Royals join the Reds in qualifiers after shock defeat
SOMETHING is rotten in the state of Denmark, says Marcellus, an officer of the palace guard, after the ghost of the dead king appears in Shakespeare’s Hamlet.
Well, Meath football is in a rotten state this week after the ghost of 1982 appeared in this Leinster SFC quarter-final at Pearse Park, Longford on Sunday.
It was 36 years ago that the midlanders caused quite an upheaval by knocking Meath out of the Leinster campaign in Tullamore. That defeat left the county at its lowest ebb in decades and those bad old days are back in earnest as the Royals sunk to new depths after a buoyant Longford consigned them to the opening round of the qualifiers.
Andy McEntee’s misfiring charges drew Tyrone at home when the draw was made on Monday morning and that match is scheduled for the weekend of June 9th. The clash against the former Ulster kingpins leaves the county with the stark prospect of their earliest exit from the championship in years.
While Longford were magnificent in victory, Meath were absolutely dire in defeat. The display left supporters wondering, with all the preparation that has gone in over the past few months, how they could produce such an abject display.
Denis Connerton is in his second three-year spell as Longford boss, having previously served in the job in the early Noughties, and he was tasting a Leinster championship victory for the very first time with his native county.
The midlanders had to endure a few anxious moments in the closing stages as Meath hit back from a five-point deficit to close the gap to the minimum. However, they held their nerve and a point from veteran substitute Sean McCormack in the second of four added minutes sealed a thoroughly deserved win.
The dismissal of wing back Shane McEntee following an offthe-ball incident involving Rian Brady when they were four points down on 56 minutes didn’t help Meath’s, cause but they managed to play their best football after that.
There was controversy surrounding the sending-off as Graham Reilly seemed to be hauled to the ground as he broke through, but instead of giving Meath a free in front of the posts referee Sean Hurson penalised the St Colmcille’s man and Longford went up the field to extend their lead to four following Robbie Smyth’s point.
The referee’s attention was then drawn to the off-the-ball incident and McEntee, son of the manager, was shown red.
The hosts eventually went five clear when a long-range effort from Conor Berry was allowed hop over the bar.
Joey and Eamon Wallace had entered the fray at that stage and the brothers injected badly-needed pace to the Meath attack.
Donal Lenihan (free) and Sean Curran reduced the deficit before Eamon Wallace burst through, only to see his piledriver of a shot deflected over the bar by keeper Paddy Collum. That was probably another indication that it was not going to be Meath’s day and while Joey Wallace reduced the lead to the minimum Meath were unable to gain parity.
It was Longford who ended the scoring, substitute Sean McCormack with the insurance point in the second of four added minutes to give his side a famous victory.
The opening half was probably when the game was won and lost as Meath spurned three gilt-edge goal chances. Donal Keogan, Bryan McMahon and Cillian O’Sullivan all failed to hit the target after the Longford defence had been sliced open. Meath didn’t even come away with a single point from those opportunities and it came back to haunt them at the final whistle.
What left many Meath supporters bemused was that no pressure was put on the Longford kickouts at any stage. With as many as 13 men behind the ball at times, Meath also failed to apply pressure on the man in possession, leaving Longford with plenty of time to pick out a colleague with a pass. Credit, though, to the home side for the number of scores they kicked from long range over the 70 minutes.
Meath, who gave championship debuts to Andrew Colgan, Sean Curran, Paddy Kennelly and Ben Brennan, only led once in the contest, following Donal Lenihan’s pointed free on 18 minutes.
It was point for point throughout the half from the time the impressive James McGivney opened the scoring on five minutes. Paddy Kennelly opened Meath’s account and his midfield partner Bryan Menton closed it at the end of the first half to leave it 0-7 each at the break.
Longford threatened a goal in the early stages, but Robbie Smyth was dispossessed by Shane McEntee as he was about to pull the trigger on nine minutes. McGivney then powered through the Meath rearguard but blasted over the bar when he might have done better.
Ronan McIntire had claims for a penalty waved away on 12 minutes after he went down following a challenge from keeper Andrew Colgan.
Given that they had created the more clear-cut goal opportunities, it seemed only a matter of time before Meath found the Longford net in the second half.
Donal Lenihan had a chance to put his side ahead a minute after the restart, but his effort fell short, before Dessie Reynolds and Darren Gallagher pointed at the other end.
The home side were beginning to dominate the exchanges in the third quarter and they went three clear following Daniel Mimnagh’s point on 50 minutes.
Mickey Burke got in on the scoring act with a close-range point, but the alarm bells were ringing as McGivney and Robbie Smyth left the hosts four clear and that effort that hopped over the bar from Conor Berry left it 0-15 to 0-10 on 58 minutes.
Meath shook themselves up at that stage, but it was much too late to save them from an embarrassing defeat.