Meath masterclass denies Kerry automatic All-Ireland quarter-final spot

MIGHTY MEATH: Meath’s Conor Duke celebrates. Pic: ©INPHO/Tom O'Hanlon.

MEATH 1-22 KERRY 0-16

Kerry have missed out an automatic All-Ireland quarter-final spot after a commanding Meath performance in Glenisk O’Connor Park this afternoon, their first championship win over them since the 2001 All-Ireland semi-final.

Jack O’Connor’s side will return to action in an All-Ireland preliminary quarter-final at home next weekend but on the basis of this abject display and their injury list it is far from a certain win.

Watched by a 8,265 crowd in Tullamore, Kerry were put to the sword with a Bryan Menton goal in the 57th minute.

However, the signs were ominous for The Kingdom before that as Meath jumped into a seven-point lead with a couple of two-pointers.

Meath’s chances had been dismissed on a sports show on national radio on Friday night to the point that the game hardly previewed. Losing Matthew Costello and then James Conlon before throw-in, it appeared their chances had dimmed but the likes of Conor Duke and Ruairí Kinsella had other ideas.

Kerry, who themselves were minus Seán O’Shea to compound their problems, were within two points midway through the second half when Kinsella brought his tally to three points. For the second time in the game, Shane Ryan was called on to stop Cathal Hickey and then Seán Coffey kicked the parried shot wide.

Kerry’s David Clifford with Meath’s Seán Rafferty and Seán Coffey. Pic: ©INPHO/Tom O'Hanlon.

However, Kinsella and Duke booted two-pointers before Menton had the space to turn and beat Ryan for his first goal concession in the championship and Meath were through to the last eight on the back of a display that contrasted remarkably with their 15-point loss to Kerry in Navan 12 months ago.

The first half was largely decided by kick-outs. When Ryan kicked them, Kerry couldn’t hold them and when it was Billy Hogan’s turn Meath struggled to retain. Ryan restarted 16 times to Hogan’s 11 and Meath were so good in spoiling his strikes to the middle and picking up the pieces.

Kerry’s work-rate was in the dock at half-time. Depleted or not, eight points was a dreadful return and the concession of 13 points against a Division 2 side was a heavy toll.

Meath led 0-3 to no score after eight minutes, Ryan had also kept out an Adam O’Neill shot, and it wasn’t until the 11th minute that Kerry were up and running. Micheál Burns’s point was the first of four in a row for the Munster champions including a David Clifford two-pointer.

Meath struck back with a brace to level the game in the 17th minute. Kerry cancelled them out with Killian Spillane and Dylan Geaney scores but the latter of them in the 20th minute was his team’s last for 14 minutes.

What followed was a Meath onslaught of eight unanswered points, four of them from Eoghan Frayne and Ruairí Kinsella two-pointers. Kerry simply couldn’t get the ball out of their half. Any aerial ball Mark O’Shea and Joe O’Connor were getting their hands on were being moped up by Meath men.

A Clifford free, won by the Fossa man, ended that barrage in the 34th minute. However, Meath notched another score before the break when Frayne punished a three-up violation.

Scorers for Meath: E. Frayne (3 frees, 1tp), C. Duke (1 tp), R. Kinsella (2 tps) (0-5 each); B. Menton (1-0); J. Morris (0-2, 1 free); K. Curtis, B. Hogan (45), D. Keogan, S. Coffey, C. Caulfield (0-1 each).

Scorers for Kerry: D. Clifford (0-5, 1 tp, 1 free); D. Geaney (0-4); K. Spillane (0-3, 1 free); T. Brosnan (0-2); M. Burns, P. Murphy (0-1 each).

MEATH: B. Hogan; S. Lavin, S. Rafferty, R. Ryan; D. Keogan, S. Coffey, C. Caulfield; B. Menton, A. O’Neill; C. Duke, R. Kinsella, C. Hickey; J. Morris, E. Frayne (c), K. Curtis.

Subs: C. McBride for A. O’Neill (h-t); E. Harkin for C. Hickey (54); S. Walsh for E. Frayne (59); J. McEntee for R. Kinsella (68); D. Moriarty for S. Rafferty (68).

Black card: C. Hickey (36-46).

KERRY: S. Ryan; J. Foley, P. Murphy, T. O’Sullivan; T. Morley, M. Breen, G. White (c); J. O’Connor, M. O’Shea; G. O’Sullivan, T. Brosnan, M. Burns; D. Clifford, K. Spillane, D. Geaney.

Subs: D. Casey for M. Breen, R. Murphy for M. Burns (both 48); S. O’Brien for M. O’Shea, C. Geaney for G. O’Sullivan (both 58); D. Moynihan for K. Spillane (66).

Referee: J. McQuillan (Cavan).