It was the beginning of a very happy 21st
June 06, 2020
Graham Geraghty has the Wicklow defence in trouble during the 1999 Leinster SFC quarter final at Croke Park
Meath began the journey to their last All Ireland senior football championship triumph this day 21 years ago.
Croke Park provided the setting for the Leinster SFC quarter final clash with Wicklow on June 6th 1999.
Wicklow had only beaten Meath once since 1947 in championship football but Meath were dealt a blow before the game, losing John McDermott to flu. His place was taken by Jimmy McGuinness and the Royal had to play the second half with 14 men, Hank Traynor dismissed on two yellows. The game also marked the return to inter county action for Trevor Giles who suffered a cruciate ligament injury in the ’98 Leinster final loss to Kildare.
In truth Sean Boylan’s men were never in trouble. Graham Geraghty was outstanding in his new position at full forward. The captain showed the way with an impressive 1-4 from play.
Tommy Dowd’s flicked goal gave Meath a 1-5 to 0-4 interval lead. The winners were outstanding in the second half, holding Wicklow to two points and scoring 1-5 to win by 10.
Meath scorers: Graham Geraghty 1-4, Tommy Dowd 1-2, Trevor Giles 0-2, Ollie Murphy and Ray Magee 0-1 each.
Meath: Cormac Sullivan, Mark O’Reilly, Darren Fay, Cormac Murphy, Paddy Reynolds, Hank Traynor, Donal Curtis, Nigel Crawford, Jimmy McGuinness, Ray Magee, Trevor Giles, Evan Kelly, Tommy Dowd, Graham Geraghty, Ollie Murphy. Subs: Enda McManus, Paul Shankey, Richie Kealy.
Tweet
