Meath bounced back from defeat against Cork last week to deliver a dominant and devastating Division 2 display as they recorded their first win in Newbridge over Leinster rivals Kildare since 2000.
It was a result that was never really in doubt as Meath settled into the game from the very early stages.
Jack O'Connor scored two from play as Meath led 0-04 to 0-01 by the 10th minute and they scored the game’s only goal two minutes later.
Aaron Lynch flicked on a long ball and although Kildare goalkeeper Cian Burke knocked the ball out of Jordan Morris’s hands as he tried to round him, the eventual man of the match pounced on the loose ball and shot past Harry O’Neill on the goal line.
O’Connor and Frayne added points either side of O’Connor’s third as Meath moved into a commanding 1-07 to 0-01 lead.
Kildare didn’t have much in the way of a response but did get two two-pointers in quick succession when Darragh Kirwan and Brian McLoughlin shot over from distance around the 20-minute mark.
That flurry of attacking intent from Kildare was quickly quelled by Meath, who led 1-09 to 0-05 at half-time.
Meath had an answer for everything that Kildare threw at them after the break and only once did Kildare score consecutive points, through Colm Moran and Jake Loakman in the 41st and 43rd minutes.
Other than that, there was no sense of momentum building towards a comeback, and instead Meath could really have added a couple more goals in the remainder of the game.
In the end, it was a display that shows Meath are very much on the right track as they move to eight points after five games.
Morris received the man-of-the-match award, but they had a number of contenders such as O’Connor, Eoghan Frayne, Ruairi Kinsella, Ciaran Caulfield and the midfield colossus Jack Flynn.
Kildare on the other hand, are left anxiously looking over their shoulder as their relegation problems mount, and things don’t get any easier for them as they have an away tie against Cork up next.
Meath scorers: J Morris 1-05, S Brennan 0-05 (2 tpf, 0-1 45), J O'Connor 0-04, R Kinsella 0-02, A Lynch, E Frayne, J Flynn, C O'Connor, K Curtis 0-01 each.
Kildare scorers: B Loakman (0-02f), B McLoughlin (1 tp) 0-03 each, D Kirwan 0-02 (1 tp), A Beirne (0-01f), C Moran 0-01 each.
Meath: Sean Brennan; Seamus Lavin, Sean Rafferty, Brian O'Halloran; Donal Keogan, Sean Coffey, Ciarán Caulfield; Bryan Menton, Jack Flynn; Jack O'Connor, Ruairí Kinsella, Adam O'Neill; Jordan Morris, Eoghan Frayne, Aaron Lynch. Subs: Ronan Ryan for Lavin (b/s 35–h/t); Cian McBride for Menton (b/s 36–41); Oisín Martin for O'Connor (45); Cian McBride for O'Neill (51); Keith Curtis for Lynch (56); Charlie O'Connor for Menton (b/s 57–63); Jason Scully for Kinsella (70); Jamie Murphy for Frayne (70).
Kildare: Cian Burke; Harry O'Neill, Padraic Spillane, Brian Byrne; James Harris, Eoin Lawlor, Jack McKevitt; Callum Bolton, Brendan Gibbons; Brian McLoughlin, Darragh Kirwan, Colm Moran; Ben Loakman, Alex Beirne, Colm Bolton.
Subs: Ryan Burke for McKevitt (21); Kevin Feely for Beirne (h/t); Eoin Cully for Moran (45); Sam Doran for Dalton (58); Liam Kelly for O'Neill (65).
Referee: Sean Hurson (Tyrone)
Watch Allianz League Sunday from 9.35pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow a live blog on all matches on the RTÉ News App and on rte.ie/sport. Listen to Sunday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1
