Replying To yew_tree:  "Reilly's kick was iconic I don't disagree but I'm just speaking from a mayo perspective and a loosing team will always look at where it went wrong from our point of view like of Madden has come of his line. Bar Horan I don't think any other Mayo forward make the Meath team but it was still only one point between them after a replay.

anyway it's all ogs and but's but until we do finally win an all Ireland moments like that and numerous ones in recent years will be debated in mayo. At this point I think we are as far away from winning an all Ireland as we ever were."

Replying To Furlong1949:  "Meaths Top 15 Most Iconic Scores of the last 35 years.

1 Kevin Foley goal v Dublin in 91. One of the great iconic moments of modern gaa. After 4 games v Dubs, in dying seconds to move from the end line the lenght of the field and ending up with a tap in by the most unlikely player , Foley it has one of the greatest goals ever scored in gaelic football or the gaa.

2 David Beggys point v Dublin in 91. After Foleys goal you have the winning point. Incredible way to end four games that changed gaa. First ever live tv championship game not All Ireland semi final or All Ireland final. First championship game on sat. First games with sponsorahip on jerseys. Modern gaa begins in 1991 4 games. Beggys point is the perfect ending to perfect gaa saga.

3 Colm O Rourkes goal v Cork in 87 All Ireland final. Meath were struggling in first 20 mins , O Rourke goal settled the team and the team settled and went on easy winners. O Rourke throwing himself to the ground to hit ball into net showed drive of the great man.

4 Liam Hayes goal v Dublin in 88 league final. Meath were best team in the country 87 88 and Dublin were third best in 88. Meath won by 8 points with 14 men for most of the game. Bernard Flynn gave greatest performance by Meath corner forward ever in Croker. But Hayes screamer from 30 metres will live long in the memory. Greatest goal ever scored by a Meath man in Croker ever.

5 Graham Geraghty v Dublin 1994. Geragty first leinster final. He scored a brillant goal at end of the game. A star had arrived. If he stayed as a wing back he would have become the greatest wing back ever. It was his best position. At 20 in 1994 he was best wing back in the country , single handly ripping Dublin to bits. Goal of the season.


6 Graham Gerahgty goal v Tyrone 1996 All Ireland semi final . Geraghty gave one greatest performances by Meath footballer ever in Croker that day. He gave the best performance by half forward in the 90s in All Ireland semi final that day scoring 1 - 3 from play. The goal was pure perfect football. A pass from the wing where Giles and Callaghan have great interplay with handpases which rips the whole Tyrone defence apart and leaves Geraghty one on one with goalie , he burys brillantly to the net. And Geraghty is now the best wing forward in Ireland.

7 Brendan Reilly point v Mayo in 1996. Criminally ignored. This simply is the greatsest winning point from play to win an All Ireland in last 50 years. And its possibly greater then Cluxtons free in 2011. Its the 70th min. Reilly gets the ball near the sideline surrounded by 3 Mayo players , dummys Mortimer and with 2 Mayo defenders breathing down his neck scores an equisite point from incredibly tight angle. When the ball goes over the bar the game is in injury time. Ignored , but this is simply one of the greatest if not the greatest winning point to win an All Ireland in the last 50 years.

8 Jody Devines 4th point v kildare in 97. In the game of the decade according to many and Michael Muritigh and Pat Spillane has said it was one greatest games ever in Croker. In game 2 of 3 game saga. Meath were 4 points down in extra time of the second game. Jody Devine comes 4 from the bench and scores 4 long range points from play. His 4th point was the best of the bunch to equalise the game

9 Ollie Murphy v Dublin in leinster final 99. Giles picks up the ball under Hogan stand around midfield and floats an esquisite 40 yard pass that pops right in front of Ollie Murphy who burys it to Dublin net and raise the fist to a dhell shocked hill 16 after. Meath are leinster champions.

10 Ollie Murphy goal v Cork All Ireland 99 Final . Very simple but devastatingly brillant. John McDermont wins ball at midfield. Passes to Trevor Giles who passes a 40 metre pass to edge of the square , Geraghty taps down the ball and Ollie Murphy finishs to the net with 3 Cork backs all trying to block him.

11 Ollie Murphy goal v Westmeath in 01. QFinal. Injury time. Meath are losing by 3. Geraghty wins the ball and runs to the sideline and 3 Westmeath run with him. He turns and sends a pass to Ollie who burys to the net. A draw.

12 Graham Geraghty v Louth 2002 Qualifiers. Injury time. Louth are winning by 4 points. Riche kealy scores a great goal in first min of injurry time. 3 mins left. In last min Geraghty wins the ball on the egde of the square surrounded by louth men. He dummys the defender , with 3 louth men breathing down his neck he goes for a score. A point would have levelled the game. A great player would have went for a point. A genius like Geraghty burys the ball to the back of the net , whistle blown , Meath win. Geraghty hops on an helicopter and returns to wedding were he is best man , one word genius.

13 Cian Ward Free v Dublin 07 championship. In a brillant game v Dublin Meath are 4 dowm with ten minutes to go. Cian Ward scores 4 point from frees as subsitute. His fourth free levels the game at 70 mins. A draw.

14 Graham Geraghty goal v Tyrone All Ireland q final 2007 . Geraghty is one on one with goalie. He has little room , most players would have caught ball and be gobbled by goalie and defence , not Geraghty he palms the ball over the Goalie head. Again one word genius. And Meath do what Dublin or kerry couldnt do. Beat the great Tyrone team of 00s in.champiomship match when they were at their peak eg 03 to 08. Geraghty again put on an exhibition of forward play.

15 Each of the 5 goals v Dublin in 2010 leinster championship. 2 from Bray , 1 from Sheridan , Farrell and Ward each. 5 brillant goals. It was no fluke, Meath had great forwards at end of 00s much better then Dublin. They reached 2 All Ireland semi finals in 3 years and beat Dublin Mayo Galway and great Tyrone team in championship in that period 07 to 11 . This was the day they really showed their quality. If Boylan was given a 3 year contract in 2006 which he wanted Meath would have won an All Ireland in the period 2009 to 2010 especially 2010. Meath had the best forwards in the country after kerry and Tyrone with Graham Geraghty , Stephen Bray , Joe Sheridan , Brian Farrell , Cian Ward , Shane O Rourke , Paedar Bryne , Graham Reilly and David Bray. These 5 brillant goals showed the potential of those Meath forwards."

Replying To Furlong1949:  "I understand what your saying. Its very natural for a losing team to look at a game from their perspective. Thats true and very normal. But I have seen tv programmes , documentaries , articles and duscussion about 96 and Meaths unique and remarkable win is ignored while Mayo version of 96 has almost become the story of 96 eg boucing ball , franca and McHale sending. Winning an All Ireland is a much more complex then that.

Meaths win was unusual and unique and remarkable in gaelic football terms. Teams dont come from nowhere to win Sam Maguire, in last 50 years since 1960s only 5 teams have come from nowhere to win Sam eg Dublin in 1974 , Kerry in 1975 , Down in 1991 , Meath in 1996 and Galway in 1998. Second unique thing about Meaths win was you dont win All Irelands with a pile of under 21 players. The only exceptions are kerry in 1975 and Meath in 1996. Also its rare for a team to be in a football final and be 6 points down with ten minutes to go and still not lose. And for that happen twice in two All Irelands in one year is unprecendented. I have seem documentaries on tv and radio and nowone ever mentions how Meath came from nowhere to Sam in 1996 or that players like Darren Fay and Mark Reilly and Trevour Giles and others were so young eg 20 years old. And Reillys point is never mentioned. Scoring the winning point in All Ireland final in injury time in such calm way from a tough angle , no one mentions this , as I said its one of thr greatest points to win All Ireland in last 50 or 60 years and possibly the best winning point , its eitheir his or Cluxtons in 2011. Yet no one ever mentions that. Thats not Mayos fault. Meath achievements are always undervalued and underappreciated. But the gaa media and the gas in large ignore Meath unique win and focus on franca and ball boucing over thr bar. Winning even 1 All Ireland is an extraordinary achievement and allot of things go into winning Sam. Meaths role and great achievement in winning with a bunch of kids and coming from noehere and Reillys winning point are larely ignored.

Regards there was only 1 point in the replay. This is true but Mayo were a very good team. Defensively very strong , quality defenders , strong midfield , very fit atlethic powerful team and strong management , they just lacked 2 top class forwards. That Mayo team late 90s was not as good as this decade but stronger then 04 and 06 teams, even though that team.had great McDonald at his peak. That Mayo team reached 2 All Irelands in a row ( first time Mayo had done that in 40 years ) and knocked out All Ireland champions in 99 , Galway. They just lacked quality upfront. Also yes there was 1 point at the end but Meath in last 15 mins of both games were stronger. Most All Irelands are won in last 15 mins , in both games toggether in last 15 mins Meath scored 1 - 9 ( mostly from play ) , Mayo scored 0 - 2. That says allot.

Also Meath with so many young players suffered the classic brillant semi final performance folllowed up by failing to get to that level.in thr final. It happens to so many team when they win a brillant semi final with brillant performance they find it hard to get to that level.in the final . Look at Meath in 2001 final after brillant performance v kerry in 01 , look at Dublin this year in this years drawn final , aftter their brillant performance v Mayo in semis. Dublin a very experienced failed to repeat the levels in the final. Look at England in rugby , brillant performance v New Zealand in semi final.anf failed to get to that level in final v S africa. Thats what happened to Meath in 96.

Meath had a brillant performance in the semi final.and leinstet final. They were massive underdogs in both games , but defeated reigning All Ireland champions Dublin in leinster final and raging All Ireland hot favs Tyrone in the semis. Tyrone were All Ireland finalist year previous year , first team to win back to back Ulster titles in 20 years and were seen as the next Ulster team to win Sam after Down Derry Donegal 91 to 1994. Meath were rank outsiders , but won by 9 points with the team putting outstanding performance in that game. People remeber the ridiculous bandages but McDermont dominated midfield , Geraghry was unmarkable and Meath were scoring 30 or 40 metre long range points from play. Mick O Connell called it the football performance of thr 90s at the time. Meath were never going to get to that level in the final.

And with so many players 20 years of age and Meath strong favourites Meath were jitterty in first 50 mins. Mayo were excellent. But in last 15 of both games the 20 year old Darren Fay and 20 year old Trevour Giles and Paddy Reynolds showed their class and stood up and be counted when it mattered. 6 unanswered points in drawn game in last 11 mins showed real steal from these Meath kids. They proved that in replay and again winning Sam in 99. And their win over great kerry team of 00s in 01 semi final by record 15 points alao proved how great that Meath team.was.

And its a pity, from.Meath perspective that leinster was so competitive in late 90s where u had 4 top div 1 teams 4 All Ireland contenders in leinster eg Meath kildare Dublin and Offaly. If leinster champiomship was like it is now Meath or even if there was back door Meath would have won Sam in 97 , ( Meath were still best team in 97 , kerry won Sam in 97 by beating Clare , Cavan and Mayo. ). While Meath were involved in 5 classic games in leinster with Dublin Offaly and 3 v kildare in 97. And I couldnt easily seen Meath playing Galway in 98 final going for 3 in a row. Leinster was so competitive in late 90s where you had Meath double All Ireland champions , Dublin All Ireland champions , kildare Double leinster champions and All Ireland finalist and Offaly Leinster and div 1 league champions. If leinster was like it is now , Meath would have won every leinster from.96 to 01 and there was a back door and there would have been some battles in 1997 , 1998 , 1999 and 2000 between Galway , kerry and Meath. When they met in 01 Meath were on their last legs, 01 was the last year for that Galway team and kerry were beginning the end of P O Se era. Always thought 1997 was a massive missed opportunity for Meath. Those 3 games v kildare and first round v Dublin left Meath depleted by leinster final.

Regards Mayo not winning Sam , it does look like Mayo will probaly need to rebuild now. But Mayo can be proud of theyre current team , single handely put it up to Dublins and the current Mayo team are an excellent team and a very brave team. While Mayo will need to rebuild Im sure Mayo will be back. And Mayo will win Sam in next 10 or 15 years. Keep getting to finals it will happen.. And Mayo will keeping coming back until Sam is won. Its become a counties obsession to win Sam. Players and supporters , theres no county in Ireland where winnning Sam has become so important and part of the fabric of that county. Before I die I hope Mayo will.win Sam. U hear so many Mayo people say this. Theres no other county that has this mentality. Thats why thry keep getting to finals and why they will inevitably will win Sam in the next 10 or 20 years. It will happen. I just wish Mayo would let 96 go a bit and stop talking about boucing ball. 96 was one greatest years in Meath football ever and thats how we remeber it in Meath."

Replying To royaldunne:  "Thanks for that furlong. Excellent written and brings me back. Each and every one of them."

Replying To perfect10:  "for me,1 from either code.
maurice fitz
ciaran carey
neither even need the opposition to be named"