Eoghan Frayne of Meath celebrates after scoring a point during the Allianz Football League Division 2 match between Meath and Roscommon at Páirc Tailteann in Navan, Meath. Photo by Shauna Clinton/Sportsfile.
Allianz National Football League, Division 2, Round 4
MEATH 2-18 ROSCOMMON 0-17
By Paul Keane at Pairc Tailteann
Streaming out of Navan after this impressive and highly significant Division 2 victory, Meath supporters wondered when the team had last played so well.
Perhaps it was in 2023 when they won the Tailteann Cup under Colm O'Rourke or perhaps it was even as long ago as 2019, when they last secured promotion from Division 2.
Either way, this was a terrific performance, full of power, pace and creativity that has catapulted Robbie Brennan's crew right into the promotion picture with just three games to go.
Roscommon arrived as favourites with a perfect record and led by four points at half-time but, crucially, had already used their wind advantage and were gobbled up by the ravenous Royals after the break.
The hosts fired second-half goals from Sean Coffey and Ronan Jones, as well as three two-pointers in a row, and outscored Roscommon by 2-10 to 0-5 overall in that 35-minute period.
Ciaran Caulfield, who recently captained DCU to the Sigerson Cup title, was terrific for Meath, grabbing a second-half point while Dunshaughlin's Conor Duke came of age too, scoring 0-5 and swinging over two of the two-pointers.
Eoghan Frayne top scored for the hosts with six points and also struck a two-pointer while Jack Flynn and Bryan Menton, both back in action this season, provided a sturdy midfield platform again.
The result has left Meath, Roscommon and Monagan all locked on six points at the head of Division 2, setting up an intriguing final few games with Meath set to travel to basement dwellers Westmeath next weekend.
Davy Burke and Roscommon will hope to get back to winning ways when they take on Cork in Round 5.
They'd already taken care of Down, Louth and Monaghan before travelling to Navan and stuck largely by tried and trusted, the return of 2023 All-Star Enda Smith the only change to their lineup.
Meath, fresh off morale boosting wins over Cavan and Down, did likewise and made just a solitary change, returning Adam O'Neill to defence in place of the unavailable Eoin Harkin.
High winds whipped through Navan all morning and the talk beforehand was that whichever side had the breeze advantage initially would target two-pointers.
It was no surprise then when Ciarain Murtagh swung one over inside two minutes to give Roscommon the perfect start.
Goalkeeper Conor Carroll and wing-back Dylan Ruane both got forward to raise orange flags for the Rossies in the opening half too.
But they only hit the interval with a four-point advantage and home fans in the bumper crowd could smell opportunity knocking.
That four-point margin probably flattered Roscommon as there was only a point in it with 30 minutes played before Ruane bombed forward to pick off 0-3 in the closing stages.
Smith nailed a couple of points for the Connacht outfit too but they must have been concerned given Meath's powerful attack which had previously racked up 0-21, 3-20 and 0-24 tallies.
Frayne, Jordan Morris and Shane Walsh all sniped points in the opening half and hinted that they could do damage with the big wind after the restart.
Coffey was excellent in defence for Meath too, making one great fetch in a crowded goalmouth and denying Donie Smith a shot at goal on another occasion with a terrific tackle.
Meath goalkeeper Billy Hogan, who converted two 45s into the heavy wind in the first-half, landed his first kick-out of the second inside close to Roscommon's arc - underlining their wind advantage.
Roscommon scored the first two points of the second-half but the Royals turned their potential into scores after that, drilling two goals inside a minute.
Coffey got the first, finishing off a terrific move by taking a pass from Caulfield and sliding a low shot beyond Carroll.
The hosts won the resulting kick-out and Frayne hand-passed high into the path of Jones who rippled the net again.
Frayne chipped over a point shortly after and suddenly Meath were ahead again, 2-9 to 0-14.
Sensing the significance of the occasion in the race for Division 1 football, the crowd willed Meath to push on even further.
Meath, last in Division 1 in 2020, happily obliged and reeled off three two-pointers in a row between the 55th and 58th minutes to essentially seal the win.
Duke scored two of those from play and Frayne grabbed the other from a free while Roscommon's frustration was compounded when Cian McKeon had a point ruled out for an earlier 3/3 breach in the build up.
Meath scorers: Eoghan Frayne 0-6 (1tpf, 0-2f), Conor Duke 0-5 (2 tp), Sean Coffey 1-0, Ronan Jones 1-0, Jordan Morris 0-2 (0-1f), Billy Hogan 0-2 (0-2 45), Shane Walsh 0-1, Ciaran Caulfield 0-1, Aaron Lynch 0-1
Roscommon scorers: Dylan Ruane 0-3 (1 tp), Ciarain Murtagh 0-3 (1tp, 1f), Enda Smith 0-3, Conor Carroll 0-2 (tp), Cian McKeon 0-2, Keith Doyle 0-2, Conor Hand 0-1, Conor Cox 0-1 (0-1f).
Meath: Billy Hogan; Seamus Lavin, Sean Rafferty, Donal Keogan; Adam O'Neill, Sean Coffey, Ciaran Caulfield; Jack Flynn, Bryan Menton; Conor Duke, Jack Kinlough, Ronan Jones; Eoghan Frayne, Jordan Morris, Shane Walsh. Subs: Brian O'Halloran for O'Neill 44, Aaron Lynch for Walsh 51, Daithi McGowan for Jones 55, Michael Murphy for Caulfield 67.
Roscommon: Conor Carroll; Niall Higgins, John McManus, Pearse Frost; Shane Cunnane, Dylan Ruane, Ruaidhri Fallon; Keith Doyle, Ultan Harney; Ronan Daly, Ciarain Murtagh, Enda Smith; Diarmuid Murtagh, Donie Smith, Cian McKeon. Subs: Shane Killoran for D Smith 28, Conor Hand for Daly 44, David Murray for Fallon 44, Ben O'Carroll for Harney 51, Conor Cox for Ciarain Murtagh 58.
Referee: Joe McQuillan (Cavan).
