VICTORIES FROM JAWS OF DEFEAT
MEATH football teams built up a fierce never-say-die reputation throughout the decades but particularly during the Sean Boylan era.
During Boylan’s 23 years in charge Meath teams faced adversity on many fronts but they never knew when they were beaten and they instilled a fear into their opponents.
On numerous occasions, particularly in crucial championship matches, they managed to claw their way back from almost certain defeat to emerge victorious.
In their first All-Ireland final appearance under Boylan in 1987 Cork threatened to swamp them in the early stages before Meath got the measure of them to pull clear and win by six points.
Those battling qualities were never more evident than the following year in the All-Ireland final replay again against Cork with Meath having to play almost the entire game with 14 following the dismissal of midfielder Gerry McEntee.
This time they had a point to spare at the finish.
Who will ever forget the fourgame saga against Dublin in 1991, articularly the final one, with defeat staring them in the face they not only managed to work a wonder goal from Kevin Foley but then snatched a dramatic winning point.
Their fight back in the All-Ireland final that year against Down was no less spectacular but this time they came up marginally short, suffering an agonising loss by two points.
The personnel might have changed over the years but the mindset didn’t as Meath teams turned defeat into victory on numerous occasions throughout the 1990s and into the 2000s.
We take a look back on five of Meath’s most memorable ‘Lazarusrecoveries’ down the years with pride of place going to a team not managed by Sean Boylan.
That was back in the 1970 when Meath recovered from an 11 points deficit to snatch victory and be crowned Leinster champions against holders Offaly on a sensational scoreline of 2-22 to 5-12.
MEATH 2-22 OFFALY 5-12
MEMORABLE, epic, majestic, amazing, magnificent, fantastic - take any superlative you like from the Oxford dictionary, or any other bible of words for that matter, and this game will still haunt and defy you to pick the right one to describe it.
Not my words but those of the late great Jim McCullen as he reported in the Drogheda Independent on Meath’s sensational victory over holders Offaly in the 1970 Leinster final at Croke Park.
I was fortunate enough to attend that match myself as a (very young) youngster and 50 years later I can still recall the result as if it had happened yesterday.
I can also remember that Meath came from a long way back to win and that Trim’s Mickey Fay was sprung from the bench and scored two second half goals.
It was a game that left an indelible print on my mind and it must go down as one of the all time great matches.
Another unique aspect of the game was that it was an 80 minutes match, following the passing of a motion at GAA Congress the previous year that all provincial finals, All-Ireland semi-finals and finals be extended to 80 minutes playing time.
In his Irish Independent match report Mitchel Cogley wrote: ‘And if anybody had suggested before the game that a team would score five goals and 12 points and lose, they would have been consigned to the nut case department.’ Meath led by five points before Offaly had their opening score on 14 minutes.
However by half-time the Faithful had one hand on the trophy after scoring four goals and they led 4-7 to 0-9 at the break.
What happened in the second half was breathtaking and will go down as one of Meath’s greatest ever comebacks and sweetest victories.
When Offaly went 11 points clear at the start of the second half Meath’s cause looked hopeless.
For 10 minutes of that second half Offaly countered each Meath point to maintain their seemingly invincible advantage and there was little indication of a comeback.
However Meath gradually began to pick off their points and had cut the deficit to seven by the 55th minute, 4-11 to 0-16.
Next came an amazing burst of scoring that put Meath, who wore blue jerseys, firmly back in contention.
A crossfield ball from Tony Brennan was met by the fist of Fay which ended in the net.
Within 30 seconds Fay had pounced for his second goal and then Mick Mellett swung over the equalising point.
Kieran Claffey regained the lead for Offaly before Tony Brennan converted another free at the other end.
Then Brennan, Matt Kerrigan and Ken Rennicks inched Meath three points clear with seven minutes remaining.
Offaly were not yet finished however and Willie Bryan struck for their fifth goal from a Tony McTague free to again level the sides.
Tony Brennan then missed a free that he would usually score but with 90 seconds remaining Brennan was set up by Kerrigan and he swung over what proved to be the winning point from the right wing.
In his Irish Press match report Gerry McCarthy said: ‘All the superlatives one could think of could not describe this contest, which at the end had everyone present limp with excitement.
More matches like this would have the crowds thronging every venue in the country and if one had a crib it would be in the fact that one team had to lose.’ Meath coach Mick Campbell said he felt that an hour was long enough for any match, but after this he had changed his mind.
‘We trained for the 80 minutes and I never had any fears that the team might tire in the extra 20 minutes.’
MEATH: Sean McCormack; Bertie Cunningham, Jack Quinn, Peter Black; Mick White, Terry Kearns, Pat Reynolds; Vincent Foley, Vincent Lynch 0-1; Tony Brennan 0-10, Matt Kerrigan 0-3, Mick Mellett 0-2; Ken Rennicks 0-3, Joe Murphy 0-1, Oliver Shanley 0-2. Subs: Mickey Fay 2-0 for Black, Peter Moore for Foley.
OFFALY: Martin Furlong; Eugene Mulligan, John Smith, John Egan; Nicholas Clavin, Larry Coughlan, Pat Monaghan; Kieran Claffey 1-2, Willie Bryan 1-1; Paddy Fenning 0-1, John Cooney 1-0, Tony McTague 0-4; Pat Keenan 0-1, Murt Connor 2-3, Jody Gunning. Subs: Jimmy Hanlon for Monaghan, Sean Kilroy for Gunning, Willie Molloy for Claffey.
REF: Brendan Hayden (Carlow)
MEATH 0-12 MAYO 1-9
MAYO held a six point lead in both the drawn and replayed All-Ireland final of 1996 but were unable to clinch victory on either occasion.
However its the drawn match that gets the edge in the ‘memorable comebacks’ as Meath fought back from that deficit in the second half to force a replay.
When the Connacht champions led by the same margin in the replay they had the aid of a stiff breeze at that first half.
Few would argue that this was a game Mayo should have won but bridging a 45 year gap since their last All-Ireland win weighed heavily when Meath found their rhythm in the final quarter.
John Maughan’s side opened up a 0-5 to 0-2 lead but only led 0-7 to 0-4 at half-time which didn’t reflect their overall superiority against a very subdued Meath.
Meath supporters hoped for better in the second half but after the teams exchanged points on the restart Mayo took a firm grip on proceedings after seizing on a mistake in the Royals rearguard.
Paddy Reynolds made a fumble and Ray Dempsey eventually fired past Conor Martin to send Mayo fans delirious.
Instead of hammering home their superiority Mayo retreated and remarkably only added another point to their tally.
Meath soon gained the initiative and boosted by points from Trevor Giles and Brendan Reilly cut the deficit to four with 15 minutes remaining.
Giles, his fifth point, and PJ Loftus then swapped scores.
Further scores from John McDermott, Giles (free) and Reilly left just the minimum between the teams and set pulses racing.
Mayo were holding on for dear life but then came that last-gasp equaliser from Colm Coyle, his long range effort bouncing in front of keeper John Madden before going over the bar.
Another stirring comeback and the rest is history!
MEATH: Conor Martin; Mark O’Reilly, Darren Fay, Martin O’Connell; Colm Coyle 0-1, Enda McManus, Paddy Reynolds; Jimmy McGuinness, John McDermott 0-1; Trevor Giles 0-6, Tommy Dowd, Graham Geraghty 0-1; Evan Kelly, Brendan Reilly 0-3, Barry Callaghan. Subs: Colm Brady for Kelly, Jody Devine for McGuinness, Donal Curtis for Reynolds.
MAYO: John Madden; Kenneth Mortimer, Kevin Cahill, Dermot Flanagan; Pat Holmes, James Nallen, Noel Connelly; Liam McHale, David Brady; James Horan 0-3, Colm McMamamon 0-1, Maurice Sheridan 0-4; David Nestor, John Casey, Ray Dempsey 1-0. Subs: PJ Loftus 0-1 for Nestor, Anthony Finnerty for Casey, Kevin
O’Neill for Horan.
REF: Pat McEnaney (Monaghan)
MEATH 2-20 KILDARE 3-17 (AET)
THIS Leinster SFC semi-final replay on Sunday, July 20th 1997 will go down as one of the most enthralling encounters ever.
Reigning All-Ireland champions Meath needed a late Trevor Giles point to force a 0-12 to 1-9 draw a fortnight earlier.
And it was the 1996 Footballer of the Year who again came to his side’s rescue with a match-saving goal to send this replay to extra-time.
However Kildare, with the wily Mick O’Dwyer at the helm, appeared to have guaranteed themselves victory when they led by six points at the end of the first period of extra-time.
What followed was one of the most astonishing comebacks ever as Meath, calling on all of their survival instincts, hit seven successive points.
Four of those points were superb efforts from super-sub Jody Devine who could do nothing wrong in the final 10 minutes.
That Kildare rallied and somehow managed to conjure an equaliser from Paul McCormack right at the death added to the excitement levels.
Ballinlough’s Devine will forever be remembered for his contribution to his county’s cause that day after being sprung from the bench.
Kildare led 1-7 to 0-7 at half-time and stretched that lead to five in the second half as Meath were reduced to 14 men following the dismissal of Graham Geraghty.
When Trevor Giles had a penalty saved late on it seemed the end for Meath but the Skryne man made amends moments later to send the game to an additional 20 minutes.
Meath completed the task in the second replay, winning 1-12 to 1-10.
However that series of matches took their toll and Meath had nothing left in the tank when facing Offaly in the final.
MEATH: Conor Martin; Mark O’Reilly, Darren Fay, Donal Curtis; Paddy Reynolds, Enda McManus, Colm Coyle; Jimmy McGuinness, John McDermott; Trevor Giles 2-8, Tommy Dowd 0-2, Graham Geraghty 0-1; PJ Gillic, Brendan Reilly 0-3, Ollie Murphy 0-2. Subs: Martin O’Connell for McManus, Nigel Nestor for McGuinness, Jody Devine 0-4 for Gillic, Evan Kelly for Geraghty (sent off in normal time), McGuinness for Coyle, McManus for O’Reilly, Kevin Cahill for McGuinness.
KILDARE: Christy Byrne; Martin Ryan, Davy Dalton, Sos Dowling; Anthony Rainbow, Glen Ryan, Ken Doyle; Niall Buckley 0-4, Willie McCreery 1-0; Eddie McCormack 0-4, Declan Kerrigan, Tom Harris 1-0; Padraig Graven 0-6, Martin Lynch 0-1, Brian Murphy 1-0. Subs: Dermot Earley 0-1 for McCreery, Brian Fahy for Harris, Paul McCormack 0-1 for Doyle.
REF: Pat O’Toole (Longford)
MEATH 2-12 WESTMEATH 3-9
‘OLLIE, that’s another fine mess you got us out of!’ was the heading in the Drogheda Independent over the match report of the Meath versus Westmeath All-Ireland SFC quarter final at Croke Park on Sunday August 5th, 2001.
It was the Carnaross man who earned Meath a retrieve by blasting an equalising goal a minute from the end of normal time of what was a pulsating encounter.
Westmeath were seeking their first ever championship victory over their neighbours and were well on their way after leading by eight points, then nine, and eventually seven at the half-time break.
The shock of conceding three opening half goals, the third of which arrived on the stroke of half-time, was still reverberating as the teams took the field for the restart with the scoreboard reading Westmeath 3-7 Meath 1-6.
Luke Dempsey’s side had ran Meath ragged throughout the opening half but went into their shell in the second as Meath even