Leinster a busted flush? Ten shocks beg to differ

Leinster football – the ultimate busted flush, so the Groundhog Day narrative goes.

Tomorrow Dublin ‘embark on a mission’ (surely the wrong phrase?) for a 14th consecutive provincial title, facing ‘arch-rivals Meath’ (another term under threat from the Trade Descriptions Act) in a ‘hotly anticipated Croke Park showdown’ (enough, we say, enough!).

We get it: nobody expects anything anymore. The bookies pricing Dublin at 1/50 against the only other Leinster county to have lifted Sam Maguire in the last four decades speaks volumes. But it wasn’t always thus. Unless or until they get bored, Dublin will retain a vice-grip on the Delaney Cup, having monopolised it for 18 of the last 19 years. But the province still retains a certain shock value, as Westmeath have just discovered against Wicklow.

And as the following roll call underlines, this millennium has contained its fair share of hard-to-fathom Dub defeats. Here, then, is our list of the 10 greatest Leinster shocks of the 21st century …

1. MEATH 5-9 DUBLIN 0-13 (2010)

Could it happen this weekend? Don’t answer. Then again, nobody saw this one coming either. It was a different era, for sure, with Dublin 15 years into a Sam Maguire famine – but they had won five Leinsters on the spin and, at half-time, they were level (0-8 to 1-5).

A surreal second half contained four more goals to silence a catatonic Hill as Dublin’s rookie full-back line (whatever became of Philly McMahon, Rory O’Carroll and Mick Fitzsimons?) buckled. In truth, they were hung out to dry by a lack of protection. Meath’s five goals came via Stephen Bray, Cian Ward, Bray again, Joe Sheridan and Brian Farrell.

If Paul Flynn hadn’t rattled the woodwork when the gap was only three, it might have been a different story. And yet, no more than the Startled Earwigs collapse to Kerry in ’09, this watershed proved a blessing in the long run.

2. WESTMEATH 3-19 MEATH 2-18 (’15)

Happier Leinster times for the Westies who, at the 23rd attempt, finally beat the Royals in SFC combat.

“That was our goal, to get to a Leinster final, break the hoodoo. It’s a miracle for the lads,” declared manager Tom Cribbin after this riotous semi-final.

An even bigger miracle when you consider Meath led by 10 points after 27 minutes, eight at the break, and nine after 50 minutes. Cue a maroon whirlwind led by John Heslin (1-9) and Kieran Martin (2-3), outscoring them 2-8 to 0-1 down the home straight.

3. CARLOW 2-14 KILDARE 1-10 (2018)

The Carlow Rising’s soaring crescendo. “Everyone talks about it being a shock,” Turlough O’Brien mused after this quarter-final ambush in Tullamore. “The shock is we were in Division 4 for so long.”

True, there were signs in the tea leaves. Kildare had been relegated from Division 1 and had lost 11 on the trot in all competitions; Carlow had been promoted from the basement.

But they hadn’t beaten Kildare in SFC battle since 1953, and did so here without hitting a wide. Losing boss Cian O’Neill summed it up in one word: “Catastrophic.”

4.WESTMEATH0-14DUBLIN0-12(’04)

Westmeath had pedigree and now a proven managerial winner in Páidí Ó Sé. Dublin had been stunned by Laois in ’03.

Still, don’t claim this wasn’t a shock. Especially after Dublin raced four clear and led by three at the break. Injury-time points from Joe Fallon and Paul Conway sealed a first SFC win over Dublin since 1967, and left an embattled Tommy Lyons to run a gauntlet of abuse as he headed for the dressing room.

5.WICKLOW0-13KILDARE0-9(2008)

The master schools the pupil. Or, if you prefer, Mick O’Dwyer masterminds Wicklow’s first ever Leinster SFC win in Croke Park while consigning Kieran McGeeney to the most traumatic managerial baptism conceivable.

6. MEATH 1-12 LOUTH 1-10 (2010)

First up, an admission: Meath beating Louth is not a shock. But the scenes of mayhem at the end of this Leinster final were genuinely shocking. How Martin Sludden allowed Joe Sheridan’s last-gasp ‘try’ to count as a match-winning goal is still hard to fathom, 14 years later.

7. LAOIS 0-16 DUBLIN 0-14 (2003)

Arguably the beginning of the end of Lyons’ capital reign. His team selection backfired. They shot 16 wides and wasted three first-half goal chances. And yet, ultimately, this semi-final was all about Mick O’Dwyer and his mercurial team of talents shattering the glass ceiling. Pádraig Clancy’s outrageous late point captured the mood as Laois beat Dublin for the first time in 22 years, as the precursor to a first Leinster title in 57.

8. WEXFORD 2-14 MEATH 2-13 (2008)

Wexford reaching a fifth consecutive Leinster semi-final may not qualify as a bolt from the blue. Except for the following: Meath, All-Ireland semi-finalists in ’07, initially lorded this Dr Cullen Park clash and were 10 points clear after 50 minutes. They managed one more point; Wexford hit them for 2-6.

9. KILDARE 2-11 DUBLIN 0-12 (2000)

The surprise is not that Dublin lost this Leinster final replay. Rather, it’s how they lost it. Ahead by 0-11 to 0-5 … but then 90 crazy seconds after the restart Kildare were level, thanks to goals from Dermot Earley and Tadhg Fennin. Tom Carr’s men imploded, scoring one second-half point. That team’s GUBU moment.

10. OFFALY 1-11 MEATH 0-10 (2023)

This quarter-final just about makes the shortlist (edging out Longford’s 2018 ambush of Meath and Louth lacerating Kildare in 2010) on the basis of its significance: it demoted the Royals to the Tailteann Cup. Later, in his end-of-year report, manager Colm O’Rourke would describe it as “rock bottom” and the first half in Tullamore as “one of the worst performances” by any Meath team ever.

All’s well that ends well: Meath regrouped and won the Tailteann. Winning tomorrow will be the hard part.