Fair end to a real thriller
And fittingly so in the case of the Royal county, after two controversial decisions in the second quarter went against them.
The first, in the 20th minute, saw Graham Geraghty being penalised for ‘nudging’ his opponent before crashing the ball to the net. And, in injury time, the referee backed his umpires in allowing Alan Brogan’s goal when he tackled goalkeeper Brendan Murphy in the small square.
Only for the brilliance of Murphy and the remarkable contribution of Cian Ward, Dublin would have been looking forward to a meeting with Carlow or Offaly.
It was Meath who looked rusty in the opening 20 minutes. They were four points down after a mere nine minutes, and had conceded another score in the 19th minute before Joe Sheridan opened their account.
In another six minutes, they had narrowed the margin to a single score and more significantly, were contesting the play on much more equal terms. From the start, Dublin played the game more or less on their terms, establishing an early grip in defence, and winning sufficient ball to put the Meath backs under a lot of early pressure.
Most prominent was Alan Brogan. The threat he was posing resulted in Darren Fay being moved off him Brogan gained most support from Conal Keaney in the right corner and, later, Shane Ryan once he found his form in the centre. But, Mossie Quinn made some openings in the left corner, and young Diarmuid Connolly outside him was doing some useful work.
During this period, the Meath goalkeeper twice prevented goals, firstly, in the 14th minute when he did well to push away a ball hit across the face of the goalmouth by Brogan. Then, a minute later, he was in the right place to gather a ball which centre-back Anthony Moyles left slip through his hands.
These saves encouraged Meath to get their challenge off the ground. And, Geraghty showed his old craft with a powerful shot to the roof of the net in the 20th minute, only to have the score disallowed for what the referee deemed to have been a foul on McConnell.
However, he played an active role in boosting Meath, with Peadar Byrne regularly probing on the wing outside him, Joe Sheridan a bit more involved, and Stephen Bray much more in the game in the right corner. The backs tightened up considerably, with Fay strong in the left corner and McKeigue doing well to limit Brogan.
Approaching the half-time whistle, Dublin had the ball in the net, when Brogan went into the goalmouth to challenge for a ball hit in by Keaney. It was a close call as to whether or not he was inside the square, but the score stood after he seemed to knock it out of Murphy’s hands.
At the break, it was 1-6 to 0-6.
On the restart, Dublin again did well with Keaney picking off two fine scores, and Quinn adding another after a good move. Meath replied with two points, playing much better all over the field.
Sheridan might have had a goal in the 45th minute, but for the fact that a fisted pass from Byrne ran away from him. More substantially, Geraghty was denied what he felt was a definite penalty in the 60th minute. The net result was that while they were making their presence felt much more successfully, Meath were trailing by four points.
Then 21-year-old Cian Ward made his entry, coming in at right half-forward for Peter Curran.
Almost immediately, he got his name on the scoresheet, with a comfortably kicked ‘45. And, after he made the opening for an improving Sheridan to score in the 54th minute, he put over a second ’45.
That was in the 60th minute. Two minutes later came an equalising score from Stephen Bray.
Keaney, chosen as RTÉ’s ‘man-of-the-match,’ had Dublin back in front, before Ward converted a close-in free after Griffin fouled under pressure. The allowed three minutes of added time enabled Meath to come back a second time after Shane Ryan set up team captain Colin Moran for a lead score in the 59th minute.
Predictably, the Meath hero was Ward with an even better kick than either of his ‘45’s. This time, he scored with a sideline kick on the left wing, about 20 yards out from the corner.
It was pure class, an appropriate conclusion to an epic contest, which revived memories of the counties’ 1991 marathon.
Scorers for Dublin: C Keane 0-5 (0-1 free); A Brogan 1-1; M Quinn 0-3 (0-1 free, 0-1 ‘45); S Ryan and C Moran 0-1 each.
Scorers for Meath: C Ward 0-5 (0-2 frees, 0-2’45’s, 0-1 sideline); J Sheridan 0-3; S. Bray 0-3; G Geraghty, C King and P Curran (free) 0-1 each.
DUBLIN: S Cluxton; D Henry, R McConnell, P Griffin; P Casey, B Cullen, B Cahill; C Whelan, D Magee; C Moran (capt), S Ryan, D Connolly; C Keane, A Brogan, T Quinn. Subs: R Cosgrove for Connolly (53rd).
MEATH: B Murphy; E Harrington, D Fay, N McKeigue; S Kenny, A Moyles (capt), C King; M Ward, N Crawford; P Curran, K Reilly, P Byrne; S Bray, J Sheridan, G Geraghty. Subs: C Ward for Curran (48th); J Donegan for Crawford (49th); S O’Rourke for Sheridan (69th); N McLoughlin for King (72nd).
Referee: J McKee (Armagh).
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