Louth 1-15 Meath 1-12
Substitute Craig Lennon hit the crucial late goal for Louth although it was Ciaran Downey that manager Mickey Harte singled out for praise afterwards.
Trailing in the north-eastern derby by five points with just 14 minutes remaining, Downey took on the responsibility and slotted three scores in under two minutes, igniting a thrilling revival. Louth outscored Meath by 1-6 to 0-1 in those closing minutes to secure back-to-back wins and local bragging rights.
“I said to Ciaran when the game was over, ‘Good job you came to the party’,” smiled Harte. “Because he did, at that time. He had been relatively quiet for what he’s capable of doing up to that point and then just suddenly it was bang, bang, bang. Not even three average scores, three excellent scores and without him we wouldn’t have been back in the game.”
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The broad summary of the rollercoaster encounter was that Meath dominated the first and third quarters, Louth the second and fourth. In the middle of it all, Meath lost defender Harry O’Higgins to a 24th minute red card for a high challenge on Ciaran Murphy.
Yet Meath, who trailed by a point at half-time, made light of the disparity in numbers with a strong third quarter. Shane Walsh and Mathew Costello, both back after hamstring injuries, picked off important points and Donal Keogan’s 47th minute goal then helped open up a 1-11 to 0-9 lead.
Even Harte acknowledged that it looked grim for the Wee County but Downey’s points and Lennon’s breakaway goal after an interception in his own half from Jack O’Connor’s errant pass, changed the game.
“I think Meath people would be happy with the effort but not the result,” said Meath manager Colm O’Rourke. “There is potential, there are a lot of good young players and a lot of them played well today, so I wouldn’t give up on anything yet.”
Louth: J Califf; N Sharkey, P Lynch, D McKenny (0-1); L Grey, C McKeever, L Jackson (0-1); C Early, C Grimes (0-1); C Downey (0-3), A Williams, T Jackson; D McConnon (0-3), S Mulroy (0-3, 2f), C Murphy. Subs: C Lennon (1-1) for T Jackson (12); C McCaul (0-1) for Williams (14); T Durnin (0-1) for Grey (21); B Duffy for L Jackson (56); J Hughes for McConnon (69).
Meath: H Hogan; A O’Neill, M Flood, H O’Higgins; J O’Connor, D Keogan (1-0), S McEntee; R Jones (0-1), J Flynn (0-2); C O’Sullivan, J Scully (0-1), D Campion; J Morris (0-3), M Costello (0-2, 1f), S Walsh (0-3, 1f). Subs: J O’Hare for McEntee (h/t); T O’Reilly for O’Sullivan (53); E Harkin for Campion (55); D McGowan for Scully (63); D Moriarty for Jones (69).
Ref: J McQuillan (Cavan).
