Donegal banish Meath memories

Donegal 1-13 Meath 0-14

Donegal banished the memory of one of the most crushing defeats in the county's history with a heroic display at Croke Park, where they sent Leinster giants Meath crashing out of the race for the Sam Maguire Cup.

An All-Ireland semi-final failure 12 years ago was the spur which drove Mickey Moran's side to its finest hour since they tasted All-Ireland triumphh in 1992.

And they did it with real style, winning a bruising All-Ireland Qualifier Round Four clash with a heart-warming display of courage, self-belief and footballing class.

Chrissy Toye's goal three minutes before half-time was to prove crucial, and in the end Meath, one of Gaelic Football's great survivors, could not produce another Houdini act.

Brendan Devenney struck two early points to give Donegal the sort of start they needed, but Ollie Murphy and Trevor Giles brought the scores level to set the scene for what was to be a tense and close first half, often threatening to boil over.

The sides were level on four occasions during that opening half, each side in turn enjoying a period of supremacy.

Toye, Devenney and Adrian Sweeney all found the target to ease the Ulster side into a two points lead, but back came Meath for full forward Graham Geraghty to kick to superb scores for parity at 0-5 each.

Donegal's free-running style and two-man inside forward line of Devenney and Sweeney were beginning to cause problems to Sean Boylan's side, however and in the 32nd minute they struck gold.

Devenney, under pressure from his marker, managed to slip the ball to the inrushing Toye, and the teenager blasted the ball to the roof of the net.

Devenney and Sweeney tagged on further scores, and at the break, Donegal led by 1-7 to 0-6.

And when Sweeney added his second, followed by a delightful long range effort by midfielder Jim McGuinness, Mickey Moran's side were five points to the good, at 1-9 to 0-7.

Two Richie Kealy points narrowed the gap, and the sides traded point for point before Ollie Murphy brought Meath to within two points of their opponents, and looking increasingly menacing.

Playmaker Trevor Giles drifted deep, Nestor pressed forward with purpose, and the Donegal defence was frequently stretched by the creating running of front men Greaghty and Murphy.

A huge effort from John Cullinane left just a point between the sides, but Donegal defended superbly in the closing stages, Barry Monaghan, Noel McGinley and the youthful Kevin Cassidy breaking up Meath attacks.

And when Michael Hegarty fisted a late insurance point, they were in seventh heaven, the heartbreak of 1990 long since forgotten.