Meath SFC Final/ Navan O'Mahony's 0-11 Seneschalstown 1-8: In Meath football the only thing as definitive as winning the county final is losing it, such is the seriousness of the task.
In fact, the stakes proved so high yesterday that neither Navan O'Mahony's nor Seneschalstown could quite handle them, and will need to play again to decide the winners and losers for 2007.
After a typically high tempo and highly charged battle, with some incredible excitement bundled into the last five minutes, it was probably a fair result. Seneschalstown had a glorious chance for victory with the final kick of the game, only for substitute Shane Clarke to send the acutely angled free left of the posts.
It was certainly kickable, and given all that happened before, it was another Clarke, Brian, who obviously should have taken it. Brian Clarke, however, had been floored after a heavy tackle by Stephen Bray, which resulted in the free, and was clearly in no condition to take the kick. Yet he'd hit 0-7 over the previous hour, five from frees, and there can be little doubt he could have won it for them.
Still, Navan O'Mahony's can feel justifiably relieved as they made a courageous effort to close down what looked like a winning advantage for Seneschalstown. They'd started as favourites to collect a record 17th title, and first in a decade, and yet never truly clicked as a team, with the early part of their second half particularly disappointing.
Having won only two previous titles to date, the last coming in 1994, Seneschalstown were under big pressure to pull this off, especially when they found themselves three points up going into the last 15 minutes.
It all made for an absorbing afternoon for the crowd of around 10,000. The teams went point-for-point in the opening 25 minutes, level on six different occasions, while the slight edge swung back and fourth.
The first real shake-up of the game came on 28 minutes when defender Mark Carey produced a searing burst down the right wing and finished it off with a thunderous shot that flew straight to the net. That put Seneschalstown 1-6 to 0-6 in front, and while O'Mahony's clawed one back before the break, the first big advantage was with the outsiders.
And they maintained that in the first 10 minutes of the second half. Stephen Bray hit a sweet score to close O'Mahony's deficit back down to one, but Seneschalstown then hit two points without reply - both from the boot of Clarke. It left them 1-8 to 0-8 in front, with 41 minutes played, and the only problem with that was they wouldn't score again.
Instead it was left to O'Mahony's to start the slow but decisive fight back. David Bray, younger brother of Stephen, epitomised the patience of their response with a nicely fisted point on 54 minutes, and they were finally on parity again on 58 minutes, when midfielder Stephen MacGabhann took a good pass from Mark Ward and fired over the equaliser.
That score was typically hard-earned and off the back of at least a dozen passes, underlining the determination of O'Mahony's to keep their chances alive. It also underlined the Seneschalstown nerves, as Joe Sheridan had at one point won back possession, only to kick it away just as quickly.
All the while, however, the accuracy of both teams started to suffer, with both Stephen Bray and Brian Clarke guilty of the sort of wide balls that could only be explained by nerves.
So to the frenetic climax: O'Mahany's had their own chance to win it, but Paddy Smyth - who ended with 0-3 - misfired his effort. Up the ball came to the other end of the field, and initially saw Joe Sheridan attempt a long, long free - which fell short, but resulted in the free that most people in Pairc Táilteann assumed would prove the winner.
The other Clarke, Shane, had been on the field seven minutes, and despite his apparent eagerness for the shot, it was always going wide. There was time for no more, and judging by the reaction of the players at the final whistle it's Seneschalstown who'll regret this result more than O'Mahony's.
With the Meath hurling final set for next weekend, the replay will most likely be in a fortnight's time, but whoever does come through will still have some time on their hands, as they await the winners of the Dublin or Wicklow champions in the Leinster championship.
NAVAN O'MAHONY'S: K Lane; L Russell, K Reilly, I Matthews; P Quinn, R Hogan, C McGuinness; S MacGabhann (0-1), M Ward; D Bray (0-3), P Smyth (0-3, three frees), H Finnegan; T Loughran, B Regan (0-1), S Bray (0-3). Subs: G O'Brien for Finnegan (7 mins, inj), N McKeigue for Quinn (36 mins), D Murtagh for Loughran (51 mins),
SENESCHALSTOWN: D Lyons; S Sheridan, A Collins, C Clarke; M Carey (1-0), C Quinn, C Gleeson; R Ruddy, D Sheridan (0-1); D Byrne, A McCann, J Cowley; B Clarke (0-7, five frees), J Sheridan, S Finnegan. Subs: S Clarke for Cowley (53 mins), T Ledwidge for Finnegan (61 mins).
Referee: Joey Curley(Moynalty).
