Armagh overcame a sleepy opening quarter to blitz Colm O'Rourke’s Meath and make it two Division 2 wins from two with a 12-point win at the Athletic Grounds.
As had been the case in last week’s one-point win over Louth, Armagh, for whom youngster Oisin Conaty starred, were very slow to start, frustrating the large Orchard County support in the 9,033 crowd as Meath funnelled bodies back.
Manager Kieran McGeeney had indicated in pre-season that perhaps the Athletic Ground pitch doesn’t suit them given how tight it is, and opposition teams seem content to sit back and try and let Armagh break them down.
Meath did that beautifully in the opening stages, winning the aerial battle in midfield and delivering accurate kick passes into the wide open spaces in the Armagh defence.
Aaron Lynch and Matthew Costello put them into an early two-point lead, and it maybe could have been more with the latter of those a genuine goal chance before a slip disrupted their momentum.
Armagh took 11 minutes to get off the mark, Conor Turbitt from a free, but the in-form Eoghan Frayne quickly responded at the other end.
Armagh were relying on some rash Royal tackling as they appeared short on ideas, and Turbitt landed two frees either side of a Jack O’Connor effort to leave it 0-04 to 0-03 to Meath after 16 minutes.
From there though, Armagh started to warm to the task with Stefan Campbell, Conaty and Aidan Forker growing into the game.
They got their first from play via Rory Grugan after quick thinking from Ciaran Mackin, who had taken a fine mark from an Aaron McKay pass, and they moved ahead for the first time in the 22nd minute via yet another Turbitt free.
Cian McBride drew gasps from the crowd with a brilliant take that led to a pointed mark for Meath, but it was be the last score of the half for the Leinster side.
Turbitt kicked his fifth free before Conor O’Neill got forward for a nice score, and then came the crucial first goal in the 33nd minute.
Conaty is a real speed demon and he ran right at the Meath defence before finding Cian McConville, who finished expertly to the net. Grugan followed up with a point on his weaker right foot to leave Armagh 1-08 to 0-05 ahead at the interval.
The second half was only seconds old when Armagh stretched their lead to nine points.
Campbell went for a point and made a mess of it but Mackin kept the ball alive and finished to the net for his first goal since their Ulster win over Down last year.
Frayne ended Meath’s long wait for a score with a free and he kicked another from play to keep the away side just about alive in the contest.
The home fans were starting to get a bit nervous, but Coanty eased those fears with another probing run that opened up half a goal chance with the Tír na nÓg man settling for a point 47 minutes in.
Frayne hit another free before the impressive McConville turned down the chance of a mark and drove forward, pointing to leave it 2-09 to 0-08 with 20 minutes remaining.
Frayne grabbed his latest score from play before a raft of subs from both sides killed the momentum of the game.
When things did find a rhythm again, it was star man Conaty who stood up with his latest point and Jarly Óg Burns fisted over minutes later to leave Armagh nine ahead in the 62nd minute.
With the game dead, Armagh were able to add to their tally, corner-back Paddy Burns coming up for a rare score, the Burren man taking the point when a goal chance maybe could have been worked.
Oisin O’Neill quickly added a nice score to stretch Armagh’s lead to 11 and added a free soon after, with Diarmuid Moriarty responding with a consolation score for the visitors.
There was still time for one last home attack and in the end, a Grugan free securing a 12-point win for Armagh with that sleepy opening quarter long forgotten.
Scorers – Armagh: C Turbitt 0-5 (5f), O McConville 1-1, Ciaran Mackin 1-0, R Grugan 0-3 (1f), O Conaty, O O'Neill (1f) 0-2 each, J Og Burns, C O’Neill, P Burns 0-1 each. Meath: E Frayne 0-4 (1f), M Costello 0-2 (2f), C McBride (1m), J O’Connor, D Moriarty, A Lynch 0-1 each.
Armagh: B Hughes; P Burns, A McKay, P McGrane; C O’Neill, G McCabe, A Forker; B Crealey, Ciaran Mackin; C McConville, R Grugan, J McElroy; S Campbell, C Turbitt, O Conaty SUBS: Connaire Mackin for Crealey (48), J Og Burns for McGrane (55), O O’Neill for Turbitt (57), B McCambridge for McKay (58), R McQuillan for O’Neill (66)
Meath: S Brennan; M Flood, A O’Neill, M Murphy; D Keogan, D Campion, S Coffey; R Jones, J Flynn; D McGowan, E Frayne, C McBride; A Lynch, M Costello, J O’Connor SUBS: S Walsh for Lynch (HT), C Hickey for Flynn (41), R Kinsella for McGowan (47), A McDonnell for Flood (55), D Moriarty for McBride (66)
Referee: B Cawley (Kildare)
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