McGuinness raises Royal spirits
It was an incredible ending to a second half, full of passion and excitement, and one that looked impossible at half-time when Meath had led their visitors on a merry dance.
While both teams had fielded experimental teams last weekend, Dublin’s was noticeably weaker and Pat Gilroy widened his search for new blood still further last night by making 10 changes for this replay.
Only Bernard Brogan could be considered a ‘name’ player. Joining him was Paul Casey who lost his place last summer and Ross McConnell who lined out at full-back 18 months after being relieved of the same job by Paul Caffrey.
Stephen O’Shaughnessy and Kevin Bonner, both of whom have enjoyed runs in the first 15 in the past, were a recognisable pair amongst many unfamiliar faces — unfamiliar to all but the most dedicated of followers in the capital.
Aside from Eamon Fennell, that is, the midfielder whose frustrated attempts to secure a transfer from his club O’Toole’s have made headlines.
The immediate result was one-way traffic for the entire first half in front of 7,000 fans.
It was an astonishing crowd for a Wednesday night O’Byrne Cup fixture in January but, then again, this was the Dubs playing Meath in Pairc Tailteann for the first time since 1988.
Not that they were complete strangers to the place. It was here that a coltish Jason Sherlock lost a boot, scored with his sock and launched a summer of hysteria in the Leinster Championship game against Laois in 1995.
None of the latest batch managed to make anything like that impression this time around but Pat Gilroy will have been delighted by his side’s response to what was an abysmal first-half display.
They had only two points to their credit by the interval, both beauties from Brogan, and the first of those didn’t arrive for 22 minutes by which time Meath had already claimed four of their own.
Jamie Queeney and Joe Sheridan had claimed 1-9 of Meath’s tally three days earlier and that pair were once again to the fore in the opening exchanges with the opening two points.
Dublin just weren’t at the races and the incident of most note in that period occurred midway through when Gilroy and Colin Daly took exception to James Macken’s attempts to listen in to some tactical talk near the sideline.
The end result was a yellow card for both players while Gilroy’s stray arm, which caught the Meath full-back on the chin, failed to warrant any attention from referee Pat Fox.
By half-time the margin was 0-7 to 0-2 in the hosts’ favour but any thoughts that Eamon O’Brien’s men had about enjoying an easy ride for the rest of the evening were quickly dispelled thanks to Dublin’s best spell.
They had earned a penalty within seconds when a second entanglement between Macken and Daly offered Brogan the opportunity to delve deep into the six-point gap but his spot-kick was weak and straight at David Lyons.
No matter. Dublin went on to score 1-4 in the next 12 minutes to take the lead and Brogan bagged 1-2 of it, the goal coming courtesy of a beautiful flowing move and a one-two with Daly.
David Bray’s free was all Meath had to show for their efforts since the break at that point but then the excellent Queeney drew the sides level with a point from play 18 minutes from time.
The rest of the night was pure pandemonium.
Brogan restored Dublin’s lead from a free, Queeney handed the initiative back to Meath with a goal to which Fennell responded with a point after 60 minutes. The scorelines settled after that but not the tension.
Meath were still that one point to the good when the clock turned into injury-time and then Dublin’s incessant pressure seemed to take the game into extra-time when Kevin Bonner fisted over.
Not so. There was room for one last twist. Meath launched one final attack and it was centre-back McGuinness who sent over the defining score.
The roar that accompanied it was unlike many heard before in the O’Byrne Cup.
Scorers for Meath: J Queeney 1-3 (2F), D Bray 0-3 (2f), C McGuinness 0-1, B Meade 0-1, J Sheridan 0-1, O Lewis 0-1.
Scorers for Dublin: B Brogan 1-5 (0-2f), E Fennell 0-2, D Kelly 0-1, K Bonner 0-1.
MEATH: D Lyons; D Dalton, J Macken, N McKeigue; G O’Brien, C McGuinness, S Sheridan; M Kennedy, B Meade; P Byrne, J Sheridan, O Lewis, D Bray, J Queeney, S Kennedy. Subs: M Ward for M Kennedy 17, C Ward for S Kennedy 35, S Bray for Sheridan 36, P O’Rourke for Lyons 52, G Reilly for Byrne 65,
DUBLIN: C Reilly; P Conlon, R McConnell, C McCormack; P Casey, B Sexton, C Guckian; D Carrigan, E Fennell; D Kelly, K Bonner, S O’Shaughnessy; A Kerin, C Daly, B Brogan. Substitutes: D Watson for Kerin 21, S Murray for Guckian 35, T Diamond 35, N O’Connor for Conlon 54, L Fleming for Sexton 58,
Referee: P Fox (Westmeath).
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