Cork sweep to entertaining victory against Meath

Cork have had their opening-day struggles in the past decade but they got their Allianz Football League Division 2 campaign off on the right foot with a four-point victory against Meath at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh.

This was an open, entertaining game played under the new rules, although it should be noted that these two produced an exciting 3-14 to 0-19 encounter in the equivalent fixture two years ago.

Colm O'Rourke got his managerial term off to a winning start that day but Robbie Brennan’s inter-county debut went the other way as Cork grabbed the goals this time through Matty Taylor and Chris Óg Jones, who finished with 1-04.

While the Rebels executed the majority of their chances, Meath missed 20 attempts between wides and shots dropped short.

In terms of the new rules, Cork scored the only two-pointer of the first half from a free outside the 40-metre arc but their failure to keep three players beyond the halfway line saw them penalised with a 14-metre free to level at midway; 0-11 apiece.

Meath suffered a similar offence after the break with Mark Cronin taking the option to move the free back outside the 40-metre arc for a successful two-pointer.

Both sides pushed their goalkeeper forward throughout to manufacture 12-on-11 situations in the opposition half. Adventurous Meath stopper Billy Hogan collected a couple of assists and had three shots at the posts, scoring one when spinning between two tacklers.

The solo-and-go free was also well utilised by both teams.

John Cleary has tended to go strong from the outset of the League but between departures and injuries, he handed out three debuts to Neil Lordan, Seán Walsh, and Seán McDonnell, plus Éanna Desmond off the bench.

Meath welcomed back a few familiar faces after