All Ireland MFC semi-final: Meath comeback to beat Mayo
Meath 2-10
Mayo 1-11
Meath scored two late
controversial goals to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat in an error-ridden
All-Ireland MFC semi-final at Croke Park this afternoon.
The
never-say-die Royals outscored Mayo by 2-4 to 0-1 in the final 25 minutes to
book a place in the All-Ireland final against either Dublin or Kerry on
September 23. While they deserved thier win on the basis of the amount of
scoring chances they created, Andy McEntee's side benefited from a number of
poor refereeing decisions in the second half, the most significant of which came
with four minutes remaining when a penalty was given against Mayo captain Adam
Gallagher for a 'foot block' on Cillian O'Sullivan.
TV replays showed
that O'Sullivan's shot came off the back of Gallagher's leg, and that Tyrone
referee Cathal O'Hagan had got the decision wron . Gallagher earned a yellow
card for his troubles before Fiachra Ward stepped up to level the match at 1-10
apiece, despite his spot-kick being poorly struck.
Extra-time looked to
be on the cards until Meath substitute Patrick Kennelly pounced for the winning
goal in the first minute of stoppage time. Once again, the score was shrouded in
controversy with both Cillian O'Sullivan and Kennelly having appeared to have
fouled the ball in the build-up.
Overall, this wasn't a game for the
purists with scrappy play being the order of the day. The match officials will
also want to forget this game in a hurry, but Meath won't complain as they may
yet to get a chance to avenge their Leinster final mauling by Dublin on the
biggest stage of all.
Meath almost made a dream start when, straight from
the throw-in, the ball bounced invitingly in front of James McEntee who beat
Mayo 'keeper Conor O'Malley to the punch, only to see his effort drift to the
left and wide of an open goal. Following that early let-off, Mayo opened the
scoring from an Eoin Lavin free after a foul on their captain Adam
Gallagher.
Sean Regan doubled the Connacht side's lead with a fine
right-footed effort from 40 metres in the seventh minute before Meath saw a
second goal chance go abegging when O'Malley saved at point blank range from
full forward Stephen Coogan.
Mayo were already proving more economical as
centre forward Stephen Coen found himself in acres of space to knock over their
third point in the 10th minute. As Meath continued to miss chances, Shane
Hennelly made it 0-4 to 0-0 at the end of the first quarter after James Quinn
had done well to hold off his marker in the build-up.
Having failed to
take any of six scoring chances that came their way, the Royals finally opened
their account from a Fiachra Ward free in the 18th minute. But disaster struck
two minutes later when the raiding James Quinn picked out Diarmuid O'Connor on
the edge of the square and his shot had just enough power to beat Meath 'keeper
Robert Burlington for the opening goal.
When wing back Patrick Durcan
followed up with another point, Mayo led by 1-5 to 0-1 and looked to be coasting
to victory. But Meath dug in to outscore the beaten Connacht finalists by 0-5 to
0-2 in the last eight minutes of the half. Jason Daly floated over a point after
his initial goal attempt was blocked. This was quickly cancelled out by a
beautifully-struck '45 from Lavin.
Meath then enjoyed the best spell of
the half which yielded three quick scores without reply. Daly got the first of
them, team captain Pauric Harnan was next to raise a white flag before James
McEntee also found the target. The Meath scoring sequence was broken by Adam
Gallagher who slotted over a free after Meath full back Brian Power was accused
of handling the ball on the ground.
In the final minute of the half,
Cillian O'Sullivan hit a beauty off his left foot to leave four between the
sides at the break.
Mayo resumed with two quick points from Adam
Gallagher - the first coming from a free awarded for a foul on Regan. James
Quinn made it a seven-point game, 1-10 to 0-6, with Mayo's third in-a-row, but
they weren't to score again until the third minute of stoppage time as the
Royals took control. Substitute Ruairi O Coileain pointed from play before Ward
landed two frees.
Cillian O'Sullivan left a goal between the sides with
six minutes remaining when Conor O'Malley could only tip his shot over. Then
came the game's big turning point (and talking point) when Meath were
incorrectly a penalty which Ward was relieved to see hit the net after his low
shot straight down the middle took a deflection off O'Malley's right foot on its
way in.
Both sides hit a wide each before Adam Flanagan made a superb
catch in midfield and sent Meath on the attack. Kennelly (illegal hand pass) and
O'Sullivan (pick-up) both appeared to foul the ball in a move which ended with
Kennelly blasting to the net from close range and giving the Royals a 2-10 to
1-10 lead.
A shell-shocked Mayo had one last chance to force extra-time,
but Stephen Coen blazed over.
http://www.hoganstand.com/Meath/ArticleForm.aspx?ID=176108
Preview: MFC semi-final - Meath v Mayo
24 August 2012
Mayo's
Adam Gallagher and Meath's Shane McEntee
When Meath and Mayo lost their
respective provincial finals to Dublin and Roscommon, very few would have
expected them to feature at the business end of the championship, but here they
are just one game away from an All-Ireland final appearance.
Hammered by
Dublin in the Leinster final on a 1-11 to 3-17 scoreline, Meath bounced back
with a dramatic All-Ireland quarter-final victory over Ulster champions Tyrone
in Newry. Full forward Stephen Coogan scored a late goal to give the Royals a
surprise 2-12 to 1-14 win which went a long way towards exorcising the ghosts of
their capitulation at the hands of Dessie Farrell's men.
The performance
against Tyrone would suggest that the Andy McEntee-managed Royals are a lot
better than they showed in the Leinster final when perhaps the big occasion got
to some of their players. A physically strong team, Meath had shown good form in
beating Longford, Offaly and Westmeath, and had also run Dublin close in the
Leinster league final, before being ripped to shreds by the Metropolitans on
July 22.
After scraping over Sligo in the semi-final, Mayo lost the
Connacht final to Roscommon by 0-8 to 0-10 at Hyde Park. They were widely
written off before their All-Ireland quarter-final against Tipperary at Croke
Park, but defied the odds to send the All-Ireland and back-to-back Munster
champions packing on a 0-19 to 1-8 scoreline. It was a terrific performance from
Tony Duffy's charges who dominated the half back line and midfield, and clearly
had their homework done on the opposition.
This is an extremely difficult
game to call. Mayo deserve to be favourites after their display against Tipp
when Eoghan Lavin and Ruadhri O'Connor were outstanding at midfield and Adam
Gallagher played a captain's part in attack. But what if they play like they did
against Sligo and Roscommon - when none of their six forwards managed a score
from play - again?
The Leinster final apart, Meath have been quite
impressive this year. Fiachra Ward - younger brother of senior Cian - is an
excellent free-taker while Adam Flanagan is a huge presence at midfield. They'll
be desperate to make up for their last visit to GAA headquarters and certainly
won't hold any fears of Mayo. But if the Westerners can reach the same heights
as they did against Tipperary, they are unlikely to be stopped.
Mayo - Conor O'Malley, Joe Geraghty,
Sean Moran, Michael Plunkett, Patrick Durcan, Cian Burke, Kevin Lynch, Brian
Mullen, Adam Gallagher, Eoghan Lavin, Stephen Coen, Diarmuid O'Connor, James
Quinn, Sean Regan, Shane Hennelly.
Meath - Robert Burlingham;
Declan Smyth, Brian Power, Shane Gallagher; Conor Carton, Shane McEntee, Seamus
Lavin; Pauric Harnan, Adam Flanagan; Cillian O'Sullivan, Jason Daly, James
McEntee; Barry Dardis, Stephan Coogan, Fiachra Ward.
Match Details: Croke Park, Sunday 26
August, 1.30pm
http://www.hoganstand.com/Meath/ArticleForm.aspx?ID=176090
