There was heartache for Louth in Croke Park today as a shambolic injury-time goal from Joe Sheridan gifted Meath a 1-12 to 1-10 Leinster SFC final victory.

With the goal incredibly allowed to stand, the Royals went on to take their first Leinster championship in nine years, while Louth were left licking their wounds after one of the greatest injustices witnessed at GAA Headquarters in decades.

The Reds seemed to have done enough to capture their first Leinster title since 1957 after JP Rooney's 63rd-minute goal gave them a 1-10 to 0-12 lead as the match went into injury time. Three added minutes were announced and then with time nearly up Meath sent a ball in around the goalmouth.

Seamus Kenny caught the ball but his shot was blocked before Sheridan grabbed possession and fell across the line with the ball in his hands. Not a goal in anyone's book, surely? Amazingly, the goal was allowed, and Meath took the spoils.

Meath bossed a crowded midfield battle in the first half to lead by 0-8 to 0-5 at the break. Graham Reilly contributed half the Royals' tally while Louth passed up two good goal chances in the opening period and mustered just two first-half points from play. In contrast, Meath managed seven scores from play before the break.

The Wee County almost got off to a perfect start but, much to their dismay, JP Rooney's low driven shot flew inches wide of the post at the old Canal End when a goal was on. The match had started frantically and the underdogs were giving as good as they got.

In the fourth minute, the impressive Rooney caught the ball brilliantly and swivelled superbly to kick a great point off his left boot. A minute later, midfielder and captain Paddy Keenan got on the end of a deft Ronan Greene pass to double the Reds' advantage.

Graham Reilly opened the Royals' account with a tidy point on six minutes and Stephen Bray levelled it up after good play in the engine room from the industrious Brian Meade. Having got on top, Meath had a flurry of wides including poor efforts from Cian Ward, Caoimhin King, Nigel Crawford and Bray.

But it was all one-way traffic and Bray's twelfth-minute point made it 0-3 to 0-2 to Eamonn O'Brien's charges before Ward won and converted a free after a nice pass from Shane O'Rourke. In the last act of the first quarter, Brian White thumped over a beautiful free to bring his county back within a point.

When Andy McDonnell was dragged down, White nonchalantly stroked over another Louth free to level the scores. In the 20th minute, Louth spurned another goal chance when Shane Lennon took a pass from Colm Judge and sent a shot through the legs of Meath custodian Brendan Murphy only to see his effort dribble outside the post.

White's wide free compounded Peter Fitzpatrick's disappointment and Reilly then knocked over the lead point for the red-hot favourites in the 23rd minute. Lennon hit another wide and Rooney dropped one short to Murphy and Ward drilled a free wide as the Louth fans jeered him.

Louth got a lucky break in the 30th minute when Lennon won a free from Kevin Reilly close to goal and Judge tapped over the free. But Crawford replied immediately to make it 0-6 to 0-5. Louth introduced Stephen Fitzpatrick for Greene and Reilly straight away doubled Meath's lead.

Reilly calmly popped over his fourth point of the first half and that was enough to give his side a three-point interval cushion.

White took a pass from Mark Brennan to rouse Louth with a point from play within 30 seconds of the restart but the Cooley man then dragged a presentable free wide on the near side as the Meath supporters took their turn at whistling unsportingly.

When Louth were awarded a very soft free, White redeemed himself with a beautiful strike off the ground to close the gap to one before his peninsula neighbour Ray Finnegan sent an aimless shot wide. Substitute Stephen Fitzpatrick also had a bad wide as the suddenly-dominant Wee County strained to get level.

In the 44th minute, Judge showed his marker Chris O'Connor a Sean Cavanagh style dummy before slotting over a stylish equalising point. The underdogs were totally on top but Brennan spoiled their next powerful attack by kicking a weak shot tamely wide.

However, in the 47th minute, Adrian Reid sidestepped Eoghan Harrington and executed a fabulous finish off the outside of his left foot to make it 0-9 to 0-8. Louth had hit four points in succession in the first twelve minute of the second half and deservedly led.

Ward (free) and Lennon had wides at either end and there were some frantic exchanges now as the play ebbed and flowed from one end to another. On the three-quarters mark, a booming Ward free from the hands levelled the scores and Louth lost the impressive Michael Fanning to a suspected dislocated shoulder, with veteran Aaron Hoey coming in to replace the Naomh Mairtin clubman.

Anthony Moyles kicked Meath back in front as Louth were left ruing a White wide from a scoreable free as well as a couple of technical errors. Judge dropped another shot short and the Reds were out of luck when White's shot thundered off an upright and wide. Unfortunate, but it should have been a point and, with an hour to go, it looked more and more like Louth were going to leave this one behind them.

Workaholic McDonnell had other ideas, however, and he dinked over a beautiful point from play to make it 0-10 apiece. Then, incredibly, in the 63rd minute, Rooney slotted a magnificent goal right into the top right hand corner of the Meath net to make it 1-10 to 0-10. A stunning goal from Louth's most experienced player.

Reilly was tearing through on goal at the other end but was unceremoniously taken out of it by Keenan, who incurred a yellow card before Ward tapped the free over. Ward then stroked over another free - which had been moved forward - to make it a one-point game with five minutes left.

Meath now made their first substitution, bringing in Cormac McGuinness, and there was still a point in it with two minutes left. Louth were reduced to 14 men when Judge picked up a second yellow card for a silly tackle and there was still a point between the teams as the match went into the final minute of normal time.

Three added minutes were announced and sub Paraic Smith won a Louth free just inside the 45-metre line directly in front of the posts. Again, White missed when opportunity knocked. The tension was now unbearable as both teams went at it hammer and tongs and there was an unbelievable end to the game when Meath were awarded a goal in the fourth minute of injury time.

After a nerve-wrecking goalmouth scramble, Joe Sheridan clearly carried the ball over the line and the umpires and referee between them decided to allow the goal to stand. It was daylight robbery and Louth's supporters ran onto the pitch to have a go at match referee Martin Sludden. Disgraceful scenes at the end.

Meath - Brendan Murphy; Chris O'Connor, Kevin Reilly, Eoghan Harrington; Anthony Moyles (0-1), Gary O'Brien, Caoimhin King; Brian Meade, Nigel Crawford (0-1); Seamus Kenny, Joe Sheridan (1-0), Graham Reilly (0-4); Cian Ward (0-4), Shane O'Rourke, Stephen Bray (0-2). Subs: Cormac McGuinness, Peadar Byrne.

Louth - Neil Gallagher; Eamon McAuley, Dessie Finnegan, Ronan Greene; Ray Finnegan, Mick Fanning, John O'Brien; Paddy Keenan (0-1), Brian White (0-4); Andy McDonnell (0-1), Mark Brennan, Adrian Reid (0-1); Colm Judge (0-2), Shane Lennon, JP Rooney (1-1). Subs: Stephen Fitzpatrick, Aaron Hoey, Paraic Smith, Declan Byrne.

Ref - M Sludden (Tyrone) Tweet

Most Read Stories