Ciarán Caulfield of Meath in action against Conor Crowley of Carlow during the Leinster GAA Football Senior Championship round one match between Meath and Carlow at Pairc Tailteann in Navan, Meath. Photo by Thomas Flinkow/Sportsfile.
Leinster senior football championship, Round 1
MEATH 1-30 CARLOW 0-19
By Paul Keane at Pairc Tailteann, Navan
National League status ultimately held good in Navan where an early whirlwind of scoring laid the platform for a big Leinster SFC opening round win for Meath.
Robbie Brennan's Royals, who finished 17 places above Division 4 side Carlow in the league, led by 17 points at half-time and finished 14 to the good.
The 2010 provincial winners will enjoy home comforts again next Sunday in Navan when they welcome the freshly crowned Division 3 champions Offaly.
They can expect a significantly tougher challenge from the side jointly managed by Mickey Harte.
Still, Meath could only take care of business here and did so with relative ease despite losing high profile coaching duo Martin Corey and Joe McMahon just last weekend.
Carlow, meanwhile, were managed by interim boss Joe Murphy following the pre-Championship departure of Shane Curran.
Meath were too strong overall and Ruairi Kinsella, one of 11 different scorers, helped himself to 1-5 while captain and free-taker Eoghan Frayne struck 0-7.
Meath, missing injured regulars Jordan Morris and Ronan Jones, led by that massive margin after a wind assisted first-half though lost the second-half as Carlow rallied and winced too as Dunboyne duo Jack Kinlough and Michael Murphy and Dunsany's Eoin Harkin picked up fresh injuries.
As for Carlow, the Division 4 outfit will regroup in the Tailteann Cup which begins in five weeks.
Any worries within Meath regarding the impact of the build up were allayed by a fast start and that whopping 0-22 to 0-5 half-time advantage.
The hosts were aided by the strong breeze blowing straight down the pitch behind them towards the hospital end.
In those circumstances, and with a tall and powerful midfield capable of dominating possession, they were always going to focus on getting into positions to shoot two-pointers.
It was just a case of how many they could rack up with the wind behind them. It took a little while to get their range and Bryan Menton, making his 40th Championship appearance and first since 2022, along with Frayne and Kinlough were all off target with long-range attempts.
But they eventually tuned in their radars and Kinsella, the lively Keith Curtis, Frayne and Jack Flynn shared five two-pointers between them in the first-half.
Menton and Flynn were terrific at midfield initially, preventing Carlow from getting many of their own kick-outs away and pinning the midlanders back for long spells of the half.
Kinlough, a Championship debut for Meath along with full-back Sean Rafferty and Conor Duke, kicked two singles before going off with an injury.
He was replaced by Diarmuid Moriarty who was one of eight different Meath scorers in the first-half as they hit the interval with that 0-22 to 0-05 lead.
Ross Dunphy, a former Tailteann Cup All-Star, struck a terrific solo score for Carlow while Conor Crowley claimed an advanced mark and slotted a point.
But Murphy's crew were living off scraps and were desperate to simply get to half-time when they'd at least have the wind advantage to look forward to.
Carlow's first two scores of the second-half were both two-pointers, from Ciaran Moran and free-taker Kevin Murphy, indicating the significance of the wind.
Carlow ended up shooting five two-pointers in the second-half, just as Meath had done earlier, though they never came close to reeling in the huge deficit.
They needed a goal but despite a series of chances for captain Mikey Bambrick, Dunphy and sub Cormac Lomax they couldn't raise a green flag.
Meath essentially secured the win when they registered their goal through Kinsella in the 49th minute.
The Dunshaughlin man was fed by Sigerson Cup winning captain Ciaran Caulfield who also managed to clip a point himself.
Jason Scully, Meath's 11th scorer, rounded off the scoring with a stoppage time point into the town end for the 2010 provincial winners.
Meath scorers: Ruairi Kinsella 1-5 (1tp), Eoghan Frayne 0-7 (1tp, 1tpf, 2f), Mathew Costello 0-4 (2f), Jack Flynn 0-3 (1tp), Keith Curtis 0-2 (tp), Jack Kinlough 0-2, Conor Duke 0-2, Diarmuid Moriarty 0-2, Ciaran Caulfield 0-1, Bryan Menton 0-1, Jason Scully 0-1.
Carlow scorers: Conor Doyle 0-5 (1tp, 1tpf, 1 45), Kevin Murphy 0-4 (1 tpf, 0-1f), Niall Hickey 0-3 (1tp), Conor Crowley 0-3 (1f, 1m), Ciaran Moran 0-2 (tp), Ross Dunphy 0-1, Paddy McDonnell 0-1.
Meath: Billy Hogan; Seamus Lavin, Sean Rafferty, Brian O'Halloran; Eoin Harkin, Donal Keogan, Ciaran Caulfield; Jack Flynn, Bryan Menton; Conor Duke, Ruairi Kinsella, Jack Kinlough; Keith Curtis, Mathew Costello, Eoghan Frayne.
Subs: Diarmuid Moriarty for Kinlough 21, Ronan Ryan for Lavin 49, Jason Scully for Kinsella 50, Michael Murphy for Harkin 53, Cillian O'Sullivan for Murphy 59.
Carlow: Johnny Furey; Colin Byrne, Mark Furey, Paddy Regan; Shane Clarke, Mikey Bambrick, John Murphy; Ciaran Moran, Liam Brennan; Paddy McDonnell, Ross Dunphy, Conor Doyle; Aaron Amond, Kevin Murphy, Conor Crowley.
Subs: Niall Hickey for Regan h/t, Sean Murphy for Brennan 49, Mark Mullen for Amond 52, Cormac Lomax for K Murphy 63, Lee Moore for Byrne 68.
Referee: Paul Faloon (Down).
