Louth deserved to win, we should have given them REPLAY
ALMOST seven years on from one of the most controversial episodes in GAA history, Meath’s Mickey Burke says he would have given Louth a replay. After Joe Sheridan fell over the line at the death in the Leinster final and then threw the ball into the net for good measure, after referee Martin Sludden somehow deemed the goal to be legal and sounded his final whistle, and after it emerged that the GAA rulebook didn’t allow for such a bizarre occurrence, the focus shifted to the Meath players. Would they do the decent thing and offer Louth a replay? Ultimately, as a group, they didn’t and many of them reflect on that decision with regret now, Burke clearly being one. “I would have given them a replay, being honest,” he says. “I missed the game because I had broken my leg at the time. It was a really weird situation. “I don’t think we should have been put in the situation. The GAA should have said, ‘Boys, there has been a bit of a disaster, we’re going to replay the game’. “I don’t think it should have been put into the Meath County Board or the players’ hands. They shouldn’t have had to make that decision, in my opinion.” There’s a pause when Burke is asked whether he really counts his Leinster medal from 2010. “I do,” he eventually answers. “What people forget is Louth deserved to win on the day. They were better than us. We didn’t put them away on the day. “Ok, we got the goal in the last minute but we walloped Offaly in the first round, beat Laois after a replay, put five goals past Dublin. People forget about them games very quickly. “Of course I’d like it in different circumstances, to have won the game a bit more clearly alright.” Although Meath have been to a few Leinster finals since, they haven’t really threatened to win one while Louth are bidding to reach their first provincial semifinal since 2010 when they take on their neighbours at Parnell Park on Sunday. Meath’s reputation as a team that never accepted defeat has been severely eroded over the past decade and in more recent times they’ve been on the receiving end of the sort of muggings that were their trademark in the 80s and 90s. It has led to the accusation of the players not caring enough, though that’s a difficult one to square with such a passionate