Royals’ turn to bemoan ref justice

WAS it ever not on the cards? Did we expect anything less?

In his 12 minutes on the field yesterday, Graham Geraghty didn’t get a foot to the ball. He didn’t even manage to get the ball into his hands in that time but with his fingers he did enough to ensure this game will be remembered for his contribution alone.

Admittedly, his arrival was upset somewhat by the dismissal of Brian Farrell in the 55th minute, which threatened to steal some of his thunder as he warmed up on the sideline. But three minutes after his introduction on the hour mark, he had left an indelible impression on the game.

Trailing by four points (0-13 to 0-9), Geraghty was Seamus McEnaney’s last throw of the dice and it initially appeared to be an inspired one when the goal umpire stationed at the Hill 16 end deemed he had legitimately flicked Joe Sheridan’s kick to the net in the 63rd minute.

But among considerable remonstrations from Kildare that Geraghty was in the rectangle before the ball arrived, referee Syl Fox consulted with his umpires and the goal was marked null and void.

The initial reaction from neutrals everywhere was that the overruling provided sweet justice for Sheridan’s illegitimate goal which won Meath a dubious Leinster title at the expense of Louth last year.

That feeling might have been strengthened on the final whistle when the defending champions were knocked out after a commanding second-half display from Kildare.

Had the goal stood who knows would it have kicked Meath into gear. Such was their lack of urgency and ideas going forward in the second-half and Kildare’s relentless drive, it remains doubtful.

However, video replays of Geraghty’s flick past Brendan Murphy indicated it was an incredibly marginal call, which appeared to favour the Meath forward.

In the grand scheme of things, it will be forgotten that Shane O’Rourke pointed a free two minutes later to bring Meath to within three points of Kildare.

Reduced to 14 men after Brian Farrell had walked for a straight red card offence in a tussle with Emmet Bolton, that awarded score could have stimulated them.

Instead, Kildare finished the game stronger, kicking three points without reply to end Meath’s hopes of a comeback.

James Kavanagh, from an acute angle, an Eoghan O’Flaherty free after Eamonn Callaghan and John Doyle had shipped some hefty tackles and a point from substitute Robert Kelly when a goal was on confirmed a deserving victory for the Lilywhites.

Although they had trailed at half-time by two (0-7 to 0-5), Kildare were the more assured team in general play.

They will again have to consider their poor conversion rate. 18 wides and 16 points can be as much a warming statistic as a galling one for Kieran McGeeney.

Eight of those misses came in the second-half but it was their blistering opening 15 minutes after the interval which was the most telling factor.

Straight from the resumption, Doyle split the Meath defence and pointed to show the type of leadership typical of the Allenwood man who seems to be thriving in his new central position.

He then punished Brendan Murphy for overstepping after the Meath goalkeeper had caught a high ball into his area.

Murphy, who was struggling with his kick-outs, was finding them coming back at him at a rate of knots with Callaghan firing over a 43rd minute point to put Kildare ahead, 0-9 to 0-8.

It got worse for Murphy when his attempted clearance was snaffled by Callaghan and put over his head and bar.

The free-flowing Callaghan got his third in a row in the space of six minutes when he took delivery of a Bolton pass to split the posts although Bolton appeared to have fouled the ball in bouncing it three times.

Bolton served up Doyle to widen Kildare’s lead to four in the 51st minute and Meath were at sea. They bridged a 21-minute gap to their previous score when Farrell converted a free in the 54th minute but the substitute was off the field a minute later after Fox deemed he had transgressed.

A booming Callaghan point followed by an Eoghan O’Flaherty 45 after Murphy has brilliantly denied Kavanagh a goal and palmed it past the end-line restored Kildare’s four-point advantage before Geraghty’s offering.

However, in conceding those six scores without reply Meath had undone their good work from the first-half.

Even then, they didn’t look so cohesive up-front. Cousins Shane and Paddy O’Rourke had their names on five of Meath’s first seven scores but there were numerous acts of individualism, Hail Mary shots taken when team-mates were in better positions.

As it turned out, it was only Kildare’s inaccuracy that was so charitable to them. With Hugh Lynch getting a handle on midfield and Doyle and Callaghan claiming the lion’s share of breaking ball, the Royals wilted.

Geraghty might just have been Seamus McEnaney’s safety net. Hell, he might even turn out to be his saviour.

But on this display, it just served to paper over the cracks.

Scorers for Kildare: J Doyle (1f), E Callaghan 0-4 each, E O’Flaherty (1f) 0-3; J Kavanagh 0-2, A Smith, E Bolton, R Kelly 0-1 each.

Subs for Kildare: R Sweeney for Flanagan (26), R Kelly for O’Connor (55), P O’Neill for Sweeney (57), M Scanlon for MacLochlain (66), T O’Neill for White (71).

Scorers for Meath: S O’Rourke (1f), P O’Rourke (1 45, 1f) 0-3 each, J Sheridan 0-2, S Bray, B Farrell (f) 0-1 each.

Subs for Meath: M O’Sullivan for Lenehan (24), M Ward for Crawford, B Farrell for Bray (both 41), P Gilsenan for Reilly (51), G Geraghty for McAnarney (60).

Referee: S Doyle (Wexford)