Carlow beaten in Leinster Championship by Meath
Joe Murphy gets his point across to his players Photo: Pat Ahern
Joe Murphy’s first game in charge of the Carlow senior football team ended in defeat against a strong Meath but a determined second half showing even when the game was realistically over as a contest will have pleased the new manager.
Crucially, Meath won the toss and played with a strong wind in the opening half at Pairc Tailteann. Robbie Brennan’s team used that to the fullest advantage and kicked five two pointers as they moved into a 0-22 to 0-5 lead by half time.
Carlow were 0-10 to 0-3 behind in the 24th minute when a Conor Doyle free from beyond the two point arc and that fright seemed to shift a Meath side who went close to promotion from Division 2 up a gear or two and they finished the first half with a flourish.
Encouragingly for Carlow, they won the second half on a score of 0-14 to 1-8. They kicked five two pointers themselves with the win at their backs and there were excellent scores from distance by Niall Hickey and Conor Doyle in particular.
The only goal of the game came in the 48th minute when Ruairí Kinsella scored from close range but Carlow were close to a goal themselves on a couple of occasions, most notably when Mikey Bambrick had a shot blocked on the line two minutes later after Meath goalkeeper Billy Hogan was caught way out the field.
The game petered out after that and there were only two points scored in the last ten minutes plus four additional minutes.
Preparations for the Tailteann Cup will begin immediately and Murphy said after the game that he is looking forward to working with the squad in the next five weeks to get ready for that competition.
E Frayne 0-7 (1 2pt, 1 2ptf, 2fs), R Kinsella 1-4 (2pt), J Flynn 0-4 (2pt), M Costello 0-3fs, K Curtis 0-2 (2pt), J Kinlough 0-2, D Moriarty 0-2, C Duke 0-2, J Scully 0-1, C Caulfield 0-1, B Menton 0-1.
C Doyle 0-5 (2pt, 2ptf, 1’45), K Murphy 0-4 (2ptf, 1f), C Crowley 0-3 (1f, 1m), N Hickey 0-3 (1 2pt), C Moran 0-2 (2pt), R Dunphy 0-1, P McDonnell 0-1.
Billy Hogan; Seamus Lavin, Sean Rafferty, Brian O’Halloran, Eoin Harkin, Donal Keogan, Ciaran Caulfied; Jack Flynn, Bryan Menton; Conor Duke, Ruairí Kinsella, Jack Kinlough, Keith Curtis, Mathew Costello, Eoghan Frayne. Subs: Diarmuid Moriarty for Kinlough; 21; Ronan Ryan for Lavin, 48; Jason Scully for Kinsella, 50; Michael Murphy for Harkin, 53; Cillian O’Sullivan for Murphy, 68.
Johnny Furey; Paddy Regan, Mark Furey, Colin Byrne, Shane Clarke, Mikey Bambrick, John Murphy; Ciaran Moran, Liam Brennan; Paddy McDonnell, Ross Dunphy, Conor Doyle, Aaron Amond, Kevin Murphy, Conor Crowley. Subs: Niall Hickey for Regan, h/t; Sean Murphy for Brennan, 48; Mark Mullen for Amond, 51; Cormac Lomax for K Murphy, 63; Lee Moore for Byrne, 67.
Paul Faloon (Down).
