Meath fall short in Ballybofey
For a brief moment with 15 minutes remaining Meath fans dared to believe, but their dreams of a shock All-Ireland SFC Super 8s win over Donegal were dashed as the superior hosts finished with a flourish to run out flattering 2-19 to 1-13 winners in Ballybofey this afternoon.
When Darragh Campion gave Meath the lead for the first time since the opening seconds in the 55th minute Donegal looked stunned, but like true Ulster champions and genuine All-Ireland contenders they quickly settled again and limited Meath to just one further point while adding 1-8 in that spell to open this phase of the championship with a win.
The nine-point margin of defeat is harsh on Meath and doesn't reflect how much they were in the game, but the reality of the contest was that Donegal found it easier to pick off their scores and for the third game in a row the Royals have now leaked 1-17 or more.
There are plenty of positives for Meath to take away from this performance, but patience with moral victories is fast wearing thin for these players and while they know they played better than the scoreline suggests they will also be aware that they made some basic errors that contributed to their downfall.
At times there was a lack of composure in front of goals. Cillian O'Sullivan and James Conlon could have made better use of goal chances, while Shane McEntee also blazed over when set through on goals.
Gavin McCoy was unlucky to have a goal ruled out for square ball, but on reflection Padraic Harnan will regret not taking the shot on himself.
There are a lot of ponderables for Meath. A number of stray kickouts gifted simple turnovers to Donegal and with players like Michael Murphy, Paddy McBrearty and Ryan McHugh ready and waiting to pounce on every half chance Meath's errors were like manna from heaven.
In the searing heat Donegal were much more economical with their chances in the opening half while Meath were often slow and ponderous in their build up.
Despite that the Royals were every bit a match for the Ulster champions and apart from McBrearty's 25th minute goal, which came after a rare Conor McGill slip, there was little between the sides.
A first minute fisted score from O'Sullivan got Meath off the mark and it was Donegal who looked nervous in the opening minutes.
However once they settled Donegal moved the ball with pace and accuracy and levelled the tie in the fifth minute when Jamie Brennan fisted over.
McBrearty shifted the point of attack on his own to edge Donegal ahead and they stayed there to the break with Murphy capitalising on a poor kick-out when he gathered the sideline to make it 0-3 to 0-1.
Patient play led to Bryan Menton pulling one back for Meath, but Donegal kept their visitors at arms length with Jason McGee, after an excellent approach, and Brennan, with his second after another poor restart from a kickout, made it 0-5 to 0-2 in the 10th minute.
Meath's response was impressive and once again when they injected some pace into their attack they reaped rewards with McGill picking out O'Sullivan superbly for a fine point and Mickey Newman winning possession well before making it a one-point game.
After going eight minutes without a score Ryan McHugh took the initiative and strode forward to stretch Donegal's lead to two, but once again Meath responded well with Donal Keogan showing amazing bravery, after Ethan Devine's shot was blocked down, to set up James Conlon for a decent score.
Then came the hammer blow. McGill's slip, helped by a little nudge from McBrearty freed up Ciaran Thompson to release McBrearty and the Donegal attacker made no mistake to fire to the net and make it 1-6 to 0-5.
Another quick counter-attack led to a point for Niall O'Donnell as Donegal moved five clear, but again Meath refused to panic with Newman converting a free before a long spell of patient play led to a point from McMahon which made it 0-7 to 1-7 in the 32nd minute.
Murphy was afforded too much space to reply for Donegal and a minute into injury-time Michael Langan restored his side's five-point lead, but with the last action of the half McMahon pointed to close the gap to 0-8 to 1-9 at the break.
Meath hit the ground running after the interval with James McEntee pointing inside 22 seconds and two minutes later they should have been level when Shaun Patton knocked O'Sullivan's centre into the path of Conlon whose instinctive effort hit the post and went wide.
McBrearty settled Donegal with a free, but Meath continued to press and in the 43rd minute they thought they had a goal when McCoy punched to the net, but the Dunboyne was deemed to be inside the square when he latched onto Harnan's centre and the score was ruled out.
If it weren't for bad luck Meath would have had no luck at all.
Donegal's response to that let off was another super score from McBrearty, but Meath kept trying and in the 45th minute Donal keogan was fouled by Daire O Baoill and from the resultant penalty Newman found the net to make it 1-9 to 1-11.
Meath were on a high. McMahon and Menton kicked super scores to restore parity and heading into the final quarter Darragh Campion lofted over to give Meath a shock 1-12 to 1-11 lead.
However Donegal settled with a free from McBrearty and even though Shane Mcentee pulled a point back from a goal chance after a Ryan McHugh score, Meath failed to hit the target again and struggled to mount an attack as points from McBrearty (two, one free), Brennan, Oisin gallen and Murphy ('45') eased them 1-18 to 1-13.
That gap could have been greated but Andy Colgan did brilliantly to deny Eoin McHugh, but the second goal eventually game two minutes into injury-time as Gallen netted before Eoin mcHugh completed the storming finish which left Meath regretting what might have been.
SCORERS
Donegal – Paddy McBrearty 1-6 three frees; Oisin Gallen 1-1; Jamie Brennan 0-3; Michael Murphy 0-3 one '45'; Ryan McHugh 0-2; Jason McGee 0-1; Niall O'Donnell 0-1; Michael Langan 0-1; Eoin McHugh 0-1.
Meath – Mickey Newman 1-2 1-0 penalty, one frees; Bryan McMahon 0-3; Cillian O'Sullivan 0-2; Bryan Menton 0-2; James Conlon 0-1; James McEntee 0-1; Darragh Campion 0-1; Shane McEntee 0-1.
TEAMS
Donegal – Shaun Patton; Paul Brennan, Neil McGee, Stephen McMenamin; Ryan McHugh, Odhran McFadden-Ferry, Eoghan Ban Gallagher; Hugh McFadden, Jason McGee; Ciaran Thompson, Niall O'Donnell, Jamie Brennan; Paddy McBrearty, Michael Murphy, Michael Langan. Subs – Daire O Baoill for Brennan 42 mins, Eoin McHugh for Thompson, Oisin Gallen for O'Donnell both 48m, Frank McGlynn for J McGee 61m, Eamonn Doherty for McFadden-Ferry 68m, Caolan Ward for McMenamin 70m.
Meath - Andy Colgan; Seamus Lavin, Conor McGill, Shane Gallagher; Donal Keogan, Padraic Harnan, Gavin McCoy; Bryan Menton, Shane McEntee; Ethan Devine, Bryan McMahon, James McEntee; Cillian O'Sullivan, Mickey Newman, James Conlon. Subs – Shane Walsh for Conlon 42 mins, Darragh Campion for Devine 45m, Graham Reilly for McMahon 62m, Adam Flanagan for S McEntee 65m, Thomas O'Reilly for O'Sullivan 69m. Black card – S Gallagher (replaced by Sean Curran 57m).
Referee – Conor Lane (Cork).