Meath need to refocus

Dear sir - The idea of Louth being awarded a possible replay against Meath should never have come to this. The Louth county board should have taken stock of the situation and accepted referee Martin Sludden's decision. Instead they have been made to look like whingers just as the FAI were in the aftermath of Ireland losing to France last November. Frank Lampard took the appalling injustice meted out to him when his shot bounced a yard over the line with great dignity. Lampard asked for technology to be introduced in the future, he didn't say the error had cost England their World Cup place. The English may be many things, but they have always taken defeat well. The fact the decision for a possible replay was left up for the Meath panel to decide was ridiculous. What were the players going to say? Yes, we'd like to play it again even though we won the match and the referee was going to award a penalty anyway. Of course they were going to reject it. The referee made a poor decision, but it wasn't Meath's fault the Louth forwards wastefully kicked a game away they should have won. The result was very hard on Peter Fitzpatrick and players - it looked very likely they were going to claim a first Leinster title in over half a century. In the space of a few seconds it was taken away from them. The Wee county were far superior to Meath in the second half. They were hungrier, they had more conviction - it was 53 years in waiting. As is so often with the traditionally weaker teams in the country, when they put it up to the big boys, they lack the killer instinct to finish the deal. They had numerous opportunities to put away Meath and failed. This game has a habit of biting you where it hurts if you spurn the chances offered to you. History has taught us that if you don't finish off Meath, you will end up regretting it. The Royals never know when they are beaten. It was no surprise to see them spilling forward in droves in the dying seconds, sensing that Louth were vulnerable, and applying the coup-de-grace, albeit with Martin Sludden's help. Louth will be demoralised by the result and embarrassed at their post-match protests. They must get over it. They are still in the championship. Wouldn't the likes of Mayo and Galway bite at the opportunity to be in their position now? The Louth players need to dust themselves down, lift their heads up and put it behind them. It's difficult to know how this result and the following histrionics will affect Eamon O'Brien and his men. It's a terrible distraction and they should feel no guilt over it. They won the game, the history books will show that. It is a first Leinster crown in nine years. Meath need to re-focus - the quarter-finals beckon. This is the strongest Meath side in a long time. But they will need to vastly improve on their recent display, and if they do, they will play long into the summer. Yours, Shane Quinn, Maynooth.