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Royals put on a regal show  Belief
it’s what makes good sides great and great sides successful and
it grows on the trees in Meath!
On Saturday the side who were written-off as one in transition at the
start of the season answered the calls of their supporters by disposing
of heavyweights Tyrone and in the process booked a place in an All-Ireland
semi-final with Cork.
It wasn’t a classic encounter by any means with Tyrone lacking that
energetic pace which they have become synonymous for this decade but a
win is a win for Royals manager Colm Coyle and now he can start preparing
his young side for a last four clash many believe his side are well capable
of winning.
Despite capturing the Division Two League title this year most bookies
were offering prices in the region of 60/1 for the Royals to lift the
Sam Maguire in 2007. The last Leinster side to win an All-Ireland in 1999
Meath can now start dreaming of an eighth national title.
Outstanding full-back and man-of-the-match Darren Fay voiced his optimism
after the two-point win at Croke Park on Saturday when he said: “We
believe that we can win the All-Ireland.
“We are real contenders and in the dressing room before the game
we talked about that as a team.”
Meath started like they were inspired sprinting into a 0-3 to no-score
lead by the 10th minute courtesy of accurate scores from Stephen Bray
and the in-form Stephen Bray (2).
It was an uncharacteristically second rate beginning by Tyrone but in
the 12th minute they finally got on the scoreboard when Ger Cavlan pointed
smartly.
The Royals though reclaimed the ascendancy midway through the half and
in the 20th minute Shane O’Rourke’s score for the Leinster
finalists meant all three in the full-forward line had scored from play
almost a rarity in modern day football.
Graham Geraghty extended Meath’s advantage to four points soon after
and the fans in green-and-gold were already planning for the semi-final.
They were shocked back into reality though in the closing stages of the
first-half when Sean Cavanagh latched on to a Brian Dooher pass to slam
a goal past Brendan Murphy to reduce to arrears to a single point.
At the change of ends Meath were still in the ascendancy on the scoreboard
leading by 0-10 to 1-5 but had they blown their chance to topple the Ulster
champions?
With just two minutes of the second-half gone Tyrone had the ball in the
back of the Meath net again when Owen Mulligan goaled after a Cavlan free
rebounded off the post.
It looked as though the brave fight from the Royals was over but we know
by now writing off Meath is a foolhardy pastime.
In the 43rd minute Graham Geraghty used all his experience to flick the
ball over Tyrone keeper John Divine to bring to scores level on 1-12 to
2-6.
From here on in Meath dug in their heels till the final whistle though
they can consider themselves fortunate that the Red Hands left their shooting
boots at home.
A disappointed Tyrone manager Mickey Harte said: “I’m very
proud of the effort of my players but you can’t afford to have the
misses we had today and still expect to win the game.”
“We dominated the end of the game, had total control of possession
in the final 15 minutes but didn’t take our chances.” |
