February 17, 2011
By Staff Reporter
Meath might have been without five front line players who were suspended following the infamous National League brawl with Dublin, but they set Dr Cullen Park alight last Sunday with a blistering first half display which left them 10 points clear at the interval.
Stephen Bray and Graham Geraghty struck for goals, and points were raining in from all angles as Meath looked to be on their way to the semi-finals. Wexford for their part were virtual bystanders as almost everything that could go wrong went wrong. “The performances were so poor all over the field, there was no one person at fault,” admitted manager, Jason Ryan. “We brought on two subs, but we could’ve brought on 15.”
However, whatever was said in the dressing room during the break seemed to have the desired effect, because even if Meath went off the boil, Wexford suddenly began to look like a team on a mission as Matty Forde, Ciaran Lyng and sub Adrian Morrissey led the recovery.
Meath’s increasingly worrying predicament wasn’t helped by the sending off of Mark Ward for a second yellow card offense, and when the referee disallowed what looked like a perfectly good goal by Joe Sheridan who had dispossessed Wexford ‘keeper Anthony Masterson, they were suddenly in deep trouble.
Goals by Redmond Barry and PJ Banville had helped to close the gap, but as the pressure mounted on Meath, the gifted Forde really came into his own. He drove over a free from 40 meters to level the game, and then with all the composure you could want, he then kicked the match-winning point from a difficult angle.
As Wexford celebrated their dramatic and unlikely passage to a semi-final meeting with Laois, Meath manager Colm Coyle was not best pleased with referee Maurice Deegan who happens to hail from Laois. “I just wonder at the wisdom of appointing a Laois ref for the game. And the winners are playing them, I’d question that one. And he didn’t even blow the whistle for Joe Sheridan’s goal. When it’s in the back of the net, then he blows it. I mean, does he make it up as he goes along? Having said that we were 10 points up and we should’ve shut out the game.”
Wexford now have a Leinster title in their sights, and Meath lick their wounds before the Qualifiers.