Donegal back in big time

Donegal - 1-13 Meath - 0-14 Because Meath are Meath, this Bank of Ireland All-Ireland football qualifier went down to the wire.

But, apart from a few minutes in the first half, they never led and were forced to chase the match for most of the afternoon. That chase nearly succeeded in the dying seconds when Donal Curtis rose to a dropping ball from Ollie Murphy to fist it wide of the Donegal goal.

It would have been grossly unfair on the Ulster finalists had they been denied at the end of a match during which they showed more invention and a sharper cutting edge.

Meath put up a vigorous struggle in the second half, but were unable to grind down their opponents.

That was probably the final validation of Donegal's victory - that they had held their nerve in the closing minutes when Meath cut the deficit to one and the match looked on the verge of extra-time. Instead, points from Brian Roper and Michael Hegarty kept the margin beyond Meath's reach.

For the 40,000-plus attendance, the match was a bit of an anti-climax after the astonishing events earlier in the afternoon. Meath were physical and Donegal seemed determined to show that they would not be intimidated.

The result was a frequently scrappy affair in which nearly every free awarded by referee Michael Collins became an excuse for a bout of jostling and throwing shapes.

Collins didn't do himself any favours by appearing to duck the hard decisions that pretty quickly presented themselves. After a good start saw him challenging dissent and at one stage yellow carding a third-man contribution to a fracas, the Cork referee began to let things go.

Meath corner back Mark O'Reilly spent the first half swinging out of Adrian Sweeney, but went in at half-time level on yellow cards with the man he had been marking.

Given that the 25th-minute booking didn't exactly inhibit him, O'Reilly was lucky not to receive a second at some stage during the 45 minutes that remained.

His team-mate Ollie Murphy also had to endure some jersey pulling, which went unpunished at the other end.

It was a much improved display by the Donegal defence - a particularly creditable achievement given the absence of captain Mark Crossan with long-term injury.

In deference, Donegal benched the number three jersey with replacement Eamonn Doherty wearing 17. Ollie Murphy was well marked wherever he wandered and Graham Geraghty was forced deep for possession.

Meath weren't able to strip down the attack and leave the two full forwards in space such was the pace and sharpness of their opponents' defence where wing backs Raymond Sweeney and Kevin Cassidy marked tightly and broke forward forcefully.

The Leinster team was also slow to come to terms with the standard third-centrefielder role of Paul McGonigle.

This allowed Donegal play to the strengths of their strike forwards Brendan Devenney and Adrian Sweeney more effectively than Meath managed with Murphy and Geraghty.

Eventually, Seán Boylan recast his team, playing a third centrefielder, Nigel Nestor, and withdrawing a defender, Cormac Murphy. For the first time, Trevor Giles was given a run at centre back - said by many to be his best position - in the championship with Nestor moving up. Whereas this steadied the formation, it didn't give Meath the bite up front that they've been largely missing this season.

Donegal's forwards always looked that bit more menacing. Sweeney caused constant problems while Devenney needed to be watched and, even if not as direct as Sweeney, his place-kicking composure was a further pressure on Meath's tendency to foul.

Furthermore, wing forwards Christy Toye and Brian Roper supported well with Toye scoring his team's goal and nearly getting another.

That goal came in the 31st minute and, in retrospect, was pivotal in the match. Meath led by 0-6 to 0-5 at the time when Devenney managed to dispossess Cormac Murphy as the defender ran back towards his own goal to cover a loose ball. As the ball fell, the Donegal forward got a foot in to direct a pass to Toye who came in unmarked and took the goal well.

It was one of a few chances that Donegal created and a couple of minutes later only a sprightly intervention by Darren Fay turned another goal opportunity into a 45.

The half ended bizarrely with the referee choosing to signal the break by flinging his arms wide on the 20-metre line just after Sweeney had scored a point. With the stadium debating what the penalty was for, Collins picked up the ball and ambled off with his linesmen.

Despite Meath's changes, Donegal extended their four-point interval lead to five in the third quarter.

When Meath did get the rally under way, Donegal refused to be overawed and, although the lead shrank, were able to slip in for the odd score to break their opponents' momentum.

Three straight points cut the margin to one, 1-11 to 0-13, in the 65th minute, but Donegal finished more strongly and have reached the All-Ireland series for the first time since winning the title 10 years ago.

HOW THEY LINED OUT

DONEGAL: 1. T Blake; 2. S Carr, 17. E Doherty, 4. N McGinley; 5. R Sweeney, 6. B Monaghan, 7. K Cassidy; 8. J Gildea, 9. J McGuinness; 10. C Toye, 11. M Hegarty (capt.), 12. B Roper; 13. A Sweeney, 14. B Devenney, 15. P McGonigle. Subs: 18. D Diver for Toye (69 mins).

MEATH: 1. C Sullivan; 2. M O'Reilly, 3. D Fay, 4. C Murphy; 5. P Shankey, 6. N Nestor, 7. P Reynolds; 8. N Crawford, 9. J Cullinane; 10. E Kelly, 11. A Kenny, 12. T Giles (capt.); 13. O Murphy, 14. G Geraghty, 15. R Kealy. Subs: 20. D Crimmins for Murphy (half-time), 17. D Curtis for Shankey (47 mins), 21. S Kenny for A Kenny (47).

YELLOW CARDS

Donegal: J Gildea (21 mins), A Sweeney (35), B Roper (39). Meath: N Nestor (10), J Cullinane (22), M O'Reilly (25), P Shankey (39), G Geraghty (46), S Kenny (56), D Crimmins (60), C Sullivan (70).

Red cards: None.