Meath take the two-point route to big Offaly turnaround
Cormac Egan of Offaly in action against Ciarán Caulfield of Meath during the Leinster GAA Football Senior Championship quarter-final match between Meath and Offaly at Pairc Tailteann in Navan, Meath. Photo by Thomas Flinkow/Sportsfile
The impact of the new rules, or more specifically, the impact of the wind on the new two-point scoring scheme, was crystal clear in a Leinster SFC quarter-final tie of two halves in Navan.
Meath, dubiously installed as favourites beforehand, ultimately advanced to a provincial semi-final clash with old rivals Dublin on April 26/27.
Offaly, fresh off their Division 3 league final success, blasted three two-pointers with the wind in the first half, building up a 10-point interval advantage, but were powerless to prevent Meath from hitting seven two-pointers in the second half, to win by seven.
Mathew Costello scored three two-pointers for Meath and finished with nine points while Conor Duke struck two long-range scores also.
There was an important contribution from substitute James Conlon too who hit Meath's goal in the 72nd minute, getting his fist to a ball in from Aaron Lynch after Offaly goalkeeper Paddy Dunican had gone wandering.
Meath will test themselves next against holders Dublin while Offaly, jointly managed by Mickey Harte and Declan Kelly, will regroup and return to activity in the Tailteann Cup.
Meath returned to Navan a week after beating Carlow by 14 points though they led by 17 at half-time in that game and lost the second half.
Offaly picked up this time where Carlow left off seven days earlier, using the wind advantage to pin Meath back and to pick off score after score.
Keith O'Neill was terrific in Offaly's Division 3 league final win at Croke Park and carried that strong form over into their Championship opener with six first-half points and two early two-point scores.
Kyle Higgins struck Offaly's other two-pointer in the first half as they cut the Meath defence asunder at times.
The wind certainly helped them but they also looked more clued in and energetic, dominating the middle third for the most part.
The Faithful won a series of uncontested balls from kick-outs, resulting in the Higgins score and another later for Dylan Hyland.
That Hyland score was as direct as it gets; goalkeeper Paddy Dunican picking out the unmarked Hyland in midfield who kick-passed deep for O'Neill who was fouled, allowing Hyland to convert.
Offaly's last point of the half, from Shane Tierney, summed up the difference between the teams as the determined attacker got out in front of Seamus Lavin to collect a long, long ball in despite starting his run behind the defender.
Keith Curtis was Meath's most potent attacker initially, winning three frees that Eoghan Frayne and Mathew Costello converted.
It wasn't until first-half stoppage time that Meath actually scored a point from play when Sean Coffey chipped one over.
Meath also coughed up two frees for 4/3 breaches, one of which was converted by Offaly's Hyland.
At the other end, Meath won a free for a similar breach and opted for a two-point effort despite the stiff wind, with predictable consequences. Shot selection was an issue again when Curtis opted to drill a spinner kick from a difficult angle, resulting in another wide.
How Meath must have wished they had former captain Ronan Jones around the middle, or leading scorer Jordan Morris.
Both are out injured while Eoin Harkin and Jack Kinlough picked up injuries after starting against Carlow, freeing up spaces for Coffey and Diarmuid Moriarty to start this time.
It was a different story after the break as Meath, upping the ante significantly, and capitalising on the helping wind, reeled off a string of two-point scores to quickly cut the deficit.
They turned that 10-point gap into a one-point game by the 54th minute when Costello kicked the team's fifth two-pointer of the half.
Duke got Meath going with two great long-range scores and Frayne raised an orange flag too.
Meath, now entirely dominant and faring much better in the middle third, almost inevitably levelled the game in the 62nd minute through substitute James Conlon, 0-19 to 0-19.
Jack Flynn nudged Meath ahead for the first time in the entire game in the 65th minute with a booming two-pointer from almost 50 metres out.
Offaly needed a score, of any type, just to halt the onslaught but couldn't grab a foothold as Meath kept the foot down, finishing the game with Conlon's stoppage time goal.
Mathew Costello 0-9 (0-2f, 1 tp, 1 2ptf), James Conlon 1-2, Conor Duke 0-4 (2 tp), Eoghan Frayne 0-3 (0-1f, 1 2ptf), Jack Flynn 0-2 (tp), Billy Hogan 0-2 (2ptf), Sean Coffey 0-1, Bryan Menton 0-1, Aaron Lynch 0-1.
Keith O'Neill 0-6 (2 tp, 1f), Paddy Dunican 0-5 (0-1 45, 2 2ptf), Dylan Hyland 0-4 (3f), Kyle Higgins 0-2 (tp), Shane Tierney 0-2, Jack Bryant 0-1, Cormac Egan 0-1.
Billy Hogan; Sean Rafferty, Brian O'Halloran, Seamus Lavin; Sean Coffey, Donal Keogan, Ciaran Caulfield; Jack Flynn, Bryan Menton; Conor Duke, Ruairi Kinsella, Keith Curtis; Diarmuid Moriarty, Mathew Costello, Eoghan Frayne.
Aaron Lynch for Moriarty 47, Shane Walsh for Curtis 55, James Conlon for Kinsella 61, Ronan Ryan for Rafferty 64, Adam O'Neill for Lavin 70, Cathal Hickey for Frayne 73-f/t, blood.
Paddy Dunican; Lee Pearson, Aidan Bracken, Rory Egan; Cormac Egan, John Furlong, Daire McDaid; Jack McEvoy, Jordan Hayes; Kyle Higgins, Cathal Flynn, Keith O'Neill; Dylan Hyland, Jack Bryant, Shane Tierney.
Aaron Leavy for Bracken 63, Eoin Sawyer for Tierney 64, David Dempsey for McDaid 65.
S Lonergan (Tipperary)
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