Leinster MFC: Royals rule Faithfuls by a whisker
June 27, 2018
Offaly's Briain Nolan with Bryan McCormack Meath during the Leinster MFC round 4 game at Pairc Tailteann.
Meath chalked up their fourth win in the Leinster MFC Group 1 with a dramatic minimum margin win over Offaly at Pairc Tailteann on Wednesday evening.
Meath ...... 1-13
Offaly ..... 1-12
The reward for their dramatic finale is a place in the provincial semi-final. Ultimately, it was David Bell's 59th minute goal that proved decisive as it restored Meath's lead which they took to the finish, after three minutes of added time.
David Bell was the scoring hero for Meath with 1-5. Luke Mitchell, who scored five points, provided the assist for the decisive score.
Joe Treanor's under-17s led for most of the way until falling behind in the 53rd minute. Three scores in quick succession pitched Offaly into the lead for the first time.
Central to that surge was Mikey Cunningham's 50th minute goal. Moments later a Morgan Tynan point left it 1-10 to 0-12. In between Meath lost Cian McBride to a second yellow card.
Unbowed, Meath rallied to dig out the win. It looked good for Meath when they led by 0-10 to 0-4 two minutes after the resumption.
Gradually over the next 20 minutes Offaly whitled down the deficit. A Bell point raised a big cheer among the home supporters. It made it 0-11 to 0-7 midway through the second-half.
When Conor Farrelly popped up to make it 0-12 to 0-8 in the 47th miinute, Meath appeared to be in control. Then the drama unfolded.
In the opening half two Meath scorings burst were sandwiched in between one for Offaly. Joe Treanor's side posted four points in the opening 17 minutes.
Offaly replied with four on the spin to complete their first-tally inside seven minutes with Enda Coughan tieing the scores for the first time in the 24th minute.
The visitors were more wayward in their shooting in the first-half, running up a tally of eight wides to Meath's five.
Meath reasserted themselves with five points on the spin in the run-up to half-time. David Bell posted four-in-a-row (three from play) before Luke Mitchell's fourth of the first 30 minutes left it 0-9 to 0-4 at the break.
Offaly outscored Meath by 1-8 to 1-4 in the second-half but it wasn't enough to keep them in the hunt for provincial honours, following their second defeat in the competition.
Meath - Eoin Griffin; James O'Hare, Harry O'Higgins, Conor Farrelly (0-1); Cathal Hickey, Conor Harford, Sean Coffey; Adam Reilly, Cian McBride; Luke Kelly, Darragh Swaine, Bryan McCormack (0-2); Brian O'Hanlon, David Bell (1-5, 0-1f), Luke Mitchell (0-5, 1f). Subs - Niall Bennett for McBride (bs 9-11), Niall Bennett for Reilly (44), Adam Treanor for Kelly (44), Colin Hawdon for Swaine (44), Oisin McCloskey for McCormack (59), Joe Moore for Hawdon (bc 59).
Offaly - Sean O'Toole; Aaron Brazil, Kieran Dolan, Briain Nolan; Ed Cullen, Rory Egan, Harry Balsiger; Cathal Donoghue, Morgan Tynan (0-1); Peter Bennett, Daniel Lowry, Mikey Cunningham (1-0); Sean Courtney (0-4, 1f), Enda Coughlan (0-1), Aaron Kellaghan (0-3, 1f). Subs - Cathal Flynn for Lowry (ht), Luke Egan for Bennett (38), Jack Bryant (0-3) for Coughlan (44), Lee Pearson for Cunningham (60 + 2).
Referee - Niall Ward (Westmeath).
