LEINSTER SFC SEMI-FINAL Meath 5-9 Dublin 0-13:ONE OF the periodic changes to the provincial landscape tore seismically through Croke Park yesterday. Meath put an end to nine barren years by blitzing champions Dublin in the Leinster football semi-final.
An electrifying exhibition of goal finishing was the main charge that surged through the winners’ display and completely stunned the favourites.
If Dublin had to conduct extensive debugging of their defensive programme two weeks previously against Wexford, yesterday the whole system crashed, leaving Meath’s sharp forward lines free to cut them apart.
The most striking thing was how little composure the champions showed, as the match lurched against them at the end of the third quarter. There was neither the belief amongst the more senior players nor the experience amongst their younger team -mates to plot an escape route.
As soon as Dublin slipped six behind in the 48th minute they looked as likely to come back as they had against Kerry and Tyrone in the past two years.
Too much panicking and trying to chase goals left the champions forcing the issue for little reward with all of 20 minutes still on the clock. Manager Pat Gilroy had brought in four players from last year’s team, but it failed to settle the side whereas the new full-back line cracked under the serious pressure.
Yet, this was a strange victory for Meath. Centrefield went poorly against a less than convincing Dublin performance and both Brian Meade and Mark Ward were replaced in the second half.
Dublin battled for possession to the extent that Meath were forced to make decisive progress on at best 50 per cent of the ball. From the start Cian Ward, whose digitally precise place kicking was one of the chief weapons in the team’s armoury, had a mixed day, missing his first couple of chances from a free and a 45 and ending the day with five wides.
He did however redeem himself with a marvellous 41st-minute goal, drifting laterally and bending his shot through a crowded square away from the diving Cluxton for a three-point lead, 2-6 to 0-9.
The crucial moments came a few minutes later when Dublin’s Paul Flynn thundered through the opposing defence before crashing a ball off the post when the goal would have equalised the match.
Almost immediately, Graham Reilly led a break-out from Meath’s half, which culminated in Stephen Bray rounding Cluxton and rapping a shot into the net off the right-hand post, which at the other end had denied Flynn.
Dublin thought they had replied within a couple of minutes with a goal of their own, but Bernard Brogan had been audibly awarded a free before finishing to the net. A few minutes after that, another Meath forward was released behind the Dublin defence and it was Joe Sheridan who obliged, rumbling in to fire home the goal to leave the score 4-7 to 0-11 with just three quarters gone.
Two minutes from the end, Brian Farrell, in as a replacement, struck the fifth goal – a total concession Dublin haven’t had to endure since the 1978 All-Ireland final mauling by Kerry.
At half-time the match was evenly balanced. Dublin defended much better than in the horror show against Wexford and dropped back to make it difficult for Meath, while keeping the scoreboard moving at the Hill end.
Niall Corkery and Flynn worked hard around the middle picking up ball, Alan Brogan moved the focus of attack around, his brother Bernard took a couple of neat scores and Tomás Quinn was reliable from frees.
Still, there was an ominous efficiency about the way Meath went about their early business even if Ward’s free-taking was malfunctioning and in general play Michael Fitzsimons held him well.
Sheridan, floating between the two lines, was a threat under every dropping ball and Shane O’Rourke’s ability to combine physique with accurate shooting created pressure.
Bray was however the stand-out performer. In the 10th minute he flashed down the left wing and cut inside. With Sheridan making a decoy run, Bray kept going and unleashed a fine shot into net to push his team 1-1 to 0-3 ahead.
The much-doubted Meath defence also played a part with Kevin Reilly holding things together and both Chris O’Connor and Eoghan Harrington sticking energetically to the task of closing space and Dublin’s full forwards, albeit lacking quality ball, could only manage three points from play. Michael Macauley again made an impression when brought on for Ross McConnell but by then Dublin’s boat was listing.
MEATH: 1 B Murphy; 2 C O'Connor, 3 K Reilly, 4 E Harrington; 5 A Moyles, 17 G O'Reilly, 7 C King; 8 B Meade, 9 M Ward; 10 S Kenny, 11 J Sheridan (1-0), 12 G Reilly (0-1); 15 S Bray (2-1), 14 S O'Rourke (0-3), 13 C Ward (1-4, three points frees). Subs: 6 N Crawford for Ward (47 mins), 20 C Gillespie for Meade (56 mins), 22 C McGuinness for Reilly (62 mins), 23 J Queeney for King (64 mins), 18 B Farrell (1-0) for Moyles (65 mins). Yellow cards: Kenny (31 mins), Meade (39 mins), Sheridan (68) McGuinness (69).
DUBLIN: 1 S Cluxton; 4 P McMahon, 3 R O'Carroll, 2 M Fitzsimons; 5 B Cahill, 6 B Cullen (0-1), 7 G Brennan; 8 E Fennell, 9 R McConnell; 12 P Flynn, 24 A Brogan, 10 N Corkery; 13 C Keaney (0-1, free), 14 B Brogan (0-3, two frees), 25 T Quinn (0-7, five frees, one 45). Subs: 20 E O'Gara for Keaney (49 mins)), 23 M Macauley for McConnell (49), 17 K Nolan for McMahon (56 mins), 15 K McManamon (0-1) for Quinn (59 mins), 11 D Henry for Corkery (61 mins). Yellow cards: Flynn (31 mins), Fennell (31 mins), A Brogan (49 mins). Att: 60,035.
Referee: P Hughes(Armagh).
