Meath strike late to earn victory over Dublin
When Robbie McDaid found the back of the Meath net with 15 minutes to give Dublin a one-point lead it looked like a familiar old story, but the Royals dug deep to claim a morale boosting 0-16 to 1-11 victory over the four-in-a-row All-Ireland champions in the Sean Cox SF challenge at Pairc Tailteann.
The atmosphere throughout was jovial and lighthearted, but as Meath started to get closer to the finish line with their noses in front the decibels started to raise and when Niall Kane and Mickey Newman lofted over late points the final whistle was greeted with racous cheers.
Both sides were determined to entertain the big crowd and while the intensity levels weren't quite fever pitch there were some decent passages of play.
Mickey Newman opened the scoring in the fourth minute from a converted free, but Dublin's response was swift as Stephen Smith, who starred for them in their win over the Underdogs on TG4 a few weeks ago, pointed a free before he then added one from play.
Meath moved the ball well and with decent pace as Bryan Menton lofted over from a difficult angle and in the 14th minute Newman added his second free to restore Meath's lead, 0-3 to 0-2.
Bryan McMahon looked certain to rattle the net seconds later, but Andy Bunyan got a toe to the Ratoath man's effort to steer it out for a '45' which Newman dropped short.
Graham Reilly did extend Meath's lead with a superb score, but Dublin stayed in touch with Conor Mullally closing the gap to the minimum.
Ethan Devine made it 0-5 to 0-3, but Dublin went close to a goal as Brian Fenton was denied by a superb block from Ronan Ryan.
Points from James McEntee and Newman (free) sandwiched a score from Sean Bugler as Meath moved 0-7 to 0-4 clear and in the closing minutes of the half Newman, with a brilliant point from play, and Small, from a free after Andrew Colgan had denied Robbie McDaid a goal, ensured a 0-8 to 0-5 interval lead for the Royals.
The second-half was played at almost pedestrian pace with the odd injection of speed here and there, but the play was very broken with both sides making multiple substitutions.
Meath started the second period impressively with Reilly pointing after 13 seconds, but Dublin responded with scores from Darren Gavin and Eric Lowndes.
Reilly capped his performance with an excellent score from his last contribution to make it 0-10 to 0-7, but points from Ryan Basquel and Conor McHugh either side of a Danny Quinn score closed the gap to 0-9 to 0-11, but Dublin looked to be taking control when McDaid netted from close range with 15 minutes remaining.
Even after Newman added another free Dublin moved 1-11 to 0-12 clear when Brian Fenton and McHugh scored, but they failed to score in the last 13 minutes as Meath finished with a florish with two excellent scores from Bryan McMahon followed by the late scores from Kane and Newman which sealed the victory on a day that was more about Sean Cox and his family than football.
Meath - Andrew Colgan; Seamus Lavin, Conor McGill, Ronan Ryan; James McEntee (0-1), Donal Keogan, Niall Kane (0-1); Adam Flanagan, Shane McEntee; Bryan Menton (0-1), Graham Reilly (0-3), Ethan Devine (0-1); Bryan McMahon (0-2), Michael Newman (0-6 four frees), Thomas O’Reilly. Subs – Mickey Burke for Ryan, Danny Quinn (0-1) for Menton both 42 mins, Sean Tobin for Reilly 48m, Thomas McGovern for Devine 54m, Shane Glynn for McGill 58m, Mark Brennan for Colgan 64m, Gavin McCoy for S McEntee 64m.
Dublin – Andy Bunyan; Robbie McDaid (1-0), Sean McMahon, Eoin Murchan; Eric Lowndes (0-1), Brian Howard, Conor Mullally (0-1); Brian Fenton (0-1), Darren Gavin (0-1); Niall Scully, Ryan Basquel (0-1), Sean Bugler (0-1); Stephen Smith (0-2 one frees), Eoghan O'Gara, Paddy Small (0-1 free). Subs – CJ Smith for Murchan, Cormac Howley for O'Gara, Aaron Byrne for Scully all half-time, Robbie Gaughan for Howard 40 mins, Conor McHugh (0-2) for Smith 45m, Declan Monaghan for Lowndes 50m, Shane Boland for Bugler 52m, Oisin Lynch for Small 53m, Jack Hazley for Fenton 58m, Cian Murphy for Mullally 61m, Ian Reilly for Bunyan 64m
Referee – Noel Mooney (Cavan).