Leinster SFC first round: Meath 1-30 Carlow 0-19
After the storm, the wind.
Meath won the toss, played with the breeze at their backs and led by 17 points at half-time. And that effectively was this Leinster SFC first round match boxed off before the players had even enjoyed some half-time sustenance.
But there was more eating and drinking to be done beyond the game at Páirc Tailteann on Sunday.
Meath lost two coaches – Joe McMahon and Martin Corey – just eight days out from the match. Carlow lost their manager, Shane Curran. They managed to find a replacement in Joe Murphy but all things told, both teams entered the 2025 provincial campaign with a degree of chaos rather than an air of calmness.
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“It’s been a hectic week, a lot of things happened very quickly. We got no work done really, it was just regrouping and learning names actually,” said Murphy afterwards.
If Curran’s exit appears to be a straightforward manager against players clash, the decision of McMahon and Corey to quit Meath on the eve of championship remains unclear.
Meath chairman Jason Plunkett sat beside Robbie Brennan for his post-match interview. That’s not usually how these gigs play out after 14-point victories.
“Very disappointing obviously to lose the two lads,” said Brennan. “Two brilliant guys, two brilliant coaches and had a huge amount of work done with us. Thankfully we saw some of that today, the fruition of that work.
“The overriding feeling is just disappointment that they are gone, unfortunately, but from a players and management perspective the onus is on us to make sure we keep driving it forward. We’ve done that well this week and it will be the same for next week.”
Brennan added that there are no plans to bring in new coaches. For the rest of the year Meath are closing the circle as a season of so much promise threatens to veer off course.
Thus, it was important on many fronts they killed off Carlow’s challenge early at a sunny Páirc Tailteann in front of what was a disappointing crowd of just 3,347.
The impact of the coin toss on games has rarely been as significant as it has been under these new rules. Meath won it here and immediately set about breaking Carlow’s already fragile resolve.
The Royals led 0-9 to 0-1 after 15 minutes – with Carlow struggling to get out of their own half of the field for much of that opening quarter. Johnny Furey’s kickouts were held up in the wind and when the ball dropped it was invariably won by a Meath player. Carlow were penned in.
Meath kicked five two-pointers in the first half with Keith Curtis, Eoghan Frayne and Ruairí Kinsella particularly impressive up front while Jack Flynn and Bryan Menton made hay in the middle of the field.
Meath essentially kicked for home in the final 10 minutes of the first half and they led by seven points when Carlow’s Conor Doyle hit the post with a free from outside the arc.
From a situation where the game was within inches of becoming a five-point contest, Meath outscored Carlow 0-12 to 0-2 thereafter until the short whistle.
“We lost the toss,” lamented Murphy. “Today especially, when you’re coming in as the minnow or the underdog you take any elements just to settle you down and give you that early confidence.
“It was an extremely strong wind out there so the toss was key for us. I’m not saying it would have changed the result but it would have certainly made it more of a contest for the spectator because really at half-time it was just damage limitation.”
Meath’s 0-22 to 0-5 interval advantage always looked insurmountable for Carlow, but to their credit the visitors created several goal chances in the second half and matched the home side’s first-half tally of five two-pointers.
The only goal of the game arrived in the 48th minute when some nice build-up play ended with Ciarán Caulfield setting up Kinsella, who finished neatly beyond Furey, 1-26 to 0-12.
Meath had 11 different scorers, all players from number seven to 15 chipped in, while Donal Keogan led brilliantly from centre back.
But the home side were sloppy at times during the second half and injuries to Jack Kinlough (knee), Eoin Harkin (ankle) and Michael Murphy (knee) will be a concern ahead of next Sunday’s Leinster quarter-final against Offaly. Brennan confirmed Jordan Morris (knee) will play no part in the provincial campaign and beyond that even looks unlikely.
They’ll certainly not have McMahon or Corey involved.
“Robbie has clarified, they left, we have accepted they have gone and I think we just draw a line under it and put it to bed now,” urged Plunkett during the press conference.
“We just want to move on as a county.”
Sitting beside Plunkett, Brennan steered the conversation towards Offaly – offering his take that the Faithful will actually arrive to Páirc Tailteann next Sunday as favourites.
“They are buzzing around the place and obviously on a bit of a high as a county,” he stated. “I would imagine we are the underdogs going into this one and that’s fine.”
Outside the sun was still shining and the wind was still blowing. But the storm had eased off, for now.
Meath: Billy Hogan; Seamus Lavin, Seán Rafferty, Brian O’Halloran; Eoin Larkin, Donal Keogan, Ciarán Caulfield (0-0-1); Jack Flynn (0-1-1), Bryan Menton (0-0-1); Conor Duke (0-0-2), Ruairí Kinsella (1-1-3), Jack Kinlough (0-0-2); Keith Curtis (0-1-0), Mathew Costello (0-0-4, 3f), Eoghan Frayne (0-2-3, 2f, 1 2ptf). Subs: Diarmuid Moriarty (0-0-2) for Kinlough (21 mins); Ronan Ryan for Lavin (48 mins); Jason Scully (0-0-1) for Kinsella (50 mins); Michael Murphy for Harkin (53 mins); Cillian O’Sullivan for Murphy (68 mins)
Carlow: Johnny Furey; Paddy Regan, Mark Furey, Colin Byrne; Shane Clarke, Mikey Bambrick, John Murphy; Ciarán Moran (0-1-0), Liam Brennan; Paddy McDonnell (0-0-1), Ross Dunphy (0-0-1), Conor Doyle (0-2-1, 1 45, 1 2ptf); Aaron Amond, Kevin Murphy (0-1-2, 1 2ptf), Conor Crowley (0-0-3, 2f). Subs: Niall Hickey (0-1-1) for Regan (ht); Seán Murphy for Brennan (48 mins); Mark Mullen for Amond (52 mins); Cormac Lomax for K Murphy (63 mins); Lee Moore for Byrne (67 mins)
Referee: Paul Faloon (Down)
