Although an early surge left Kiltale eight points up in the first half, Longwood fought back to within two at one stage before we ran out winning by three. Jack Regan was again the main scorer with 14 points, but Kiltale were thankful once more to Shane McGann who pulled off a wonder-save in the second half.
Meath SHC: Kiltale 0-20, Longwood 0-17
As in their opening win over Kildalkey the holders set the platform for victory in the opening half at the end of which they led 0-12 to 0-4.
Anthony Healy got the scoreboard working with the first point of the day. By the 10th minute the teams were tied at 0-3 apiece but from there on it was all Kiltale. Jack Regan sent over six points in those closing 20 minutes to add to his two early scores as the champions went to the dressing room with a healthy eight point advantage.
Longwood came out a different team in the second half and began to eat in to Kiltale’s lead. Damien Healy and Ryan Moore narrowed the gap with two early points.
Not for the first time Kiltale looked to Regan for scores and the county star duly obliged with 5 points between the 5th and 20th minute but within that time Longwood had narrowed the gap to four 0-17 to 0-13.
The Healy’s Damien and Anthony and Mickey Burke hit inspirational scores to get the ‘Wood’ within touching distance. A nervy final five minutes was in store for Kiltale and but for an outstanding save from keeper Shane McGann in the closing stages Longwood could have taken the lead.
A brace from Anthony Healy narrowed the gap to two but Regan steadied Kiltale with a long distance free to leave three in it at the end of this very entertaining second round game.
Kiltale scorers: Jack Regan 0-14, Cathal McCabe and Shane Lenehan 0-2 each, Padraig Kelly and Ross Ryan 0-1 each
Longwood scorers: Anthony Healy 0-10, Damien Healy 0-3, Ryan Moore 0-2, Mickey Burke and Karl Ennis 0-1 each.