Shock as Joe Sheridan steps away from Meath camp

Joe Sheridan has stepped away from the Meath senior football panel ending a protracted and eventful inter-county career with the Royal County.  

After weeks of agonising over whether he should or shouldn't go Sheridan has decided to step away having told Andy McEntee of the decision a few days ago.

Sheridan first played for Meath in 2002 and over the next decade or so he became a regular member of the team working with a number of managers starting with Sean Boylan. 

He was dropped off the panel during Mick O'Dowd's reign but made a surprise return at the start of this year as the substitute goalkeeper to Paddy O'Rourke at the request of manager Andy McEntee. 

"I decided to drop myself off the panel only the other day," he told the Meath Chronicle this evening. "There's just a few situations I have to consider, work, my girlfriend is in Fiji at the minute and she's over there for a while and she'll be there for another nine months anyway. 

"Unfortunately I can't really commit to the team if I'm going to be going over there, it could be short term or long term but I can't say 'Andy I won't be at training for a month or two months,' whatever it's going to be." 

Recently O'Rourke also indicated he was stepping down from the panel and to provide cover Dunboyne player David Gallagher, who previously played in goals before retiring, as been brought back into the fold. 

Sheridan, who intends to continue playing for Seneschalstown, will be long remembered for scoring the goal against Louth in the 2010 Leinster SFC final that turned out to be one of the most controversial scores in the history of the GAA. 

He says that his decision to walk away from the Meath set-up was "massive" for him but he wants to be "fair" to the rest of the panel and manager McEntee. 

Meath start their 2018 season in Carlow on the 3rd January when they take on Carlow in the O'Byrne Cup. 

READ FULL INTERVIEW WITH JOE SHERIDAN IN NEXT WEEK'S MEATH CHRONICLE.