NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE DIVISION TWO/Dublin 0-13 Meath 2-6:PERHAPS THE only thing surprising about what happened here - five straight red cards, 11 yellow cards, topped off by a sickening punch thrown by Dublin's CiaráWhelan - was that it wasn't surprising at all. When it comes to Dublin against Meath, and they're in the mood for it, chances are there will be blood.
But there was something more disturbingly familiar about the mass melee which broke out after just four minutes and 30 seconds of play - not just the usual pushing, shoving and punching. No one can be entirely sure who started it, but when it further erupted so that 29 of the 30 players on the pitch were there or thereabouts, with the sole exception of Dublin goalkeeper Stephen Cluxton, it seemed like an action reply of the infamous "Battle of Omagh" from Dublin's opening league match of two years ago.
By uncanny coincidence, the referee between Dublin and Tyrone that day was also Tipperary's Paddy Russell, who thus found himself with another disciplinary crisis on his hands. Russell was criticised two years ago for being hesitant in dealing with that crisis and only issuing two yellow cards.
So by an unusual twist of fate, here was his chance to make some amends - and he didn't disappoint. After a four-minute consultation with his sideline officials, Russell showed the red card to Dublin forward Bernard Brogan and defender Paddy Andrews, and also to Meath's corner backs, Niall McKeigue and Shane McAnarney.
Incredibly, after the five-minute delay before play resumed, things were still boiling over. Dublin got the first score of the game on 12 minutes with a point from Brendan McManamon, but then two minutes later were further reduced to 12 men - this time because of the entirely inexcusable actions of Whelan.
Meath midfielder Nigel Crawford had blocked a Dublin clearance and, in the following exchanges, Whelan simply raised his fist and sent it directly into the face of Meath wing back Seamus Kenny, in full view of Russell and the sell-out attendance here.
Given Whelan's experience, this was an astonishing disregard for not just discipline, but all self- respect as well.
Then, as the towering midfielder walked unemotionally to the sideline, a paper tea-cup was sent flying from the centre of the main stand, and hit the ground next to his feet. It may as well have been a Molotov cocktail. Dublin manager Paul Caffrey was so inflamed he came inside the pitch perimeter and repeatedly pointed towards the apparent offender, prompting gardaí to get involved.
Nothing further came of that, but by now 15 minutes had been played, and there was hardly one passage of football worthy of mention. Dublin led by that early point and already it seemed as if the game as a sporting contest was beyond salvage.
Thankfully, Russell's complete intolerance to any sort of fouling eventually caught on, and while he was still flashing yellow cards until the finish, at least some sort of common sense was restored among the players. It was obvious no one else was about to test his consistency any further.
What was left of the first half was evenly split between the teams: Dublin pulled further ahead as Diarmuid Connelly hit the first of three excellent points, but after 28 minutes Meath finally got their first point from Cian Ward, and after a couple more exchanges it was 0-5 to 0-4 to Dublin at the break.
In a strange way, playing with 12 men against Meath's 13 suited Dublin, particularly given the extra space it forced on them. They easily outscored Meath six points to one in the opening 20 minutes of the second half, and looked set to ease home.
Then, just before the hour, Joe Sheridan took a good ball from Stephen Bray and finished beautifully into the Dublin net. A minute later, Seamus Kenny took another fine pass from Bray for a second Meath goal. When Peadar Byrne added a point cool as ice just moments later, it was suddenly all square again - 0-12 to 2-6.
Dublin's nerves held out thanks to a free from substitute Mark Vaughan, while Meath's last effort from substitute Brian Meade sailed wide.
When Caffrey was later asked about the positives of the game, he pointed to an improvement on the team's last display in Armagh.
"Last week's performance up in Crossmaglen was not acceptable. We spoke about it during the week, and that performance was not what this dressing-room is about.
"So there was always going to be a response today, and what I'd be most proud about is, after being in control of game, playing some great passages of football, Meath got two goals out of nowhere.
"Fantastic strikes they were, but it looked then as if maybe they were going to go on and win it. But it was a magnificent response from 12 Dublin players, to put forward the winning score. I think that's something that has been questioned about this Dublin team over a long period of time."
Meath manager Colm Coyle admitted Dublin deserved to win.
"We were chasing shadows for a lot of the game. But overall they were the better team for the second half. We'd the extra man, and the wind, and we only scored a point for something like 30 minutes. You don't deserve to win games like that."
DUBLIN: S Cluxton; D Henry, R McConnell, P Andrews; C Moran (0-1), B Cullen (0-1), G Brennan; C Whelan, E Fennell; B McManamon (0-1), T Quinn (0-5, four frees), P Flynn; J Sherlock (0-1), D Connolly (0-3), B Brogan. Subs: S Ryan for McManamon (48 mins), P Casey for Fennell (58 mins), B Cahill for Brennan (60 mins), M Vaughan (0-1, f) for Quinn (68 mins).
MEATH: B Murphy; N McKeigue, D Fay, S McAnarney; S Kenny (1-0), C King, E Harrington; N Crawford, M Ward (0-1); G Reilly (0-1), C Ward (0-1), P Byrne (0-1); S Bray (0-1), J Sheridan (1-1), G Geraghty. Subs: K Reilly for G Reilly (half time), B Meade for M Ward (54 mins), C O'Connor for King (64 mins).
Referee: P Russell (Tipperary).
