Meath rebound, Cork pledge 'all guns blazing' for Kingdom test
All-Ireland SFC Group 2: Meath 1-13 (1-0-13) Cork 0-12 (0-2-10)
IF Cork are to make the last 12 of the All-Ireland SFC for the third year in succession, it's a different path they must take.
Beating either Kerry at home next Saturday or Roscommon at a neutral venue in the middle of June is likely to be required to make the All-Ireland preliminary quarter-finals.
In the two previous iterations of this championship format, a first round win had set them on course but they were foiled Saturday by a Meath side who eventually overcome the Leinster final hangover.
Cork had been economical in a first half that demanded patience facing a stiff breeze. A three-point trail, 0-5 to 1-5, would have been considered a job well done but they actually led by three before Meath discovered their shooting boots in the closing stages of the half.
When the elements were in their favour, save for a couple of two-pointers, Cork simply didn't do enough. In Ian Maguire and Colm O'Callaghan, they have one of, it not the longest established, midfield partnership in the Sam Maguire Cup but they were constantly spoiled on their own kick-outs.
Without that platform, Cork were in Meath's slipstream even though they cut the margin to a single point just before the hour mark. However, the hosts composed themselves with a Matthew Costello free. James Conlon followed it up with an effort from play and Costello provided the cushion with his fifth point in the 66th minute.
The likes of Seán and Tommy Walsh around the middle were sorely missed by Cork not to mention Brian Hurley and Conor Corbett also being absent from the forward line. As Kerry return to SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh this Saturday, more resources will be required irrespective of how far Cork pushed them there in last month's Munster semi-final.
'Since that, Kerry have blown everyone out of the water and we've been beaten here today, so it might throw a different light on that,' said Cork manager John Cleary. 'But look, we will prepare the same as we did for the last day and hopefully we can manage things better than we did today. We'll just see how next week goes and look, we'll go in all guns blazing as always and see where it takes us.'
Cleary, Kevin Walsh and company won't need to review this game to realise too many key players were too quiet. There was the midfield malaise, Seán Powter and Cathail O'Mahony made little impact on the game while Brian O'Driscoll, again one of his team's best players this season, wasn't cutting through as he has been doing.
O'Callaghan's two-pointer in the 39th minute was Cork's last score for 17 minutes in which time Meath's dominance in midfield was key to them stringing together five points.
Meath manager Robbie Brennan admitted the impact of losing Leinster was evident in his side's sloppy opening half – training sessions in the wake of the loss to Louth had been lax, he admitted – but he took something from the amount of chances they were creating.
Aside from that, he paid tribute to Conlon who missed his grandfather Hughie Sherlock's funeral to play the game in which he scored two points. 'I don't know how he did it, but I was so proud of him, and I know his family are a big footballing family and they really wanted him to play, and they should all be very, very proud of him today.
'You wouldn't have known, his preparation was phenomenal. Obviously, we knew earlier during the week, but there was never a doubt that he wasn't going to play, and that's what you get I suppose when you have a football family. To actually go out and perform like he did, he got a brilliant score at one stage there in the second half, so absolutely delighted for him.'
Meath kicked just two points from 12 scoring opportunities in the first 27 minutes but catapulted ahead when Jordan Morris struck for a fine goal on the half-hour mark.
The genesis of the attack was unusual as Chris Óg Jones appeared to pull out of making a tackle believing he had breached the three-up rule when Cork had the required amount of bodies in the Meath half of the field. It meant Cork had to chase and while they caught up they never overtook.
Both managers now face one-week turnarounds to next weekend's games against opponents who will have had an extra week's break. 'That's maybe the reward you get for winning your provincial and so be it,' said Cleary of Kerry winning Munster. 'And I think even what's coming down along the line after that, two weeks later there's a game, whoever goes into the preliminary quarter-final and then you have a quarter-final three weeks in a row.
'So that's very hard, particularly in the new game there. And, you know, the hits are hard there, particularly around the middle with the kick-out. So, but look, that's for another day. And we have the same rules as anyone else so we just have to brush ourselves down and go again next week.'
Brennan added: 'I probably was assuming we'd be on the Sunday, even an extra day makes a big difference, but a week turnaround, to be honest, it looks like there's too many matches in a short space of time, and it's just how do you fit them all in?'
Scorers for Meath: M. Costello (0-5, 1 free); J. Morris (1-1); E. Frayne (0-3, frees); J. Conlon (0-2); B. Hogan (45), S. Coffey (0-1 each).
Scorers for Cork: C. Jones, M. Cronin (1tp, 0-2 frees) (0-4 each); C. O'Callaghan (0-2, 1tp); M. Taylor, R. Deane (0-1 each).
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 for Meath: 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 for Cork: 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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