Joe McDonagh Cup Round 1

ANTRIM 5-25 MEATH 2-18

By John Harrington at Pairc Tailteann

After a slow start, Antrim moved through the gears impressively to record a resounding Joe McDonagh Cup Round 1 victory over Meath at Pairc Tailteann this afternoon.

They eventually ground Meath down with their superior physicality, and with players like Conor Johnston, Nigel Elliott, and Simon McCrory in electric form they complemented that strength with skill and devastating scoring power.

The Saffrons trailed by seven points after 20 minutes, but they were utterly dominant thereafter and led by three points at half-time before running away with the game in the second half.

The match started in slightly bizarre fashion. Antrim midfielder Elliott won the ball cleanly from the throw-in and immediately started soloing at high speed towards his own goal.

Then, to everyone’s surprise, he attempted to score a point at the wrong end of the field.

As if suddenly realising the mistake he’d made, Elliott held his head in his hands as the ball sailed towards the posts.

The shot drifted past the wrong side of the posts, but Elliott’s blushes weren’t quite spared. He’d given Meath a ’65 which Jack Regan coolly pointed to open the scoring for the Royals.

The drama didn’t let up thereafter. It was helter-skelter, breathless stuff for the first 20 minutes as the sliotar pin-balled from one end of the field to the other and both teams took some smashing scores.

Meath struck the first really decisive blow of the match when full-forward Gavin McGowan somehow scuffed the ball to the net after a goalmouth scramble.

He, Alan Douglas, and Regan looked to have the beating of their men whenever the ball made its way into them, and it did frequently in the opening quarter of the match.

It was Douglas who struck for Meath’s second goal after nine minutes when he collected a brilliant diagonal cross-field pass from James Kelly and sent a stinging strike to the left corner of the net past a helpless Ryan Elliott.

At this point Antrim just weren’t playing with the same sort of fluency as Meath, who were picking their passes judiciously and then finishing clinically.

McGowan’s point after 20 minutes that put the Royals 2-8 to 0-7 ahead was the culmination of a super passing move and a testament to the greater method to Meath’s play up to that point in the game. 

But it was also a high-water mark because it was the last that Meath would score in the first half whereas Antrim rattled an unanswered 1-7 to lead 1-14 to 2-8 at the break.

The goal was scored by Elliott after a storming run through the heart of the Meath defence, and, as if energised by this moment of inspiration, Antrim suddenly grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck.

Simon McCrory began lording things in the middle of the field, Joe Maskey, Paddy Burke and Conor McKinley thundered into the game in the Antrim half-back line, and Elliott and Johnston began torturing the Meath defence with their jinking runs from deep.

There was no let-up in the second-half for the home team. Antrim kept coming at them in wave after saffron wave and scored four of the first five points of the half.

The contest was then effectively settled when the Ulster side hit three smashing goals in the space of just four minutes, two from Elliott and one from Johnston.

Johnston’s was a particularly special score as he jinked this way and that to create and angle for a shot and then drilled the ball to the bottom corner of the net.

Now leading by 4-18 to 2-10, the rest of the match was something of a procession for Antrim.

In fairness to Meath they kept battling, and substitutes Sean Quigley and Paddy Conneely looked sharp when they entered the fray, scoring a point apiece.

But it was Antrim who finished the match with one final exclamation mark when Johnston fired a penalty to the back of the net to bring down the curtain on a very impressive win for the Saffrons.

Scorers for Antrim: Nigel Elliott 3-2, Conor Johnston 2-4 (1-0 pen), Neil McManus 0-8 (7f), Simon McCrory 0-3, Donal McKinley 0-2, Joe Maskey 0-2, Eoghan Campbell 0-1, Michael Armstrong 0-1, Conor Carson 0-1, Conor McCann 0-1.

Scorers for Meath: Jack Regan 0-12 (3 ’65, 8f), Gavin McGowan 1-2, Alan Douglas 1-1, Cathal McCabe 0-1, Sean Quigley 0-1, Paddy Conneely 0-1.

ANTRIM: Ryan Elliott; David Kearney, John Dillon, Ryan McCambridge; Paddy Burke, Conor  McKinley, Joe Maskey; Nigel Ellliott, Simon McCrory; Conor Carson, Conor Johnston, Neil McManus; Donal McKinley, Michael Armstrong, Eoghan Campbell. Subs: Conor McCann for Conor Carson (ht), James McNaughton for Eoghan Campbell (51), Stephen Rooney for David Kearney (55), Matthew Donnelly for Ryan McCambridge (65), Eoin O’Neill for Donal McKinley (68)

MEATH: Shane McGann; Niall Weir, Sean Geraghty, Stephen Morris; Joe Keena, Damien Healy, Shane Brennan, Keith Keoghan, Adam Gannon; James Kelly, Cathal McCable, Eamon Ó Donnchadha; Alan Douglas, Gavin McGowan, Jack Regan.** Subs:** Paddy Conneely for Gavin McGowan (30), Kevin Keena for Eamon O Donnchadha, Sean Quigley for Adam Gannon (both 46), Padraig Kelly for Niall Weir (51), Colm Ó Méalóid for Cathal McCabe (59)

Ref: Cathal McAllister (Cork)