Division Two B/Derry 0-15 Meath 2-9: After this game Seán Boylan must be of the opinion he will never beat Derry as the Northerners reeled in a seven-point deficit in the final nine minutes to steal a share of the spoils at Ballinascreen yesterday thanks to Gavin Donaghy's injury-time score.
Sixteen times Boylan has failed to defeat Derry in a competitive match. Despite being reduced to 14 men when Nigel Crawford was sent off in the 13th minute for an off-the-ball incident Meath dominated as a goal in either half from Peader Byrne looked to have secured victory.
Deprived of Johnny McBride and Seán Marty Lockhart because of flu, Derry lacked composure in the opening half. Derry led by 0-2 to 0-1 early on before Byrne struck in the eighth minute. Graham Geraghty's long free found the Ballinlough man who hammered home from close range.
Crawford's sending-off should have seen Derry find a foothold in the game but with Joe Sheridan causing the home defence all sorts of trouble Meath took control. With only Conleth Gilligan and Paddy Bradley looking dangerous for the home team Meath should have had a more substantial half-time lead than 1-6 to 0-5.
Derry looked a little more composed following the introduction of Paul Murphy and Mark Lynch but the game looked to have ended as a contest when Byrne scored his second goal in the 61st minute for a 2-9 to 0-8 lead.
But with Paddy Bradley finding his range from frees, and the skipper's younger brother Eoin coming off the bench to notch two scores, Derry hauled themselves within striking distance. All that was left was for Donaghy to loft over an injury-time score.
DERRY: B Gillis; K McGuckin, N McCusker, G O'Kane; Francis McEldowney, M Kelly, P Kelly; J Bradley, F Doherty; P McFlynn, C Gilligan (0-2), C Moran; Padhraic Murphy (0-1), P Bradley (0-7, five frees), Paul Bradley (0-2, one free). Subs: K McCloy for K McGuckin; C McWilliams for K McCloy, yellow card; G. Donaghy for McWilliams, yellow card; Paul Murphy for Moran, E. Bradley (0-2) for Paul Bradley, M Lynch for F. McEldowney, yellow card.
MEATH: D Gallagher; N McLoughlin, M O'Reilly, S McGabhann; T O'Connor, D Crimmins, C King; N. Crawford, A Moyles; M Burke, T Giles, P Byrne (2-0); S Bray (0-2), G Geraghty, J Sheridan (0-7, four frees). Subs: N Kelly for J Sheridan, yellow card; D Regan for N Kelly, yellow card.
YELLOW CARDS: Derry: K McCloy (23 mins) replaced by C McWilliams; F McEldowney (34 mins) replaced by M Lynch; C McWilliams (50 mins) replaced by G Donaghy. Meath: J Sheridan (47 mins) replaced by N Kelly; N Kelly (57 mins) replaced by D Regan.
RED CARDS: Meath: N Crawford (13 mins). Derry: None.
Referee: G Kinneavy (Roscommon).
