GAA: ALLIANZ FOOTBALL LEAGUE DIVISION TWO: Derry 1-18 Meath 3-8DERRY MANAGER John Brennan praised the battling qualities of his injury-hit squad after they produced a stunning second-half comeback to stay in the Division Two promotion hunt with a deserved win at Celtic Park that in turn plunged Meath into the relegation mire.
It had looked like Séamus McEnaney’s visitors were on their way to an important win when two goals from Joe Sheridan saw them lead 2-5 to 0-9 at half-time and with the elements to come in their favour in the second half.
However, when Derry employed a running game after the interval they opened up the Meath defence time and again, with Seán Leo McGoldrick grabbing a match-turning goal after linking up with Martin Donaghy, who had a very effective game after coming off the bench early in the second half.
Brennan saw his side dig deep despite being without key men like Enda Muldoon, James Conway, Patsy Bradley and Joe Diver, who are all out of action with knocks, while a number of other Derry men played through injuries.
“I’m very satisfied with the performance of the players, people will say it was a gutsy but they just showed the talent and pedigree they have when it comes to football, we have some excellent footballers. We are progressing very well if injuries would just clear – Dermot McBride hobbled his way through the game, Kevin McCloy is playing in pain, as is Barry McGoldrick. For those fellas to go out and play for 73 or 74 minutes they have my greatest respect. Lesser people wouldn’t have turned out there today,” he said.
Sheridan’s first goal after 18 minutes, finished to the far corner from an acute angle, had seen the Leinster men take a 1-3 to 0-4 lead. After the burly full forward then planted an emphatic finish past Derry goalkeeper Michael Conlan from 15 metres after 20 minutes Meath looked on their way to two valuable points as they led by 2-4 to 0-5 following Cian Ward’s third pointed free of the half.
However, the second half was a story of Derry dominance and points from Paddy Bradley (two), McGoldrick and Gerard O’Kane had seen them edge 0-13 to 2-6 in front before McGoldrick’s clinical finish put them four clear.
Meath were given an opportunity to get back into the game when substitute Mark Ward fired home a well-finished third goal to close the margin to a single point at 3-8 to 1-15 with seven minutes remaining.
However, that score came very much against the run of play and Donaghy kicked a score from play and Paddy Bradley tacked on two frees as the Oak Leaf men closed the game out.
DERRY: M Conlan; M Bateson, K McCloy, D McBride; G O'Kane (0-2) , J O'Kane, C Kielt (0-1); P J McCloskey, M Friel (0-1); M Lynch (0-1), S L McGoldrick (1-1), B McGoldrick; C O'Boyle, P Bradley (0-8, 0-3 frees), C Gilligan (0-2, 0-1 45). Subs: C McGoldrick for Lynch (10 mins), M Donaghy (0-2) for J O'Kane (37 mins), B Doyle for McCloskey (65 mins).
MEATH: B Murphy; C McGill, B Menton, C King; G O'Brien, C McGuinness, S McAnarey; B Meade, N Crawford; G Reilly (0-2), S O'Rourke (0-1, free), S Kenny; B Farrell, J Sheridan (2-0), C Ward (0-5, frees). Subs: C Conor for McGuinness (half-time), M Ward (1-0) for N Crawford (54 mins), B Murphy for Farrell (57 mins), T Walsh for Reilly, P Gilsenan for King (both 58 mins).
Referee: M Deegan (Laois).
