Meath and Kildare met in the opening round of the NFL Division 2 on February 5th 2017. 

Here's our match report from that game.

Promoted Kildare proved too good for Meath in this NFL Division 2 opener at Pairc Tailteann on Sunday afternoon.

Kildare ....... 3-17

Meath ........ 0-16

2016 NFL Div 3 runners-up wasted little time in settling into new campaign and having opened a 10-point gap after 23 minutes were always in command here.

Cian O'Neill's men were bigger, stronger and faster than Meath who look to have a major task to retain their league status.

Nine different players got off the mark for Kildare who were able to respond to brief Meath rallies in the second and third quarters.

Midfielder Kevin Feely was hugely influential for Kildare and made several marks as well as being the instigator of several scores in the Lilies impressive tally.

In attack Niall Kelly took the honours with 2-2 while Ben McCormack chipped in with 1-3.

Reilly apart, Cillian O'Sullivan and Alan Forde showed up well for Meath who were a distant second on the day.

A Reilly point left Meath just five points, 2-8 to 0-9, in it after 40 minutes. Kildare quick reasserted themselves with Kelly's second goal leaving the board reading, 3-10 to 0-10 eight minutes later.

The scores were tied for just under 15 seconds as Meath never regained parity having fallen behind after the first attack.

Graham Reilly - whose club St Colmcille's are in All-Ireland IFC final action next weekend - was one of the few Meath players to show up well here. His workrate was complimented by four points from play

Having chosen to play with the wind and the sun in the opening-half, Kildare hit the ground running with Ben McCormack goaling within 15 seconds of the off.

Daniel Flynn hoisted over a great point before Paul Cribbin got on the scoresheet to leave it 1-2 to 0-0 after four minutes.

Donal Lenihan opened Meath's account eight minutes in with assistance from Eamon Wallace.

With Kevn Feely bossing midfiled with assistance from Tommy Moolick, Cian O'Neill's men moved seven points clear, 1-6 to 0-2, by the mid-point of the half.

Things got even better for the visitors when Niall Kelly netted in the 23rd minute, with help from Paul Cribbin. That left 10 points in it, 2-6 to 0-2.

Things improved for Meath in the run-in to the interval. A fine block by Graham Reilly on Neil Flynn denied Kildare another score.

Cillian O'Sullivan combined well with Alan Forde for the latter to score. Kildare 'keeper Mark Donnellan denied O''Sullivan a goal in stoppage time.

Goalkeeper Jack Hannigan and Shane McEntee combined to deny Kildare a third goal just before half-time.

Despite managing just two scores in the second quarter, Kildare led by 2-7 to 0-7 at the break en route to an impressive success.

Next up for Meath is the visit of Derry to Pairc Tailteann next Sunday while Kildare entertain Cork on the same day.

Kildare - Mark Donnellan; Mick O'Grady, David Hyland, Ollie Lyons (0-1); Johnny Byrne, Eoin Doyle (0-1), Keith Cribbin (0-2); Kevin Feely (0-1), Tommy Moolick; Fergal Conway, Niall Kelly (2-2), Paul Cribbin (0-3); Neil Flynn (0-3, 1f), Daniel Flynn (0-1), Ben McCormack (1-3). Subs - Cathal McNally for Conway (61), Peter Kelly for O'Grady (63), Shea Ryan for Byrne (65), Eamonn Callaghan for Niall Kelly (68), Conor Hartley for Flynn (69), David Slattery for McCormack (69).

Meath - Jack Hannigan; Donal Keogan, Conor McGill, Mickey Burke; Brian Power, Shane McEntee, Alan Forde (0-2); Cian O'Brien, Bryan Menton (0-1); Cillian O'Sullivan (0-2), Graham Reilly (C) (0-4), Alan Douglas; Eamon Wallace, Brian Sheridan, Donal Lenihan (0-7, 5f). Subs - David McQuillan for Burke (bc 22), Ruairi O Coileain for Power (ht), Adam Flanagan for Douglas (ht), Bobby O'Brien for Sheridan (47), Conor Downey for Wallace (52), Willie Carry for McEntee (65).

Referee - Ciaran Branagan (Down).

Tweet

Most Read Stories