Silke purse for Meath

Engineering dramatic comebacks has become part of Meath football folklore and another chapter was added to the list of Royal County revivals at Pairc Tailteann on Saturday night. Just when it looked like the defending champions were about to make an exit from the Leinster MFC at the first hurdle, Harrison Silke conjured up a late, equalising point to force the game into extra-time. Meath made the most of the opportunities they created in the extra 20 minutes to secure victory at the end of what was an engrossing encounter full of honest endeavour and fast-paced football. This game had just about everything - well-taken scores, spells of high tempo, skilful football, a dramatic finish and red cards for Meath"s Ciaran Lenehan (second yellow) and Offaly"s Anton Sullivan shortly before the end of normal time in separate incidents. It was real thrill-a-minute fare and at the end when all the action was over the Meath supporters in the sizeable, raucous crowd were left to savour a victory that was dug out the hard way. Meath were in front for most of the way. After a slow start they found their flow and were ahead by 0-6 to 0-2 at the interval. Gradually, Offaly clawed their way back into contention in the second-half. They were helped along the way by a goal from Mark Young who was allowed to slice his way through the Meath defence before rifling the ball to the net at the end of the third-quarter. Offaly whittled down Meath"s lead and Michael Brazil did well to loft over a point with four minutes to go to haul the teams level. Two minutes later Graham Guilfoyle split the posts to edge the Faithful County in front. It looked game, set and match. Up stepped Silke to salvage the game for the young Royals. His match-saving score came after an Offlay attack broke down in front of the Meath posts. The ball was moved upfield with Kevin Mallon, Conor Devereux and Damien Carroll all involved. Silke won possession on the right and about 20 metres out. It was a very difficult angle and their was no shortage of defensive cover. The Na Fianna forward was undaunted, switched on his radar, took aim and slotted over a fine score. Seconds later the whistle sounded and both sides had to prepare for a further 20 minutes of action, with the score standing at 0-11 to 1-8. Silke"s equalising point appeared to energise Meath while Offaly looked dispirited, perhaps believing that their best chance had gone. Whatever the reason, the Royal County were much sharper, much more clinical in extra-time as they forged on to win with two points from Damien Carroll, which included one superbly taken free, and one each from Bryan Menton, Ailbe Mahon, Emmet Boyle, Shane Gillespie and Padraig McKeever. Silke didn"t add to his tally in extra-time, but he had already done enough to underline his considerable talent as a forward and he still ended up as Meath"s top scorer with six points, all from play. Liam Tolan was another member of the forward division who impressed with fast, angled runs. The Offaly defence was in a flap every time he got the ball and he showed an ability to take his scores with three fine points while Devereux and Sean Tobin also contributed to Meath"s normal time scoreline. There were long spells, particularly in the second-half, when Meath struggled to get a firm foothold at midfield and Offaly were not slow in taking advantage. They were all too often let down by wayward shooting. Offaly"s goal also revealed a gaping gap in the Meath defence. For most of the time, however, the Offaly players got little joy from a stubborn Royal defence where Lenehan was impressive while Mallon and David Coyle also did well each side of him. The opening 15 minutes belonged to Offaly when it came to creating chances however, some of their shooting was deplorable. They ended up with the same number of wides as Meath - 12 - but they spurned some great opportunities. If they had been more clinical they could have gone home with smiles on their faces. Offaly did look certain to get a second goal deep in extra-time when John Crombie found himself in front of posts and just a few metres out. His shot was brilliantly turned away by Meath netminder Conor McHugh. There were many examples of some well-worked scores carved out by Meath most notably either side of the interval when they put together some good spells of football. One move late in the first-half started with McHugh. He passed to Mahon who embarked on a lengthy run before off-loading to Silke who slotted over. It was an example of direct football that served Meath well on the night and now Coyle"s colts can look forward to a second round test against Westmeath on Saturday, 23rd May at Pairc Tailteann. Until then, they can savour a victory that included a rousing comeback, a traditional part of Meath football. SCORERS Meath - H Silke 0-6; L Tolan 0-3; D Carroll 0-2, one free; B Menton 0-1; A Mahon 0-1; C Devereux 0-1; E Boyle 0-1; S Tobin 0-1, free; S Gillespie 0-1; P McKeever 0-1. Offaly - M Young 1-1; G Guilfoyle 0-2; B Allen 0-2; A Sullivan 0-2; D Scanlon 0-2, two frees; M Brazil 0-1; R Leavy 0-1. THE TEAMS Meath - C McHugh; K Mallon, C Lenehan, D Coyle; G Kennedy, B Menton, M McCormack; D Carroll, A Mahon; E Boyle, M O"Sullivan, C Devereux; L Tolan, H Silke, S Tobin. Subs - P McKeever for O"Sullivan 47 mins; S Gillespie for Tobin 47m; S Kavanagh for Mahon 55m; R Rahill for Lenehan extra-time; D Larkin for Kavanagh extra-time; O"Sullivan for Silke extra-time. Offaly - S Nally; P Kelly, D Kelly, D Coughlan; B Hogan, J Ledwith, J Egan; N Graham, G Guilfoyle; M Brazil, J Crombie, R Dunne; B Allen, A Sullivan, J Duffy. Subs - D Scanlon for Crombie; M Young for D Kelly 33 mins; R Leavy for Duffy 48m; Crombie for Sullivan extra-time; J Kavanagh for Egan extra-time; J Dunican for Allen extra-time. REFEREE Paul Kneel (Louth).