Red mist shrouds Leinster title win

The manner of victory will be questioned, debated and disputed for many years, but the history books will show that Meath claimed the 2010 Leinster SFC title following a fortunate win over Louth at Croke Park on Sunday. All the clichés about daylight robbery and victory being snatched from the jaws of defeat cannot do justice to what transpired in injury-time of this absorbing game as Joe Sheridan bundled the ball into the net. It was an illegal manoeuvre that led to Meath's winning score, that cannot be denied, but claims that Meath cheated their way to victory are wide of the mark as Sheridan clearly made an effort to kick the ball to the net. Just because he failed to make contact with the ball with his foot doesn't mean he cheated. Referee Martin Sludden and his officials erred badly and ultimately cost Louth their first Leinster SFC title in 53 years. The shameful reaction by some so-called Louth supporters towards the referee should be condemned and unfortunately the disgraceful scenes as the officials left the field that resulted in one Garda and a steward needing treatment will detract from what was a thrilling game. It is easy to be graceful in victory, but Louth were magnificent. They set out their stall, executed their game-plan perfectly and restricted the Meath attack in the second-half, they would have been deserving winners. However, history should have warned them, never discount the Royals until the final whistle. It should never have come down to the situation where Sheridan's injury-time goal was the decisive score but Louth have only themselves to blame. They kicked 14 wides, wasted three great goal chances and dropped a couple of efforts short into Brendan Murphy's hands. The referee's decision to allow Sheridan's goal to stand was disgraceful, but the Tyrone official made several terrible and incorrect calls where he denied Meath decent chances by calling back play for handling the ball on the ground when it clearly wasn't. He also gave Louth several handy frees when their defence was under pressure in the closing stages, so claims that the referee favoured Meath are wide of the mark. When the dust settled and the red mist clears, Louth will look back on the closing seconds and endure nightmares for years. In the late scramble Seamus Kenny was denied a certain goal by an outstanding block from Paddy Keenan. Louth had several chances to clear. Dessie Finnegan coughed up cheap possession to Sheridan and then fouled the Meath man as he illegally crossed the goal line. At a very minimum, had the goal not been allowed Meath would have been awarded a penalty, and according to Louth manager Peter Fitzpatrick the referee told him that. Whether Meath are worthy champions is a matter for debate. They were awful, the win shouldn't paper over that crack. Yet again they were cleaned out at midfield in the second-half where Brian White was allowed pull the strings. The full-back line was shredded by the lively Louth inside forward trio and the stellar Meath attack failed to function with only Graham Reilly and Stephen Bray registering points from play. Louth were the hungrier team. Meath never raised their game to the level that stunned Dublin and when the pressure was piled on in the second-half, Eamonn O'Brien's side struggled. It took Meath 12 minutes to launch an attack of note in the second-half. By that stage Louth had turned a 0-5 to 0-8 interval deficit into a one-point lead. No Meath forward managed a point from play after the break and had it not been for some fine frees from Cian Ward they would be facing into the qualifiers. Meath never got going. For most of the first-half they did well at midfield. Nigel Crawford and Brian Meade won plenty of primary possession while Graham Reilly, Seamus Kenny and Gary O'Brien claimed breaking ball, but then it all went wrong after the break. With a steady platform from midfield Meath slowly got into the game. They stumbled from the traps as Louth made the brighter start. JP Rooney squandered a goal chance inside 60 seconds, but by the fourth minute points from Rooney and Keenan had Louth 0-2 to 0-0 ahead. Any thoughts of complacency were swiftly knocked from the Meath heads. Reilly settled Meath with the first of his four points and when Stephen Bray rounded Eamonn McAuley to restore parity three minutes later Meath looked to be finding their stride. After wasting a simple point chance Bray gave his side the lead for the first time in the 12th minute, but five wides in that period were symptomatic of Meath's woes. Cian Ward pointed a 13-metre free after he was fouled by McAuley, but four minutes later Louth were back on level terms from two White frees. Shane Lennon exposed more frailties in the Meath defence, but he shot wide before a decent Meath move which involved Kenny, Shane O'Rourke, Sheridan and Bray ended with Reilly edging Meath ahead again 0-5 to 0-4. Louth restored parity from a Colm Judge free six minutes before the break, but the remainder of the half belonged to Meath as Reilly (two) and Nigel Crawford points boosted the Royals to a 0-8 to 0-5 interval advantage. Meath's pathetic start to the second-half saw Louth forge into a 0-9 to 0-8 lead with points from Keenan (two), Judge and Adrian Reid. By that stage Meath hadn't even mustered an attack and when they did eventually break forward Bray was fouled and Ward put the free wide. Sixteen barren second-half minutes elapsed before Ward converted a free from 40 metres after O'Rourke had been fouled by Michael Fanning off-the-ball. Anthony Moyles indicated that Meath's poor spell might be over when he edged them ahead with a fine score. However, Louth's resilience was superb. White hit the upright before Andy McDonnell levelled and when Rooney took advantage of an awful attempt by Brian Meade to claim possession he buried a brilliant goal. Louth looked set for victory. Meath's miraculous powers of recovery didn't let them down. Two Ward frees, one from over 50 metres, narrowed the deficit to a point. Louth lost Judge to a second yellow card with two minutes remaining, but they looked comfortable. The late drama produced scenes that make sport so unpredictable and cruel. Meath were crowned Leinster champions after a nine-year wait. SCORERS Meath - G Reilly 0-4; C Ward 0-4, frees; J Sheridan 1-0; S Bray 0-2; A Moyles 0-1; N Crawford 0-1. Louth - B White 0-4, three frees; J P Rooney 1-1; C Judge 0-2, one free; P Keenan 0-1; A Reid 0-1; A McDonnell 0-1. THE TEAMS Meath - B Murphy; C O'Connor, K Reilly, E Harrington; A Moyles, G O'Brien, C King; B Meade, N Crawford; S Kenny, J Sheridan, G Reilly; C Ward, S O'Rourke, S Bray. Subs - C McGuinness for Moyles 64mins, P Byrne for O'Rourke 68m. Louth - N Gallagher; E McAuley, D Finnegan, J O'Brien; R Finnegan, M Fanning, R Greene; P Keenan, B White; A McDonnell, M Brennan, A Reid; C Judge, S Lennon, J P Rooney. Subs - S Fitzpatrick for Greene 30 mins, A Hoey for Fanning 52m, P Smith for Lennon 57m, D Byrne for Reed 61m. REFEREE Martin Sludden (Tyrone).