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Meath used the goals as a battering ram to triumph once again at Leinster SFC, conjuring up a remarkable second-half comeback at Croke Park to secure his place in next weekend’s provincial final.
With six points behind at halftime, and with just four points on the board, the Royals appeared to be on the brink of a disappointing exit from the Championship.
Whatever boss Andy McEntee said at halftime clearly worked because they were a different team after the restart, throwing five notable goals to win by nine points on a score of 5-09 to 0-15.
Mathew Costello and Jordan Morris, who scored goals in their championship debut last weekend in Meath’s 7-14 annihilation of Wicklow, hit again, while Cillian O’Sullivan and substitutes Joey Wallace and Jason Scully they also scored.
He rose to a 15-point swing on the scoreboard full-time to secure Meath’s place in next weekend’s provincial final and, for now at least, his status as the second-best team in the province.
Meath will play either Dublin or Laois next Saturday at Croke Park as Kildare’s season ends.
It all looked very positive for Jack O’Connor’s men at halftime, but they were outscored 5-05 to 0-05 from there and lost Shea Ryan to a direct red card expulsion at the end, as their campaign ended in frustration.
Initially, there was a certain difference from a week ago at Aughrim for Meath, who had his win over Wicklow all but finished at that stage.
This time they were trailing 0-10 to 0-04 and seemed to have real problems in several areas, particularly on their reboots.
Kildare carefully cut short kickoff options for Marcus Brennan, who was forced to go into a troubled midfield.
Kildare enjoyed most of the possession and, aside from his 10 points in the first half, he also recorded eight goals, underscoring the number of opportunities they were creating.
They got loose in the 10 minutes leading up to the break in particular and scored six unanswered points in this period to make the light of day clear between the teams.
O’Sullivan was dangerous up front for Meath and scored a point in the first half before getting a good save from Mark Donnellan.
But he summed up Meath’s troubles that the 45-meter kick resulting from Donnellan’s save did not convert.
Morris pitched 3-04 in his championship debut against Wicklow, but was scoreless from the game here until his goal early in the second half.
Shane Walsh impressed on patches for the 2010 provincial winners, opening the scoring for them and helping to create O’Sullivan’s point.
But that was it from the perspective of Meath’s attack in the first half and Kildare entered the interval with firm control.
Jimmy Hyland’s ability to burst into space and take possession of his left or right side caused problems for his marker Seamus Lavin.
Hyland won two converted Lavin foul releases and the former minor star escaped Lavin in another head-to-head direct before halftime, pretending to go to his right before turning to his left and splitting the posts.
From that position of dominance and a six-point lead at halftime, Kildare conspired to throw it all away, or have their pockets ripped out depending on his persuasion.
Meath returned to a different team and set the standards for a second half that was played largely on his terms.
Costello’s goal in the 37th minute, when O’Sullivan and Morris combined to play him, sparked a resurgence.
Seconds later, Morris found space down the right and took a low shot into the net, leaving Meath just one behind at 2-04 to 0-11.
Meath’s ball retention, tackling and possession percentage improved dramatically and his next two goals came of real courage and hard work following turnovers.
O’Sullivan made it 3-4 to 0-12 with his goal in the 45th minute after Paddy Brophy spilled possession and Wallace pounced for Meath’s fourth after pressure from Walsh and Ronan Jones forced Kildare to concede the ball.
Sub Scully scored Meath’s fifth goal in injury time when Wallace expertly fed him before circling Donnellan and conceding at home.
Meath: Marcus Brennan; Seamus Lavin, Conor McGill, David Toner; Donal Keogan, Ronan Ryan, Mathew Costello (January 1); Bryan Menton, Ronan Jones; Cillian O’Sullivan (1-01), Bryan McMahon, Shane McEntee (0-01); Jordan Morris (1-01, 0-01f), Shane Walsh (0-01), Thomas O’Reilly (0-02).
Subs: Cathal Hickey (0-01) for Ryan, Joey Wallace (1-00) for O’Reilly, Jason Scully (1-00) for McMahon all 55, James Conlon (0-01) for Walsh 68, Eoin Harkin for O Sullivan 76.
Kildare: Mark Donnellan; Eoin Doyle, Mick O’Grady, Mark Dempsey; David Hyland (0-01), With Kavanagh, Kevin Flynn (0-01); Shea Ryan, Kevin Feely; Mattie Byrne (0-01), Ben McCormack (0-01), Paddy Brophy (0-02); Fergal Conway (0-01), Darragh Kirwan (0-02), Jimmy Hyland (0-05, 0-03f, 0-01m).
Subs: Daniel Flynn (0-1) by McCormack 48, Paul Cribbin by Byrne 51, Aaron Masterson by Kavanagh 57, Liam Power by Conway 58, Neil Flynn by Kirwan 60.
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