The second Sunday of October, 1988 was an historic day for Meath football as the Royal County completed its first back to back triumphs in the All-Ireland SFC with a brilliant victory over Cork in a replayed final. Cork had also suffered at the hands of Meath in the final in 1987 when Mick Lyons lifted the Sam Maguire Cup and a 20-year gap without the most sought after trophy in the game was ended. That was an emotional day at Croke Park as Sean Boylan's team won by six points, but Meath were only seconds away from surrendering their title a year later. They had overcome the absence of Brian Stafford through injury to claim a third successive Leinster crown with a two-point final victory over Dublin on the last day of July, got past Mayo in the All-Ireland semi-final and then lived dangerously in the decider when they were fortunate to earn a second chance thanks to a late Stafford pointed free. Meath made a bad start when Teddy McCarthy opened the scoring with a goal for Cork after three minutes, but they recovered well to lead by 0-6 to 1-2 at the interval. The switch of Larry Tompkins to midfield boosted Cork considerably and they were looking good when three points ahead with 13 minutes to play. Two Stafford frees and a magnificent point from play by Colm O'Rourke had Meath level, but Tompkins slotted over a long range free to give Cork the lead again. But with the Rebel County awaiting the final whistle and retribution for what had happened a year later, David Beggy was adjudged to have been fouled and Stafford's eighth point of the game forced a replay as it finished 0-12 to 1-9. Meath showed three changes for the replay three weeks later with Terry Ferguson, Colm Coyle and Joe Cassells coming in for Paraic Lyons, Kevin Foley and Mattie McCabe and when Gerry McEntee was sent off after only six minutes it appeared to spell disaster. But what followed was as committed a performance as any Meath team has ever produced. PJ Gillic was switched to partner Liam Hayes at midfield and despite their numerical disadvantage the Royal County managed to trail by only 0-5 to 0-6 at the break. Cork led by two points five minutes into the second period, but Meath played with fierce intensity and took over. By the time O'Rourke had scored his third and Meath's last point they were four clear with seven minutes to play and that's when legs started to tire. Cork scored the final three points, but the long whistle arrived in time and that great servant of the county team Joe Cassells battled his way through the crowds and up the steps of the Hogan Stand to receive the new Sam Maguire Cup. It completed a hugely successful year which also saw Meath win the National League earlier in the summer with a superb victory over Dublin in a replayed final. However, Meath's performance in the replayed All-Ireland final came in for a great deal of media criticism which was unwarranted. They played it very hard in that match after appearing to allow Cork to dictate the physical side of things in the drawn encounter, but instead of receiving rich praise for their victory against the odds, some chose to do the very opposite. Robbie O'Malley was a key defender on the side which won back to back All-Ireland titles and remembers that a confidence and momentum had been built up ahead of the 1988 campaign. "Confidence would have come from winning it in 1987," he said. "We had been there and done it before and we had a very good team in place. From the time we won the Leinster final in 1986 we were on a roll. As a result, there was a confidence there and a momentum. Winning the National League in '88 added to that. "Another thing that I believe contributed to it was the fact that there had been so much famine. Some of the elder statesmen of the team had suffered the pain of the 1970s. When you get a chance to win trophies, like we did in the mid to late '80s, you are aware of where you came from. You want to win all you can because you can be sure that it's not going to last." On the way to winning a second successive All-Ireland, Meath beat Dublin in the Leinster final for the third year in-a-row and what added to the achievement was the fact that it happened in the absence of ace free-taker Stafford. "It was great to have a player like PJ Gillic stepping up to the plate to take the frees that day in Brian's absence," O'Malley added. "It was a further indication of the mental and physical strength of the team that we could win it without a player of Brian's caliber. "In the All-Ireland semi-final against Mayo we took our eye off the ball and as well as that, having a player like Liam McHale on the edge of the square poses problems. He was very hard to handle. Apart from his height, he had his basketball experience and had very good hands." Meath lived very dangerously in the drawn All-Ireland final against Cork and there was considerable relief when they got a second chance. "That All-Ireland final isn't etched in my mind," O'Malley said. "I remember that Tommy Sugrue awarded a free to David Beggy and Brian Stafford equalised from it. A lot of times a fellow wouldn't have got that free, but he did. It wasn't our fault. There was a sense of relief to get a draw. "From late 1987 onwards there was a 'dirty' tag labelled on us. The players were conscious of that and I suppose we tried to be less aggressive. We started to play a brand of football that wasn't the Meath style. "After the drawn game in '88 we said 'to hell with political correctness'. What was conveniently overlooked was that three or four Meath lads had blood drawn in that game. We made up our minds the following morning that it wouldn't happen again." It didn't, but Meath had to overcome the massive handicap of having McEntee sent off very early in the replay. And how did the other players feel when it happened? "To a degree you don't have time to think about it," O'Malley added. "But it meant that a true spiritual leader on the team was gone. In the blink of an eye the team had to step up and grow up. Everyone answered the call. "Everyone upped their game hugely. That was the most satisfying thing about that victory. Everyone had to play out of their skins to win it and they did. That was hugely satisfying." But it wasn't the end of it. The team was torn to pieces in certain sections of the media and an 'anti-Meath' campaign got into full swing. "Some of it was outrageous," O'Malley recalled. "A lot of it was nonsensical stuff from people who should have known better. My feeling was 'just look at the sideboard; we have two All-Irelands in-a-row'. That couldn't be taken away from us." O'Malley, undoubtedly one of the greatest defenders ever to wear the Meath jersey and the holder of three All-Star Awards, also lined out against Cork in the 1990 All-Ireland final when he tasted defeat, but missed the final against Down a year later due to injury as the team attempted to finish the job at the end of the Royal County's amazing 10-match championship adventure. The losses in '90 and '91 were huge disappointments, but the former St Colmcille's player has so many great memories to cherish, including those of 1988. 7 Tweet

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