Derry flare produces minor masterpiece

Derry 0-12, Meath 0-8 The scoreboard was kind to Meath. Excepting some grotesque finishing, Derry, for general flair, yesterday went close to being one of the best minor teams ever to contest an All-Ireland final at Croke Park.

Maturity, understanding, confidence, and speed were some of the more notable aspects of the Ulster champions' display, a display that, quite frankly, Meath could not even begin to match.

A woeful wides tally of 15-2 that perhaps reached such proportions because Derry were able to make so much space for themselves and had maybe too much time on the ball was out of character with their overall performance, but Meath were never in any situation to turn that particular shortcoming to account.

True, Meath were level at 0-5 apiece just before half-time and according to the scoreboard were still in contention, trailing by only three points, midway through the second-half but by this stage, it was clear the splendour of Derry's confident and fluent play was always going to win the day.

Derry's proud manager, Chris Brown, had no difficulty with his post-match summary: "Once we were able to dominate at half back and full back the rest was easy. Our forwards were more elusive that Meath's, causing their cover problems all day," he said.

Few teams enjoy leadership of the calibre provided by Derry full back and captain Gerard O'Kane. He was not only satisfied with blocking off serious Meath attacks, which were a rare commodity, but was also prepared to solo downfield and link up with his forwards.

"They (Derry) were outstanding," was the spontaneous reaction of Meath coach Benny Reddy.

Derry, who realised scores from all but one of their six forwards, and midfielder Ruairí Convery were notably slow to get off the mark but after some excellent moves had been wasted by wides Cathal O'Kane opened their account on 12 minutes. By this time, David Murtagh had given Meath a surprising lead.

The pressure on the Meath defence began to mount in earnest and their goalkeeper, Mark Brennan, did well to keep Paul Young's shot at goal out with a classy foot save.

Ciarán Mullan was a culprit as the Derry wides total mounted, much to Meath's surprise and relief. Brian Farrell repeatedly came to the losers' rescue with well-taken frees and, remarkably, parity was attained when he took a pass from Paul Murray to score Meath's fifth point that equalised all that Cathal O'Kane, James Bateson, Mullan and Barry McGolderick had managed to put on the board for Derry.

Farrell finished up by scoring all but one of the Meath total, with five of the points coming from frees.

The first half was just entering injury time when Derry gave something of a realistic dimension to the scoreboard with an excellent goal. Bateson's determined, incisive run found dovetailing midfielder Convery, and the Swatragh youth sent a powerful shot to Mark Brennan's net for a 1-5 to 0-5 interval lead.

An example of how untidy and indecisive Meath were came 10 minutes after half time when David Murtagh was obliged to forage back on his own 45-metre line. When he got possession there was no back up and his kick went harmlessly over the sideline to set up yet another Derry attack.

Meath looked to have given up hope long before the final quarter, during which they failed to raise a flag. The Leinster runners-up found it difficult to mark their Derry opponents, who were forever putting together classy moves. The Ulster boys finished as they started, a little on the score-shy side, kicking half-a-dozen wides in the closing 10 minutes.

Fortunately for them, Meath were in no position to create any sensational turnabout at this stage, with their concentration shattered. And the Leinster side's substitutes were never going to make a difference either.

They were given a hopeless task and could not settle under the great strain relentlessly applied by a Derry performance of inspirational quality.

DERRY: E McNicholl; M McGolderick, G O'Kane, J Keenan; C McCallon, M Lynch, P O'Hea; P Bradley, R Convery (1-0); B McGolderick (0-2), C O'Kane (0-3), C Moran (0-2); J Bateson (0-3, one free), P Young, C Mullan (0-2).

MEATH: M Brennan; B O'Reilly, T O'Connor, D O'Halloran; S Stephens, C King, E Dunne; J Melia, F Murphy; D Murtagh (0-1), P Murray, G McCullagh; B Regan, J Sheridan, B Farrell (0-7, five frees). Subs: T Farrelly for P Murray (41 mins), R Brennan for O'Halloran (45 mins), M Whearty for B Regan (51 mins), A Reynolds for McCullagh (54 mins); A Johnson for Dunne (58 mins).

Referee: M Ryan (Limerick)