to finally gain promotion.
They finished third in each of the last two seasons and actually had the same number of points last season as Roscommon who went up along with Down.
As for Armagh, they hit the ground running in Navan with three early points. Gavin McParland, Colm Watters and Stefan Campbell were all on the mark to nudge them 0-3 to 0-0 ahead.
But a 10th minute Meath goal, against the run of play, from Newman turned the game on its head. The full-forward burst through a group of players on the right of goals and shot coolly from right to left beyond goalkeeper Matthew McNeice.
It was nip and tuck from there on with Armagh taking a one-point lead at half-time, 0-8 to 1-4. McParland and McKenna scored a brace of points each though Armagh had a significant wind advantage and it remained to be seen if they'd made the most of it.
Newman did the bulk of Meath's scoring with 1-2 in the opening half while Cillian O'Sullivan, back in form after almost two seasons out with back trouble, kicked the other two points.
Newman increased his tally with two converted frees early in the second-half, one of them a long range effort that rode the wind, to put Meath ahead.
The gap increased to three points when captain Donal Keogan strode forward from defence and booted a point to put Meath 1-8 to 0-8 up after 50 minutes.
It wasn't classic football from Meath but they held firm in the closing stages and increased their lead with converted frees from Sean Tobin to seal a courageous five-point win.
**Scorers for Meath: **Mickey Newman 1-4 (3f), Sean Tobin 0-3 (3f), Cillian O'Sullivan 0-2, Donal Keogan 0-1
Scorers for Armagh: Gavin McParland 0-2, Miceal McKenna 0-2, Colm Watters 0-1, Stefan Campbell 0-1, Ethan Rafferty 0-1, Stefan Forker 0-1.
MEATH: Paddy O'Rourke; Donal Keogan, Conor McGill, Mickey Burke; Cathal Finn, Padraic Harnan, Brian Power; Andrew Tormey, Harry Rooney; Darragh Smyth, Cillian O'Sullivan, James McEntee; Bryan McMahon, Mickey Newman, Donal Lenihan.** Subs: **Sean Tobin for Lenihan (41), Conor Downey for McMahon (52), Ruairi O Coilieain for Smyth (66), A Douglas for Finn (73).
ARMAGH: Mathew McNeice; Shea Heffron, Charlie Vernon, Ruairi McCaughey; Stefan Forker, Aidan Forker, Mark Shields; Brendan Donaghy, Stephen Sheridan; Stefan Campbell, Miceal McKenna, Ciaran O'Hanlon; Ethan Rafferty, Colm Watters, Gavin McParland. Subs: Aaron Findon for Sheridan (h/t), Eugene McVerry for McParland (h/t), Joe McElroy for Shields (50), Sean Connell for Donaghy (52), Niall McConville for Watters (57), N Grimley for McKenna (73, BC).
Referee: Anthony Nolan (Wicklow).
