Kelly's goals help steer clinical Kildare to 10-point win over abject Meath in league opener

Meath 0-16

Allianz NFL Division 2 round 1

It had all the makings of a fine derby game as both Kildare and Meath entered the first round of the National League with plenty at stake, but a dominant display from the Lilywhites ensured that their opponents never stood much of a chance after such a rip-roaring start to the game.

Kildare led by 10 points after just 22 minutes, and only that a strong finish to the first half allowed Meath a glimmer of hope, the Royals never came within five points. There were some sterling displays dotted throughout the Kildare team, with Mark Donnellan, Keith Cribbin, Eoin Doyle, Kevin Feely, Niall Kelly, Paul Cribbin and Ben McCormack particularly influential, but a win with such ease over bitter rivals will do this squad's confidence the world of good as they embark on a tough Division 2 campaign.

As he went to bed last night, league debutant Ben McCormack couldn't have possibly envisaged making such a brilliant start to his first game at this level, but with just 16 seconds on the clock the Sarsfields star rattled the back of the Meath net. Kevin Feely gathered the ball from the throw-in, placed a pass into the bread basket of Daniel Flynn and the Johnstownbridge man offloaded to his clubmate Paul Cribbin, who then found McCormack and he applied a sweet finish to the corner of the net.

Flynn then added a fabulous point from the right wing soon after, before Paul Cribbin tapped over a close range score following a neat one-two with Niall Kelly to put the Lilywhites 1-2 to 0-0 up after just four minutes.

Meath eventually got their scoring underway through a point from Donal Lenihan, their livliest forward in the first half, but a score from Keith Cribbin, quickly followed by a fine point from a tight angle courtesy of Kevin Feely, stretched the gap to eight points.

Meath were beginning to get a bit of a foothold in the game but weren't creating much up front, and Kildare looked threatening on the break each time they got the ball. Meath's failure to track so many of the Kildare runners in the first half was the catalyst behind their downfall, and a Lenihan free was the only other response they could offer in the first 23 minutes. The Royals were dealt a blow with the loss of Mickey Burke through a soft looking black card, and things got worse for them soon after when Paul Cribbin put in the hard yards to set Niall Kelly up to thunder a ball to the roof of the Meath net in the 22nd minute.

Meath wing-forward Cian O'Sullivan and Neill Flynn swapped points, but from that point until the half-time break it was all Meath. Niall Kelly should have been shown a black card for a trip on Lenihan as he bore down on goal, but referee Ciaran Branagan indicated that it was a push rather than a trip.

Meath finished the half well as points from Alan Forde, Lenihan and captain Graham Reilly left just the two goals between the sides, but it could have been much better for the home side if it hadn't been for a fine save from Mark Donnellan on O'Sullivan on the stroke of half-time. Daniel Flynn was also denied a goal when a Meath defender cleared his shot from the line, leaving the scores at 2-7 to 0-7.

It was a rather evenly contested opening 10 minutes in the second half, with Lenihan again coming to the fore with a big point, while McCormack finally added his second score of the day as Kildare troubled the scorekeepers for the first time in almost 15 minutes. A point from team captain Eoin Doyle and a super long range effort from Paul Cribbin was sandwiched by a couple of Graham Reilly scores, leaving the game finely poised at 2-10 to 0-10 with 25 minutes left to play.

Niall Kelly soon put the result beyond doubt however as he latched onto a stray handpass from Fergal Conway to rifle a powerful right-footed shot over the head of Meath goalkeeper Jack Hannigan and into the roof of the net in a mirror image of his first goal. As if to rubberstamp their dominance, the impressive duo of Keith Cribbin and Ben McCormack knocked over a couple of points in as many minutes, putting Kildare into an almost unassailable 3-12 to 0-10 lead with 48 minutes played.

The game was as good as over at that stage, and though Meath briefly threatened to come back as they struck three points in a row through Forde, Bryan Menton and O'Sullivan, Kildare were never likely to let such a sizeable lead slip. There were some fine points kicked by a confident looking Kildare towards the end, Ben McCormack stroking over the pick of the bunch with a sumptuous effort from 40 metres out.

With the result in no doubt it afforded Cian O'Neill the chance to blood some new talent, and he handed out first league appearances to Shea Ryan, David Slattery and Conor Hartley in the closing stages of the game.

Cork are up next week in St Conleth's Park, and with a fine win over local rivals already in the bank, Kildare should be looking ahead to the visit of the Rebels with plenty of confidence.

Scorers for Meath: D Lenihan 0-7(5f), G Reilly 0-4, C O'Sullivan and A Forde 0-2 each, B Menton 0-1.

Scorers for Kildare: N Kelly 2-2, B McCormack 1-3, N Flynn(2f) and P Cribbin 0-3 each, K Cribbin 0-2, K Feely, E Doyle, O Lyons and D Flynn 0-1 each.

Meath

J Hannigan; D Keogan, C McGill, M Burke(D McQuillan 20mins BC); B Power(A Flanagan ht), S McEntee(W Carroll 65mins), A Forde; C O'Brien, B Menton; C O'Sullivan, G Reilly, A DouglasR O'Coileain ht); E Wallace(C Downey 51mins), B Sheridan, D Lenihan.

Kildare

M Donnellan; M O'Grady(P Kelly 62mins), D Hyland, O Lyons; J Byrne(S Ryan 65mins), E Doyle, K Cribbin; K Feely, T Moolick; F Conway(C McNally 60mins), N Kelly(E Callaghan 68mins), P Cribbin; N Flynn, D Flynn(D Slattery 69mins), B McCormack(C Hartley 69mins).