2023 Tailteann Cup Football Group 2 – Meath 1-19 Tipperary 0-11

Meath defeated Tipperary by 1-19 to 0-11 in Round 1 of the Tailteann Cup Football Group 2 on Saturday May 13th at Páirc Tailteann, Navan.

REPORT: @MeathGAA overcame @TipperaryGAA in the Tailteann Cup #GAA

— The GAA (@officialgaa) May 13, 2023

Tailteann Cup: Meath defeat Tipperary

Meath 1-19 Tipperary 0-11

Report By Paul Keane at Páirc Tailteann for GAA.ie

The beginning of a new era? Meath will certainly hope so as Colm O’Rourke’s new look team registered a morale boosting Tailteann Cup opening round win in Navan.

With three Championship debutants on the field, the young Royals built on a three-point half-time lead to win by 11 with newcomer Aaron Lynch helping himself to 1-3 in front of a satisfied home crowd.

Goalkeeper Sean Brennan and U-20 midfielder Conor Gray also made their Championship bows as Meath recorded what was their first win since beating Clare in early February.

Jordan Morris struck four points from play in a strong cameo up front too while Thomas O’Reilly impressed with three points after coming on.

Trim man Lynch effectively put the game beyond visiting Tipp when he netted in the 43rd minute, opening up an eight-point lead at that stage.

The only downside for Meath was the stoppage time red card picked up by Morris for his second booking.

Meath will hope to make it back to back wins in the competition when they return to action on Mayo 20 against Waterford while Tipp will play Down a day later.

O’Rourke went with a bold team selection that included, aside from the debutants, three more players – Adam O’Neill, Michael Flood and the influential Sean Coffey – who only made their first Championship starts against Offaly last month.

There was no indication of instant chemistry between the new and established Meath players, however, as Tipp opened with the first three points of the game, goalkeeper Michael O’Reilly striding forward to convert two placed balls.

In all, Meath altered a third of their team following the two-point defeat to the Faithful with goalkeeper Brennan, midfielders Ronan Jones and Gray and attackers Jack O’Connor and Lynch coming in.

Tipp were more settled with only midfielder Paudie Feehan and attacker Mikey O’Shea coming into the lineup, replacing Mark Russell and Emmet Moloney.

The hosts settled after the slow start and fought back to level terms at 0-3 apiece in the 18th minute.

The pick of the early Meath scores was a Morris point in the 16th minute off his weaker right foot following a little trickery to find space.

In a low scoring encounter, four Meath points in a row between the 24th and 35th minutes from Gray, Morris, O’Connor and Lynch proved significant and propelled the Division 2 outfit into a 0-7 to 0-3 half-time lead.

In truth, it was a low quality, forgettable opening half with Tipp scoring just a point from open play, a score that originated with a terrible kick-pass by Meath’s Jack Flynn to Paudie Feehan.

Tipp’s cautious approach and extra bodies behind the ball made it difficult for Meath to penetrate them but O’Rourke will still have expected more from his stuttering team.

Meath restarted with a couple of points from Jack O’Connor and Morris but it wasn’t until the 43rd minute that the game swung decisively in their favour.

Full-back Ryan did brilliantly to deny Stephen Quirke a goal with a last ditch block and, moments later, Meath registered a point at the other end through Morris.

They grabbed a goal then when the resulting kick-out went astray and a series of speedy hand-passes found Lynch in the clear.

Suddenly Meath led 1-10 to 0-05 and were in a far more comfortable position.

Anything other than a Meath win never looked to be on the cards after that with O’Reilly delivering three more points after coming on.

Scorers for Meath: Aaron Lynch 1-3 (0-1f, 0-1m), Jordan Morris 0-4, Thomas O’Reilly 0-3, Mathew Costello 0-3 (0-2f), Jack O’Connor 0-2, Conor Gray 0-1, Jack Flynn 0-1 (0-1f), Donal Keogan 0-1, Donal Lenihan 0-1.

Scorers for Tipperary: Jack Kennedy 0-3 (0-1 45), Michael O’Reilly 0-2 (0-1f, 0-1 45), Steven O’Brien 0-2 (0-1m), Mark Russell 0-2 (0-1f), Liam McGrath 0-1, Colman Kennedy 0-1.

Meath: Sean Brennan; Adam O’Neill, Ronan Ryan, Michael Flood; Donal Keogan, Padraic Harnan, Sean Coffey; Ronan Jones, Conor Gray; Cillian O’Sullivan, Jack Flynn, Jack O’Connor; Jordan Morris, Mathew Costello, Aaron Lynch.
Subs: Thomas O’Reilly for Flynn h/t, Harry O’Higgins for O’Neill 50, Daithi McGowan for Jones 59, Cathal Hickey for O’Connor 59, Donal Lenihan for O’Sullivan 60.

Tipperary: Michael O’Reilly; Willie Eviston, Jimmy Feehan, Shane O’Connell; Kevin Fahey, Colm O’Shaughnessy, Keith Ryan; Paudie Feehan, Colman Kennedy; Cathal Deely, Jack Kennedy, Teddy Doyle; Steven O’Brien, Stephen Quirke, Mikey O’Shea.
Subs: Rory Collins for Deely 10, Sean O’Connor for O’Brien h/t, Mark Russell for Doyle 46, Liam McGrath for O’Shea 46, Conall Kennedy for P Feehan 59.

Referee: Brendan Griffin (Kerry).

Team News

Wishing our senior footballers the best of luck v Meath on Saturday evening. Tickets for the game are available on the official GAA website. pic.twitter.com/7xRkL3CbgZ

— Tipperary GAA (@TipperaryGAA) May 11, 2023

TIPPERARY (SFC v Meath): M. O’Reilly; S. O’Connell, J. Feehan, W. Eviston; K. Fahey, C.O’Shaughnessy, K. Ryan; P. Feehan, Colman Kennedy; T. Doyle, J. Kennedy, C. Deely; M. O’Shea, S. Quirke, S. O’Brien (c).
Subs: K. Beben, L. Boland, M. Russell, Conall Kennedy, S. O’Connor, L. McGrath, R. Quigley, C. Cadell, D. Leahy, R. Collins, J. Lawrence.