Beautiful Meath

Meath 2-15 Mayo 1-15 The hottest thing on the menu around Croke Park on Sunday afternoon was steaming sumptous humble pie as Meath defied the critics to stun Mayo and book their place in the All-Ireland SFC semi-final. Going into Sunday's quarter-final no one outside of the Royal County gave Eamonn O'Brien's side a chance of beating Mayo and without suspended Stephen Bray many questioned if they could even stay within five or six points of the Connacht champions. Instead, we were treated to a Meath performance that had plenty of heart, courage, determination and every other attribute that makes a warrior. It wasn't a classic performance by Meath and there were times when they made such basic mistakes that even the most optimistic Royal supporter would have to question if it was going to be their day. However, when faced with a battle, Meath fought for all their worth. Very little went right for them in terms of losing their footing and winning breaking ball in the early stages, but the biggest call of the game will leave Mayo whingeing for another 13 years. The westerners still haven't stopped complaining about the nature of Meath's All-Ireland SFC final replay victory in 1996. After the officials missed Paddy O'Rourke stepping over the line with the ball in his grasp in the 29th minute they will complain some more. The Meath goalkeeper spilled Alan Dillon's short point attempt, but held on to the ball. Television replays proved that he was over the line, but Meath were let off the hook and took full advantage. It was as good a Meath performance witnessed in many years and one of the sweetest victories in a long, long time. Despite that, the performance was below what they are capable of as many basic mistakes were made at the back, while around the midfield the breaks weren't swept up effectively as Mayo threatened to pull clear. If Meath had been more assured at the back and used the ball more wisely then the margin of victory could have been greater, but no one is going to nit-pick. The Royals are in the All-Ireland SFC semi-final for the second time in three years - who said they were a spent force? Meath were helped considerably by the old failings that came back to haunt Mayo. They didn't have the heart for a battle. They moved the ball well and at pace, that troubled Meath, but for the most part they lacked the hunger necessary to win big games. When Meath knew they would be without their talismatic captain Stephen Bray, many questioned where the inspiration would come from. We didn't have to look outside the Bray family as the suspended captain's brother, David, excelled. The younger Bray had a superb game. He took his goal with outstanding composure and added three points from the top drawer. It wasn't just his scoring that had Mayo dazzled. The O'Mahonys man showed superbly for every ball and when Meath continued to pump long ball into space he was the man that was inevitably underneath it, securing vital possession and creating opportunities. Meath persisted with the long ball when there appeared to be plenty of options, but why fix something that isn't broken and Bray and Brian Farrell exploited several Mayo weaknesses. Some will look at Farrell, Joe Sheridan, Peadar Byrne and Michael Burke and question their impact to the team, but no one can doubt the importance of the amount of work that quartet put in on Sunday. Sheridan was a constant thorn and while he doesn't possess a lightning burst of pace, he was strong enough to trouble every marker and chipped in with four points at crucial junctures. Around the middle Meath weren't as commanding as they have been in recent outings. They were beaten to a lot of breaking ball with Pa Harte and Dillon causing problems. When Meath did get to the breaks they made use of them. The amount of ground covered by the superb Nigel Crawford and Brian Meade was phenomenal and with Cormac McGuinness and Caoimhin King continuing to be a huge creative asset from the half-back line Meath looked decent. It was Mayo's ultra-talented full-forward line that made Meath look uneasy at times. Anthony Moyles and Eoghan Harrington were pushed to their limits, but coped, while Chris O'Connor had to adopt a more defensive attitude. Victory looked unlikely after 20 minutes as Meath were terrible in the opening quarter. The handling was sloppy, the passing wayward and the lack of pace was evident. However, once they settled and appeared to shake off their nerves they were magnificent. Those nerves were evident inside 45 seconds when O'Connor was marked absent when Aidan Kilcoyne lofted over the opening score of the game. The Ballinabrackey man was caught out again four minutes later when he fouled Kilcoyne and Dillon converted the resultant free. Meath couldn't even muster an attack at that stage. Andy Moran was granted the freedom of Croke Park to make it 0-3 to 0-0 before Byrne had Meath's best chance of a score, but he lost possession when a goal appeared on. Meade surrendered possession cheaply and King picked off the ground to allow Dillon put four points between the teams after just 11 minutes. At that stage Meath looked doomed, but never write off Meath. Cian Ward lofted over a disputed '45' and when Crawford claimed possession from the subsequent kick-out he helped set up Bray for a fine point. Aidan O'Shea skinned Harrington to make it 0-5 to 0-2, but again Meath responded well. Sheridan's point attempt turned into an excellent pass to Bray and after Keith Higgins slipped the O'Mahonys man blasted the ball beyond Ken O'Malley. Bray followed up by screwing a 20-metre free wide and after Moyles gifted a pass to O'Shea to set-up Kilcoyne, Mayo appeared to have settled back into their stride. Sheridan blasted over the bar when aiming for the top corner of the net to restore parity at 1-3 to 0-6, but Mayo again got their noses in front when Kilcoyne pointed after Meath had missed out on another breaking ball. In a remarkable close to the half, Meath tagged on scores from Sheridan and Farrell to stun Mayo and take a 1-5 to 0-7 interval lead. If there wasn't enough drama in the opening half, then there was plenty more to follow after the resumption. Ward converted a free to stretch Meath's advantage, but Mayo levelled with simple scores from Kilcoyne and Trevor Mortimer. The Connacht champions had plenty of chances, but they couldn't get their noses in front. Farrell restored Meath's lead after riding two tough tackles before substitute Conor Mortimer blasted a great goal chance over the bar to make it 0-10 to 1-7. Sheridan edged Meath ahead again, but by the end of the third-quarter points from Keith Higgins and Dillon (free) had Mayo in the ascendancy and they threatened to pull clear when Meath goalkeeper Paddy O'Rourke failed to cope with Trevor Mortimer's centre. O'Shea fisted to the net. Lesser sides would have capitulated, but not this Meath team. The response was instant. Sheridan's long sideline was well won by Bray who was fouled by Liam O'Malley, penalty. Ward showed pure class to convert and Meath were back in the hunt at 2-8 to 1-12. Bray levelled matters again, but despite being on top Meath were struggling to get the necessary scores as Mayo mopped up the incessant long ball. Conor Mortimer gave Mayo a lead again from a free after Moyles needlessly fouled O'Shea, but then Meath took over in the final seven minutes. Sheridan got a fist to a long punt forward from Moyles to deflect the ball over the bar and then in the space of 30 seconds Jamie Queeney and Crawford pointed to make it 2-12 to 1-13. Farrell was denied a goal when his low effort was brilliantly deflected over the bar by O'Malley, but it was Meath's day when Bray fisted over from a tight angle and Queeney had all the time in the world to make it 2-15 to 1-13. Mayo responded with a couple of Conor Mortimer points, but the will to battle was gone and it was Meath who marched on to another All-Ireland SFC semi-final meeting with Kerry that will evoke memories of 2001. SCORERS Meath - D Bray 1-3; C Ward 1-2, penalty, free, '45'; J Sheridan 0-4; B Farrell 0-3; J Queeney 0-2; N Crawford 0-1; Mayo - C Mortimer 0-4, two frees; A Kilcoyne 0-3; A Dillon 0-3, frees; T Mortimer 0-2; A O'Shea 1-1; A Moran 0-1; K Higgins 0-1; THE TEAMS Meath - Paddy O'Rourke; Chris O'Connor, Anthony Moyles, Eoghan Harrington; Michael Burke, Cormac McGuinness, Caoimhin King; Nigel Crawford, Brian Meade; Peadar Byrne, Joe Sheridan, Seamus Kenny; David Bray, Brian Farrell, Cian Ward. Subs - Jamie Queeney for Byrne 55 mins, Byrne for O'Connor 66m, Niall McKeigue for Kenny 68m. Mayo - Kenneth O'Malley; Donal Vaughan, Ger Cafferkey, Keith Higgins; Peadar Gardiner, Trevor Howley, Andy Moran; David Heaney, Ronan McGarrity; Pa Harte, Trevor Mortimer, Alan Dillon; Aidan Kilcoyne, Tom Parsons, Aidan O'Shea. Subs - Conor Mortimer for Parsons half-time, Mark Ronaldson for Kilcoyne 41 mins, Liam O'Malley for Vaughan 43m, Billy Joe Padden for O'Shea 63m, Parsons for Heaney 66m. REFEREE Joe McQuillan (Cavan).