Meath crash out of Leinster

Meath's Leinster SFC aspirations were given a short shift in Pearse Park today as Longford secured a shock 0-16 to 0-14 victory to earn their place in the last four for the first time in 30 years. While Meath were far from impressive and on overall play Longford can deservedly claim victory, the contest hung on referee Sean Hurson's bizarre decision to award a 55th minute free against Graham Reilly even though he had been clearly fouled. Longford broke from that free and stretched their lead to 0-14 to 0-10 and before play resumed Shane McEntee was sent-off following an off-the-ball incident. That left Meath at a severe disadvantage, but they did manage to get the deficit down to a point again before time ran out and they now drop into the hat for the qualifier draw which will take place tomorrow morning. The teams were tied seven times at the first-half, including at the interval, but Meath should really have been out of sight as they squandered three goal chances and dropped three efforts short into goalkeeper Paddy Collum. The first of Meath's five first-half wides arrived in the third minute when Donal Lenihan failed to find the target from a '45' and a minute later Longford opened the scoring with a brilliant score from James McGivney. Paddy Kennelly replied with a fisted score three minutes later, but again Longford edged ahead with Rian Brady on target. A trademark point from Reilly restored parity for a second time, but Longford continued to press and when Cillian O'Sullivan failed to gather a loose ball McGivney pounced for his second point. Reilly made it 0-3 to 0-3 before Longford had a penalty claim waved away after Andy Colgan's fair shoulder on the incoming Ronan McEntire. Colgan carelesly ran the ball out for a '45' two minutes later and Collum converted to push Longford ahead again. However the tight nature of the contest continued as Ben Brennan produced a wonder score from out wide and in the 19th minute Lenihan gave Meath the lead for the first time from their first free of the contest. Donal Keogan should have extended that lead, but he missed a point-blank goal chance and a minute later Bryan McMahon blasted high and wide when through on goals. Darren Gallagher pointed from 45-metres to make it 0-5 to 0-5 before oOSullivan was guilty of missing another excellent goal opportunity. Rian Brady took advantage of great work by Dessie Reynolds, who had robbed Sean Curran, to restore Longford's advantage, but points from Kennelly and Bryan Menton either side of Gallagher's second score ensured the teams were tied, 0-7 each, at the break. However after the break it was Longford who went in front again and they stayed there until the end. Dessie Reynolds and Gallagher opened the second-half scoring and they continued to pull clear with James McGivney and David McGivney (free) making it 0-11 to 0-8 after Reilly had scored for Meath. Points from Donal Keogan and Mickey Burke either side of a Daniel Mimnagh score closed the gap to 0-10 to 0-12, but Longford continued to press with James McGivney and Robbie Smyth pointing to make it 0-14 to 0-10 before Shane McEntee was sent-off following an incident in the build up to Smyth's score. A mistake by Sean Curran allowed Conor Berry's punt forward hop over the bar to extend Longford's led, but the closing 10 minutes belonged to 14-man Meath as they clawed their way back into the game. A Lenihan free gave Meath hope and when Curran made amends with a score it looked like the comeback was on. Eamon Wallace was denied a goal when Collum tipped his stinging drive over the bar and when Joey Wallace added a point the deficcit was done to one with three minutes remaining. A brilliant save on the line by McGill prevented James McGivney from getting a goal and deep into injury-time Sean McCormack fired the insurance point as Longford claimed a deserved win. Meath – Andy Colgan; Seamus Lavin, Conor McGill, Sean Curran (0-1); James McEntee, Donal Keogan (0-1), Shane McEntee; Bryan Menton (0-1), Paddy Kennelly (0-2); Cillian O'Sullivan, Ben Brennan (0-1), Mickey Burke (0-1); Bryan McMahon, Graham Reilly (0-3), Donal Lenihan (0-2 frees). Subs – Dan O'Neill for Kennelly 46 mins, Joey Wallace (0-1) for Brennan 54m, Eamon Wallace (0-1) for O'Sullivan 58m, Thomas O'Reilly for McMahon 68m. Longford – Paddy Collum (0-1 '45'); Patrick Fox, Padraig McCormack, Diarmuid Masterson; Michael Quinn, Donal McElligott, Daniel Mimnagh (0-1); Darren Gallagher (0-3), Conor Berry (0-1); Dessie Reynolds (0-1), Ronan McEntire, David McGivney (0-1 free); Robbie Smyth (0-1), James McGivney (0-4), Rian Brady (0-2). Subs – Sean McCormack (0-1) for Smyth 66m, Liam Connerton for Brady, Peter Foy for D McGivney both 72m, Barry Gilleran for Mimnagh 74m. Referee – Sean Hurson (Tyrone).