Meath denied closing victory by late Derry flourish

As end of campaign games go this closing clash in NFL Div 2 was a thriller as Meath surrendered a four-point lead late on and lost out by 2-11 to 1-16 to promotion chasing Derry at Pairc Tailteann today.

As it transpired, Roscommon's victory over Galway rendered Derry's victory inconsequential, but the Ulster men weren't to know they were fighting a lost cause as they were pinned to their collars by a Meath team whose safety in Div 2 for 2023 had already been determined.

With only pride and places on the championship team to play for Meath produced one of their best performances of the season, but a slow start to the game and a tiring finish left them on the wrong end of the result.

It had all looked so promising for the hosts when Shane Walsh drilled a brilliant 50th minute penalty to the net to stretch his side's lead to 2-8 to 0-10.

Meath also had claims for another penalty in the 58th minute when Ciaran McFaul appeared to foot block Jason Scully's goal chance and four minutes later they should have had a tap over 13-metre free when Odhran Lynch smothered Donal Keogan's shot on the ground outside the small square.

Those missed opportunities gave Derry oxygen as they outscored Meath by 1-4 to 0-1 in the closing 12 minutes, including six minutes of added time.

Meath can justifiably feel that they left the victory behind them, but they can also reflect on an opening quarter which Derry dominated and had Shane McGuigan not been denied by a magnificent penalty save from Harry Hogan the visitors could have been out of sight before the 18th minute mark.

Meath grew in confidence after Hogan's excellent stop, but the wide open game stayed in the melting pot and the more goal chances that Meath squandered the more likely it became that Derry would punish them - and punish them they did.

A rare error by Hogan gifted possession to Niall Loughlin who played a quick one-two with McGuigan before burying to the net from close range to make it 1-13 to 2-10 in the 66th minute.

Derry added quickfire points to lead by two just as six minutes of injury-time were announced.

Meath pushed hard for a winning goal and gave up a few simple point scoring opportunities as they went in search of a green flag.

Eoin Harkin had a late effort deflected for a '45' which Hogan converted to close the deficit to the minimum again, but Conor Glass, a former Aussie Rules team mate of Simonstown's Conor Nash at Hawthorn, had the final word with the closing score.

SCORERS

Derry - Niall Loughlin 1-4 two frees; Shane McGuigan 0-6 two frees; Benny Heron 0-1 mark; Ethan Doherty 0-1; Conor Doherty 0-1; Padraig McGrogan 0-1; Niall Toner 0-1; Conor Glass 0-1.

Meath - Jack O'Connor 1-1; Shane Walsh 1-0 penalty; Harry Hogan 0-3 one free, two '45s'; Ronan Jones 0-2 one mark; James McEntee 0-1; Bryan Menton 0-1; Matt Costello 0-1; Joey Wallace 0-1.

TEAMS

Derry - Odhran Lynch; Christopher McKaigue, Brendan Rogers, Conor McCluskey; Conor Doherty, Padraig McGrogan, Padraig Cassidy; Conor Glass, Emmett Bradley; Paul Cassidy, Ethan Doherty, Ciaran McFaul; Benny Heron, Shane McGuigan, Niall Loughlin. Subs - Shea Downey for Padraig Cassidy 31 mins, Niall Toner for Heron 49m, Lachlan Murray for Paul Cassidy 58m, Shane Heavron for Ethan Doherty 63m, Paul McNeill for Conor Doherty 74m.

Meath - Harry Hogan; Ronan Ryan, Conor McGill, James McEntee; Eoin Harkin, Gavin McGowan, Donal Keogan; Bryan Menton, Ronan Jones; Jason Scully, Thomas O'Reilly, Matt Costello; Joey Wallace, Shane Walsh, Jack O'Connor. Subs - Ethan Devine for Jones 41 mins, Bryan McMahon for Devine (blood) 51-55m, Bryan McMahon for Scully 58m, Jack Flynn for Devine (blood) 63m, Robin Clarke for McGowan 69m, James Conlon for O'Connor 71m.

Referee - Maurice Deegan (Laois).

Read Fergal Lynch's full match report and reaction from Meath manager Andy McEntee in Tuesday's Meath Chronicle