Nothing to separate Limerick and Meath after topsy turvy Division 2 encounter

Ray Dempsey’s men controlled the opening half but were caught by a pair of sucker punch goals in the second.

There was nothing to separate Limerick and Meath in a topsy-turvy Division 2 league football clash in the TUS Gaelic Grounds this afternoon.

It finished 0-17 to 2-11 after an entertaining 70 minutes of action where either side could have nicked the result.

It means Limerick get off the board in terms of points but remain rooted to the bottom of the division with a pair of games to play with Kildare at home in a fortnight and Clare away in the final round.

Ray Dempsey’s men controlled the opening half and were totally deserving of a 0-10 to 0-6 lead at the interval with six different players on the scoresheet.

But two second-half goals looked like the winning of the contest for Meath with Brian Donovan kicking the final equaliser in the 71st minute.

Meath opened the scoring through Jack O’Connor who marauded up the field from wing back after five minutes. But the Limerick response was as impressive, Hugh Bourke kicking over a fine effort with James Naughton giving them their first lead a minute later.

Matthew Costello and Ronan Jones fired over between Naughton’s second free for a 0-3 apiece scoreline after 14 minutes. Costlleo and Corbett exchanged the next set of scores in an even first half. Nice interplay between Cian Sheehan, Brian Donovan and Barry Coleman saw the Newcastle West man give them the lead on 20.

Bearing down on goal, Naughton chose to fist over to extend the lead to a pair with two Meath men quickly closing in on him. The St Senanns man then sent over a free from an acute angle to move Limerick 0-7 to 0-4 clear.

And while their scores were hard worked for, the Limerick defence were completely dominant at the other end, snuffing out the dangerous Meath attack.

Naughton’s fifth free had Limerick double scores in front on the stroke of the half-hour. That advanatage was nearly cut out immediately after only for the brilliance of Donal O’Sullivan, who expertly saved from point-blank range against Shane Walsh.

Jack Flynn and Jordan Morris eventually stopped the rot with quickfire points. That was replied to by Cillian Fahy, swinging over a beauty off the left after twice wrong-footing his man. And Cathal Downes rounded out the scoring with an exceptional outside of the right effort for a four-point half-time lead.

Meath had the first three efforts of the second half in anger but none had the required destination with Limerick pinned into their own half. Cillian Fahy then hit the post with Limerick’s first shot of the half six minutes after the restart. Fahy then had an effort dropped short that was excellently dealt with by Meath keeper Harry Hogan.

The first score of the half was a decisive one as Meath found the net. Jordan Morris squaring to Costello to slot into an empty net and suddenly there was only one point in it. The full forward then levelled things in the 46th minute. Morris made it 0-10 to 1-8 to the hosts for their first lead in a half hour.

Brian Donovan equalised while Limerick were briefly down to 14 men, Iain Corbett limping off with an injury. Downes regained the lead for Limerick with a long-range effort but Meath shot over down the other end. Adrian Enright fired over with his first touch on introduction.

A brilliant sequence involving Enright and Donovan allowed Naughton through for his sixth of the afternoon and a two-point cushion. But an error in defence allowed Meath back into the lead with substitute Donal Lenihan netting with his first touch. That came directly after Diarmuid Moriarty had made it a one-point game.

Needing a score, Limerick had it through Paul Maher, the Adare native finishing off a lengthy move. His clubmate Davy Lyons equalised with his first piece of involvement after just being introduced. Michael Donovan had a superb mark from the kickout but Limerick couldn’t manufacture the score.

Despite heroic defending at the other end, the Shannonsiders couldn’t prevent Jordan Morris from grabbing his third for the lead. But this time it was Limerick with the response, Donovan slotting over his second.

Scorers for Limerick: James Naughton (0-6, 4free), Cathal Downes and Brian Donovan (0-2), Cian Sheehan, Cillian Fahy, Adrian Enright, Paul Maher, Davy Lyons, Hugh Bourke, Iain Corbett (0-1)

LIMERICK: Donal O’Sullivan; Michael Donovan, Sean O’Dea, Brian Fanning; Iain Corbett, Barry Coleman, Tony McCarthy; Colm McSweeney, Cillian Fahy; Cian Sheehan, James Naughton, Cathal Downes; Killian Ryan, Brian Donovan, Hugh Bourke.

SUBS: Paul Maher for McCarthy (49), Peter Nash for Corbett (50), Adrian Enright for Ryan (55), Gordon Brown for Coleman (58), Davy Lyons for Bourke (65)