It began with a sin-bin controversy in Newbridge ... it ended with a most disappointing defeat imaginable ... to Cavan in the third round of the All-Ireland qualifiers at Clones. Throughout the six months of Meath's competitive year in senior football, there were few highs and there were enough lows to generate a genuine air of pessimism around the county. By Brendan Cummins. It ended with the departure of Sean Boylan, the man who had become synonymous with Meath football ... the man who had delivered unprecedented success to the county ... the man who was the county's greatest sporting ambassador. There is a limit to what a manager can do once the well runs dry and although promotion to Division 1 of the National League was achieved, it was obvious on a number of occasions, especially in Carrick-on-Shannon and Clones that the well was not only dry but also water-resistant. Meath have yet to take full advantage of the back-door system and it appears that a championship defeat in proving to be an insurmountable psychological obstacle. On the evidence of the display against Dublin, Meath should have advanced further in the qualifiers, for long periods of the game against Dublin they played like potential Leinster champions but against Leitrim and Cavan their displays were too bad to be true. The closing stages of the league campaign which saw improved performances against Cavan, Fermanagh and Monaghan, provided some cause for optimism going into the Dublin game but an injury sustained by Trevor Giles while playing for Skryne against Wolfe Tones in the local club championship was a major blow both for the player himself and for Meath's prospects. Ollie Murphy was also struggling to overcome an injury problem as were Tommy O'Connor and Stephen MacGabhann. A crowd of almost 66,000 turned up in Croke Park to witness the latest installment of Meath-Dublin clashes and they hadn't long to wait for some controversy. Nigel Crawford was the recipient of a punch from Ciaran Whelan at the throw in but Longford referee John Bannon only booked Whelan when a red card was the appropriate sanction. Graham Geraghty was in outstanding form in the early stages ... he pointed from the right and he was also the creator of Joe Sheridan's superb goal as well as adding another point himself, this time from the left wing. Alan Brogan brought Dublin back into contention and his goal in the 17th minute levelled the match. He was proving more than a handful for Mark O'Reilly whose interrupted preparation was taking its toll. Dublin were leading by a point on the run-in to half-time but two points from Brian Farrell and a sensational effort from Geraghty from the right corner sent Meath into a two-point lead at the interval, 1-7 to 1-5. The Meath challenge gradually faded in the second half during which they could add only three further points ... Dublin scored seven in the same period to finish up as winners on a 1-12 to 1-10 scoreline. Dublin were quite vulnerable throughout but Meath were unable to take advantage especially with the supply to Geraghty being effectively cut off. It was bitterly disappointing but at least some promise was shown and there was every reason to be cautiously optimistic about a good run in the qualifiers. Meath - D Gallagher, M O'Reilly, K Reilly, N McKeigue, D Crimmins, D Fay, C King, N Crawford 0-1, A Moyles, N Kelly 0-1, P Byrne, G Geraghty 0-3, J Sheridan 1-0, B Farrell 0-4, S Bray. Subs - P Reynolds, J Cullinane, D Regan 0-1 and O Murphy The draw for the qualifiers could scarcely have been more kind. Antrim were the first opponents ... they had home advantage at Casement Park. Tommy O'Connor and Paddy Reynolds were the two wing backs with Mark O'Reilly and Joe Sheridan the pair to lose out indirectly. Stephen Bray netted twice in the opening 12 minutes before he was forced to retire with an injury. Peadar Byrne also found the net after 20 minutes and then Graham Geraghty, taking up where he left off against Dublin, also got in on the act with the fourth goal. Meath led by 4-4 to 0-7 at the break and the game was over as a contest. Without being overly-impressive Meath eventually won by 14 points, 5-12 to 0-13, substitute Joe Sheridan grabbing the fifth goal in the closing stages. Meath - D Gallagher, N McKeigue, K Reilly, C King, T O'Connor, D Fay, P Reynolds, N Crawford, A Moyles, N Kelly, D Crimmins 0-1, P Byrne 1-2, G Geraghty 1-4, B Farrell 0-2, S Bray 2-0. Subs - J Sheridan 1-2, R Magee 0-1, M Burke, N McLoughlin and J Davis. Meath's luck in the draw held again for the second round when Leitrim were the opponents. Despite always being difficult opponents in Carrick-on-Shannon, Leitrim were not expected to put a halt to a Meath Gallop which appeared to be gaining some momentum. Appearances however, turned out to be deceptive and the display in Carrick was desperately poor. At half-time Leitrim led by 0-4 to 0-3 and when James Glancey slipped the ball underneath David Gallagher in the 54th minute the home team were four points clear, 1-4 to 0-6. Meath battled back in somewhat laborious fashion, to level the match but Leitrim went ahead again with time almost up. It was Ollie Murphy who came to the rescue, only seconds after his introduction as substitute. The Carnaross man duly delivered the equalising point to send the game into extra-time. Murphy was subsequently involved in setting up the goal that eventually saw Meath survive ... it was his thundering shot that came back off the crossbar to Graham Geraghty who placed it in the back of the net. The score at the end of normal time was Meath 0-8, Leitrim 1-5 and at the end of extra time, Meath 1-12 Leitrim 1-8. Meath - D Gallagher, N McKeigue, K Reilly, C King, T O'Connor, D Fay, M O'Reilly, N Crawford, A Moyles 0-1, N Kelly, D Crimmins, P Byrne 0-2, G Geraghty 1-2, B Farrell 0-1, S Bray 0-2. Subs - J Sheridan 0-2, M Burke 0-1, O Murphy 0-1, R Magee, N McLoughlin and S Kenny. While there was a great sense of relief among supporters there was also a great deal of frustration ... a team that had promised so much in Croke Park now appeared to be struggling for momentum. The only consolation was that Cavan would provide the opposition in the next round ... motivation would scarcely be a problem and Meath had already beaten them in the league. There was a crowd of close on 20,000 at St Tiernach's park in mid July but only Cavan supporters would have enjoyed the fare on offer ... it was a poor game and Meath's performance was as bad as they ever produced during Sean Boylan's reign as manager. The defence was caught flat-footed for Cavan's goal after 22 minutes and it was that score that separated the teams at the break. Dermot McCabe careered through the Meath defence from the re-start to score a fine point and the alarm bells were already ringing in the Meath camp. Despite registering nine wides in the second half Cavan were still leading by 4 points at the end of normal time. Meath were thrown a life-line when awarded a penalty which Graham Geraghty buried in the net. The scene was set for yet another of Meath's famous comebacks. With a point separating the teams there was still a chance ... but from the kick-out a needless free was conceded and Finbarr Reilly slotted the ball between the posts from 40 metres. There was still time ... Meath forced a '45 but it was kicked short and aimlessly and that was the end of the 2005 campaign and, with it, the end of the Sean Boylan era. Meath - D Gallagher, N McKeigue, K Reilly, C King, T O'Connor, D Fay, M O'Reilly, N Crawford, A Moyles, J Sheridan 0-3, D Crimmins, P Byrne 0-1, G Geraghty 1-1, R Magee 0-1, S Bray. Subs - M Burke, N Kelly, O Murphy and P Reynolds Experimental rules, the most controversial of which was the sin-bin, were in vogue for the O'Bryne Cup and when Meath and Kildare met in Newbridge in early January, it was the sin-bin that dominated both the game itself and the post-match analysis. Boylan's men scored six successive points in the second half to take what looked like a winning lead, 0-10 to 1-5 but with David Crimmins already in the bin, Kevin Reilly and Peadar Byrne followed for the most trivial of offences and it was inevitable that Kildare would take advantage of their numerical superiority. Seven players in total had been 'binned' in what was a competitive but sporting game and Sean Boylan was extremely critical of the experiment. In the end, the Lilywhites won by 2-11 to 1-11. Keith Duggan wrote in the 'Irish Times' on the following Saturday ... "Traditionally, Meath never bitch in defeat, Boylan in particular, has the losing epitaph down to a gracious homily. What we heard last weekend was not the exasperation of the ultimate fox out-foxed but of a man who was left bewildered by the contemporary interpretation of a game in which he has been at the cutting edge in recent years. Meath's antipathy to the experimental sin-bin rules is probably good enough reason for many followers to wish them well. Yet love Meath or hate them, they have been a charismatic force over the last two decades and their victorious and intimidating appetite for hardcore football has been the one thing that has preserved the county's traditional sensibility through it's dispiriting transition to a commuter belt. Football is important in Meath and tampering with the old principles of the game was greeted as an outrage." The 'Bin' was scrapped prior to the National League getting under way. Meath - B Murphy, B O'Reilly, K Reilly, S MacGabhann, C King, D Crimmins, T O'Connor, N Crawford 0-1, A Moyles, P Byrne 1-2, G Geraghty 0-1, N Kelly 0-1, S Bray 0-2, J Sheridan 0-2, O Murphy 0-2. Subs - N McLoughlin, R Magee and J Cullinane Derry and Meath were always the favourites to achieve promotion from Division 2B of the National League with Cavan likely to pose the major threat. Derry were Meath's first round opponents with the Oak Leaf men having home advantage at Ballinascreen. David Gallagher was back between the posts while Mark O'Reilly and Trevor Giles also returned to action. Longwood's Michael Burke was given his first competitive start. In the end Derry preserved their unbeaten league record against Sean Boylan by coming from seven points behind to grab an injury-time equaliser. Two goals from Peadar Byrne, one in each half appeared to establish a winning platform for the visitors who had Nigel Crawford dismissed mid-way through the first half. Byrne's second goal gave Meath a 7 point advantage ... 2-9 to 8 points with 10 minutes remaining but Derry, with the help of a few 'soft' frees pulled it back to earn the draw ... 0-15 to 2-9. It was a point thrown away by Meath but they would probably have settled for the draw on the morning of the game. Meath - D Gallagher, N McLoughlin, M O'Reilly, S MacGabhann, T O'Connor, D Crimmins, C King, N Crawford, A Moyles, M Burke, T Giles, P Byrne 2-0, S Bray 0-2, G Geraghty, J Sheridan 0-7. Subs; N Kelly and D Regan. Antrim were the visitors to Pairc Tailteann for the second round ... they had won their first round match against Louth and looked like chalking up another win when they led by 0-8 to 0-3 at half time. Not for the first time it was Graham Geraghty who emerged as Meath's saviour. The Antrim defence had no answer to the Seneschalstown man's skills and when he fired to the net after collecting a fine delivery from Peadar Byrne, Meath went ahead 1-6 to 0-8. Eventually they won by four points, 1-10 to 0-9 in a game that was spoiled by the wind and in which the winners, Geraghty apart, failed to impress. Several goal opportunities were squandered and the inability to open up a bigger gap after the goal was worrying. Meath - D Gallagher, N McLoughlin, M O'Reilly, S MacGabhann, T O'Connor, D Crimmins 0-1, C King, N Kelly, A Moyles 0-1, M Burke 0-1, G Geraghty 1-0, P Byrne, D Regan 0-2, T Giles 0-1 and J Sheridan 0-3. Subs: J Cullinane, B Farrell, B O'Reilly and O Murphy A rare visit to Clonmel was next on the agenda with Tipperary providing a sterner test than expected. Tipp led by two points after 10 minutes but Meath equalised and went ahead with points from Joe Sheridan and Brian Farrell. Tipperary fought back and went ahead before Caoimhin King equalised but at half-time it was the Premier County men who led by 0-7 to 0-5. At this stage Meath's promotion prospects didn't look all that bright but the introduction of Ollie Murphy added bite to the attack and they went on to dominate the second half. In the end they had four points to spare, 0-14 to 1-7. The result meant that after three rounds, Derry and Meath shared the top position on the table with five points but Meath's score difference was a disappointing eight points despite Antrim and Tipperary having provided the opposition in two of the games. Meath - D Gallagher, N McLoughlin, A Moyles, S MacGabhann, T O'Connor 0-1, D Crimmins, C King 0-1, N Kelly, N Crawford, M Burke, T Giles 0-1, P Byrne 0-3, B Farrell 0-1, G Geraghty 0-1, J Sheridan 0-3. Subs - O Murphy 0-1, B O'Reilly, N McLoughllin, R Magee 0-2, C Brennan, D Regan. Yet another disappointing performance followed ... this time against Wicklow at Pairc Tailteann. While Meath won by nine points, 2-17 to 2-8, it was only in the final quarter that they secured victory by which stage Wicklow were reduced to 14 men. A number of substitutions made by Sean Boylan were largely instrumental in clinching both points ... Daithi Regan entered the fray and scored three points, Charles McCarthy scored another while Conor Brennan booted home a late goal. Meath - D Gallagher, N McLoughlin, A Moyles, S MacGabhann, T O'Connor, D Crimmins, C King 0-1, N Kelly, N Crawford 0-2, M Burke, G Geraghty 0-1, P Byrne 1-1, B Farrell 0-2, J Sheridan 0-3, T Giles 0-3. Subs: S Kenny, D Regan 0-3, C McCarthy 0-1, C Brennan 1-0, B O'Reilly Neighbours Louth were the fifth round opponents at Drogheda and it was the home team that got away to a flying start with four unanswered points in the opening 10 minutes. Meath eventually settled and were on level terms by the end of the first quarter. Louth led by a point at half-time but Meath dominated the second half and had 11 points to spare at the final whistle, 1-18 to 0-10. Joe Sheridan scored the game's only goal but he also had a penalty saved by goalie Shane McCoy. Meath - D Gallagher, N McLoughlin, A Moyles, S MacGabhann, B O'Reilly, D Crimmins, C King, N Kelly 0-1, N Crawford 0-2, C McCarthy 0-1, G Geraghty 0-1, P Byrne 0-1, D Regan 0-4, J Sheridan 1-5, T Giles 0-3. Subs - K Reilly, S Kenny, C Brennan and J Cullinane Waterford had been beaten 7-15 to 0-8 by Cavan in their previous game in Dungarvan leading Meath supporters to anticipate a cake walk when the men from the Deices arrived at Pairc Tailteann. But they were to be bitterly disappointed as, yet again, the team failed to impress. Meath had six changes from the team that beat Louth with Ray Magee emerging as the most successful of the experiments. He scored a total of six points and although it ended in a double scores victory for Sean Boylan's men, 0-18 to 0-9, the performance had to be viewed in the light of Waterford's previous result ... a 28 point defeat by Cavan! Meath - B Murphy, B O'Reilly, A Moyles, S MacGabhann, S Kenny, D Crimmins, D Kealy, N Crawford 0-2, C McCarthy, N Kelly 0-3, G Geraghty, J Cullinane, R Magee 0-6, T Giles 0-2, C Brennan. Subs: P Byrne 0-1, M Burke 0-1, D Regan 0-1, C King, J Sheridan 0-1, O Murphy 0-1 The positions at the top of the table hadn't changed with Derry and Meath sharing the top spot after six rounds ... both teams on 11 points. But whearas Derry would have Tipperary as visitors for the final round, Meath would have Cavan, who were just one point behind the Royal County on the table ... it was a case of winner take all at Pairc Tailteann on the 1st Sunday in April. A crowd of over 9,000 turned up and were rewarded with an absorbing encounter which Meath won by 0-17 to 0-14. Having played into the wind in the opening half Meath looked to be in a commanding position at half-time when they led by 0-9 to 0-7. Nigel Crawford's display was the highlight of Meath's 1st half performance. But Cavan were on level terms with less than 10 minutes left to play and Daithi Regan restored Meath's lead before substitute Ollie Murphy created the opportunity for Nigel Crawford to give his team a two point lead. Cavan reduced it to the minimum before Trevor Giles eventually clinched it with two excellent points from a '45 and a long-range free. Meath - D Gallagher, N McLoughlin, A Moyles, A MacGabhann, T O'Connor, D Crimmins, C King, N Crawford 0-3, C McCarthy, NKelly, J Sheridan 0-4, P Byrne 0-1, D Regan 0-5, T Giles 0-3, G Geraghty. Subs: B O'Reilly, M Burke 0-1, M O'Reilly, O Murphy Promotion to Division 1 had been achieved and the win generated some optimism after a series of disappointing performances. Sean Boylan remarked after the game ... 'We had players in there today playing in their first crunch game and they did themselves and us proud." Fermanagh had ended Meath's championship aspirations in each of the previous two years and it was the Lakesiders who provided the opposition in the Division 2 semi-final at Clones ... an opportunity for Meath to quench any talk of a hoodoo. Darren Fay returned to action for the first time since the 2004 championship while Niall McKeigue was another substitute making his return. And Kevin Reilly was in at full-back. Tommy O'Connor was ruled out with an injury picked up against Cavan while Mark O'Reilly was still struggling to shake off a back injury. The teams were level on four occasions in the first half. Including at the end of it, 0-7 apiece. Meath received a significant boost early in the second half when a kick out by the Fermanagh goalie went straight to Trevor Giles whose effort for a point dipped into the back of the net. Meath never looked back and a goal from Niall Kelly more or less finished the game as a contest. Nigel Crawford and Anthony Moyles dominated centre-field to such an extent that both of the opposition midfielders were replaced. The final score was Meath 2-14, Fermanagh 0-15. Meath - D Gallagher, B O'Reilly, K Reilly, A MacGabhann, N McLoughlin, D Crimmins, C King, N Crawford, A Moyles, N Kelly 1-1, G Geraghty 0-2, P Byrne, D Regan 0-3, T Giles 1-4, J Sheridan 0-3. Subs: D Fay, M Burke, N McKeigue, O Murphy, R Magee It was on to Croke Park for the final against Monaghan ... an ideal venue for Meath in view of their forthcoming championship clash with Dublin. Darren Fay was included in the starting 15 as a replacement for the injured Nigel Crawford. The game was played at championship pace and Monaghan looked sharp in the early stages and led by 1-2 to 0-2 at the end of the first quarter. A superb goal by Anthony Moyles was a huge boost to Meath but weaknesses in defence were exposed again by Monaghan for their second goal before Niall Kelly set up Trevor Giles for Meath's 2nd goal. Monaghan led by 2-6 to 2-5 at the break. Graham Geraghty was forced to retire with an injury and was replaced by Ollie Murphy who proceeded to torment the Monaghan defence ... his goal early in the second half inspired Meath to a four point lead but Monaghan fought back to be on level terms with 10 minutes remaining. Points from Daithi Regan and Mark Ward edged Meath ahead again but Monaghan pulled one back before Brian Farrell appeared to clinch it for Meath. And then disaster! Monaghan were awarded a free three minutes into injury time .... Paul Finlay lobbed it into the square and in attempting to fist the ball to safety, Mark Ward only succeeded in directing it to the back of the net. It was hard luck on the O'Mahony's man who had impressed aftercoming on for the last 15 minutes. It's difficult to assess the dramatic defeat in terms of the subsequent championship campaign ... the concession of three goals certainly didn't help the collective confidence but the displays against Monaghan, Fermanagh and Cavan helped to generate a degree of optimism in the build-up to the big one against Dublin. Meath - D Gallagher, B O'Reilly, K Reilly, S MacGabhann, N McLoughlin, D Crimmins, C King, D Fay, A Moyles 1-0, N Kelly 0-2, G Geraghty, P Byrne, D Regan 0-3, T Giles 1-2, J Sheridan 0-1. Subs: O Murphy 1-2, N McKeigue, M Burke, M Ward 0-1, B Farrell 0-1, C Brennan Tweet

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