Derry 1-13
Meath 0-19

Derry got their league campaign off to a disappointing start with defeat at the hands of Meath on Saturday afternoon in Croke Park.

They still await a first league win since their penalty shootout victory over Dublin at the same venue in the 2024 Division One final.

A man of the match performance from Jack Flynn with 0-7 inspired the Royals to victory with help with Cian McBride’s impact at midfield after coming in off the bench.

With Páirc Tailteann under repair, Meath have elected to play all their home games at Croke Park this season.

It was a day when Lavey’s Niall Toner made his 100^th senior appearance for the county.

Manager Ciarán Meenagh made changes from their McKenna Cup semi-final defeat to Donegal.

In came Slaughtneil duo Shane McGuigan and Brendan Rogers for their first appearances of the season.

Derry began without Lachlan Murray but league debuts for Ruairi Forbes, Conor McAteer and goalkeeper Shea McGuckin after Ryan Scullion was pulled in the warmup.

Meath fielded a completely different team from their O’Byrne Cup campaign. One four players from last year’s championship saw action in the pre-season competition.

Derry started well with points from Shane McGuigan and Ethan Doherty. Gareth McKinless was involved in much of their play.

McKinless nearly found the net only for a brilliant Sean Brennan save but the Meath keeper let a tame Paul Cassidy shot slip into the net in the 15^th minute.

As the half developed, Meath grew into the game with a two-point free from Matthew Costello making the score 1-5 to 0-5.

Bryan Menton and jack Flynn added scores as the Royals took a 0-11 to 1-5 interval lead.

After Jordan Morris landed a massive two-pointer at the start of the half, Derry replied with two pointers from Shane McGuigan (free) and Paul Cassidy.

Matthew Downey took it back to a point with a score but Cian McBride controlled midfield as Meath went on to victory.

The Oakleafers are in action next Saturday against Ulster rivals Tyrone on home soil in Celtic Park.

Meath: Seán Brennan; Seamus Lavin, Seán Rafferty, Brian O’Halloran, Donal Keoghan, Seán Coffey, Ciaran Caulfield; Bryan Menton, Jack Flynn; Conor Duke, Matthew Costello, Ruairi Kinsella; Jordan Morris, Adam O’Neill, Eoghan Frayne
Subs: Cian McBride for Duke (49), James Conlon for O’Neill (53), Jack O’Connor for Frayne (61), Jason Scully for Kinsella (66), Ronan Ryan for O’Halloran (68)

Derry: Shea McGuckin; Ruairi Forbes, Conor McCluskey, Diarmuid Baker; Conor Doherty, Gareth McKinless (0-1), Paudi McGrogan; Conor Glass, Brendan Rogers; Ethan Doherty (0-1), Niall Toner, Paul Cassidy (1-3, 1tp); Conor McAteer, Shane McGuigan (0-7, 1tpf,1f), Niall Loughlin
Subs: Matthew Downey (0-1) for McAteer (HT), Shea Downey for Toner (54), Patrick McGurk for Loughlin (61), Sean Kearney for Baker (65), Sean Young for P Cassidy (70)

Referee: Barry Tiernan (Dublin)