Allianz Football League Division Two

Cork 1-15 Meath 1-11

By Paul Keane at Páirc Tailteann VIA www.gaa.ie.

Fresh off their recent warm weather training camp, Cork finished strongly in Navan to secure their third Allianz Football League win on the trot and secure their Division 2 status for another season.

John Cleary’s side trailed by three points with eight minutes to go following a burst of Meath scoring and with only two wins picked up beforehand they looked to be in a difficult position.

The Munster men reeled off seven points in a row from there, however, to secure an impressive win that has allowed them to breathe out with a game to go.

Top scorer Conor Corbett, who struck 1-3 overall, Luke Fahy, Steven Sherlock, Matty Taylor and Mark Cronin were all on the mark late on as Cork perhaps showed the fitness benefits of that training camp.

They will play Armagh in Round 7 at SuperValu Pairc Ui Chaoimh and while safety isn’t a concern at this stage, Cork will chase another win to guarantee their place in this year’s race for the Sam Maguire Cup.

Meath will be disappointed with tossing away that three-point lead and failing to score in the final 20 minutes or so, resulting in their second defeat of the campaign.

The Tailteann Cup holders will return to action against Donegal in the final round.

Meath manager Colm O’Rourke made a number of intriguing points beforehand in his match programme notes.

He described their Round 5 display against Cavan as their best of the campaign, despite drawing and scoring just 0-11, while he acknowledged that ‘we need to score more and especially goals’.

He pointed to the inexperience of his young team too, stating that ’10 of the 20 players who performed in Cavan are in their very first league campaign’, promising that ‘this Meath side will not now change significantly over the next few years’.

With all of that in mind, he will have had mixed feelings about their first-half display which left Meath tied at half-time on 0-7 to Cork’s 1-4.

Meath did strike half a dozen wides and their first three were all from scorable positions with Shane Walsh driving a shot at goal wide from an acute angle in the ninth minute.

Cork were more efficient at the other end, initially at least, and by the 26th minute opened up a 1-4 to 0-3 lead.

Their opening score was a Corbett goal in the fifth minute. Brian O’Driscoll was a busy performer in the Cork attack and set Corbett away for the goal though the Carrigaline man still had to shrug off Adam O’Neill before slotting left footed to the bottom right corner.

Brian Hurley, who later went off with an apparent injury, clipped a couple of points off his left foot despite being under pressure in a crowded area and Cork were good value for their lead.

Boss John Cleary was frustrated with the number of turnovers that went against them in the 10 minutes or so before half-time, allowing Meath to gain a foothold in the game.

The Royals reeled off four points in a row with Eoghan Frayne drilling over two excellent points, Walsh converting and goalkeeper Sean Brennan converting his second 45′ of the half.

The Corbett-O’Neill head-to-head was the game’s most entertaining battle and Corbett twice found space after the restart for two Cork points to put daylight between the teams.

Meath had previously responded well to adversity throughout the campaign and once again conjured their strongest form when the need was greatest.

Stand-in captain Mathew Costello, in the absence of Ronan Jones, and Brennan struck scores to level the game again at 0-9 to 1-6 and they were tied again at the three-quarter stage when Costello conjured Meath’s goal, just their second of the campaign.

He’d just scored a point following a Walsh delivery and the pair repeated the act for Meath’s goal, Costello fetching high and brushing off full-back Daniel O’Mahony before blasting beyond the goalkeeper from close range.

Meath led 1-11 to 1-8 following a Ruairi Kinsella point but surprisingly didn’t score again as Cork turned the screw in impressive fashion.

Scorers for Cork: Conor Corbett 1-3, Steven Sherlock 0-3 (1f), Brian Hurley 0-2, Luke Fahy 0-2, Chris Og Jones 0-1, Brian O’Driscoll 0-1, Sean Powter 0-1, Matty Taylor 0-1, Mark Cronin 0-1.

Scorers for Meath: Mathew Costello 1-2 (1f), Eoghan Frayne 0-3 (1f), Sean Brennan 0-3 (3 45s), Ruairi Kinsella 0-2, Shane Walsh 0-1.

Cork: Christopher Kelly; Kevin Flahive, Daniel O’Mahony, Tommy Walsh; Luke Fahy, Sean Meehan, Matty Taylor; Ian Maguire, Colm O’Callaghan; Paul Walsh, Sean Powter, Brian O’Driscoll; Chris Og Jones, Conor Corbett, Brian Hurley.

Subs: Ruairi Deane for Walsh 44, Steven Sherlock for Hurley 48, Mark Cronin for Jones 60, Killian O’Hanlon for O’Driscoll 60, Eoghan McSweeney for Deane 65.

Meath: Sean Brennan; Donal Keogan, Adam O’Neill, Brian O’Halloran; Cairan Caulfield, Darrag Campion, Sean Coffey; Cian McBride, Daithi McGowan; Mathew Costello, Cathal Hickey, Jack O’Connor; Ruairi Kinsella, Shane Walsh, Eoghan Frayne.

Subs: Michael Murphy for Campion 27, Danny Dixon for O’Connor 50, Adam McDonnell for Kinsella 56, Diarmuid Moriarty for McBride 70, Keith Curtis for McGowan 71 – f/t blood, Harry O’Higgins for Caulfield 72.

Referee: Thomas Murphy (Galway).