NFL DIVISION TWO Meath 0-17 Tyrone1-14:THUMP AND thunder stuff in Navan, where Meath survived to fight another year in Division Two by nothing more than the hair on their chinny-chin chins.
A draw here probably shouldn’t have been enough and when Derek Fahy’s final whistle blew, nobody in the Meath crowd had a notion whether it was. Cue a voice over the tannoy to soothe their worries.
“Eh, the result in Newbridge,” began the announcer. “I’m not sure of the score but Kildare won by a point.” Which meant Sligo lost by a point. Which meant Meath’s 1-12 to 0-8 win over Sligo in February not only stands as their best result but also the one that keeps them up.
Séamus McEnaney wiped the sweat from his brow and slapped backs, puffing his cheeks at the first break he feels he’s caught all spring. “Lo and behold, it was Geezer who done me the favour!” he laughed, a reference to the bout of antler-rutting himself and Kieran McGeeney had on the sideline in Newbridge a couple of weeks back. Staying in Division Two isn’t where Meath set the bar at the start of the league but it’s where the bar settled. Clearing it allows McEnaney to open his top button and loosen his tie a little.
“It’s a relief. This has been a horrendous league campaign for us, for whatever reason. We showed a great mental strength today, a great bit of reliance and that’s something a lot of people have accused us of not having. I can tell you there’s no reason to doubt the character of these fellas and if anyone on the outside did that, they got their answer today.”
Results elsewhere meant Tyrone would have had to hand Meath a thrashing here if they were to make the league final. Although they led by four points early in the second half, it looked and felt more like a one-point margin dressed up in fancy clothes. Meath had the better of the midfield exchanges and wreaked constant havoc in the Tyrone full-back line as well.
Paddy O’Rourke was a handful, albeit his influence waned after half-time. He lorded it over Justin McMahon at times, scoring a brace of points and drawing frees when the Tyrone defence got desperate. But for a fine save from Pascal McConnell on 28 minutes, he’d have had a goal as well.
Not bad for a player who is nominally the squad’s sub-goalkeeper. Put it this way – he will have given both counties enough to think about with the championship on the horizon. Even if he turns out to be peripheral to Meath’s campaign, Mickey Harte won’t forget the woes inflicted by the height and smarts of a good full-forward under a dropping ball.
Tyrone played well in flashes and would have been sore had they lost, with referee Derek Fahy a particular focus for their ire. “We’d have a little bit of bewilderment about some of the decisions,” said Harte. “The consistency isn’t there. We retaliated after a free and the ball was thrown up. Meath got a free and Ryan McMenamin was thrown to the ground and he moved it up 10 yards for Meath. There’s a lot of assessment of referees going on . . . I think referees are getting too caught up in the person sitting in the stands and not paying enough attention to what’s in front of his eyes.
Tyrone led by 0-8 to 0-6 at half-time mostly because they were more clinical in front of goal. Martin Penrose and Mark Donnelly scudded around the inside forward line with bite and purpose and Brian McGuigan put in a typically artful afternoon too. Penrose tapped home the only goal on 48 minutes after a Donnelly run, leaving Tyrone 1-10 to 0-9 up with 22 minutes to go.
Meath’s Graham Reilly kicked four of the best points he’ll kick all year in the second half, with defenders Shane McAnarney and Brian Menton chipping in one apiece. They missed three good goal chances, although each flashed over the bar for points.
The last of them came from Joe Sheridan and drew the sides level with eight minutes to go. They arguably had the better of a frantic endgame as well but the last two of Reilly’s points were cancelled out by a couple more from Penrose.
MEATH: B Murphy; C King, S McAnarney (0-1), G O'Brien; M OSullivan, B Menton (0-1), C Lenihan; B Meade, N Crawford (0-1); S Kenny (0-1), S ORourke (0-1), G Reilly (0-4); P ORourke (0-2), J Sheridan (0-2), C Ward (0-2, both frees). Subs: P Gilsenan (0-1) for S O'Rourke (47 mins), A Moyles for O'Sullivan (48 mins), M Ward for Meade (51 mins), B Farrell (0-1, free) for C Ward (53 mins), A Moyles for Sheridan (72 mins).
TYRONE: P McConnell; M Swift, J McMahon (0-1, 45), D McCaul; D Harte, C Gormley (0-1), R McMenamin; K Hughes, A Cassidy (0-2); C Cavanagh (0-1), B McGuigan (0-1), S Cavanagh (0-1, free); M Penrose (1-6, 0-3 frees), M Donnelly (0-1), O Mulligan. Subs: Seán ONeill for Harte (48 mins), B Dooher for C Cavanagh (54 mins), P Harte for O Mulligan (57 mins).
Referee: D Fahy(Longford).