Duke’s last-gasp goal wins the day for Meath amid drama and controversy

Meath 3-14, Westmeath 1-17

The undoubted consensus among both sets of fans streaming out of TEG Cusack Park last Sunday afternoon around 5pm was that ‘the better team lost’. But this is scant consolation for Dermot McCabe’s fit and focused troops after a goal from Conor Duke with the very last kick of the game controversially won the day for Meath against their wasteful neighbours Westmeath in what was a pulsating game.

This round five match was played in front of a very big crowd in Mullingar, the winners thereby maintaining their drive for promotion while the losers – who shot 12 wides to their opponents’ four – remain pointless despite several close shaves in their campaign to date, last Sunday being the closest of all in terms of the lateness of the match-winning score for the Lake County’s opponents. So late in fact, that very few people present can say with any degree of conviction whether Duke’s shot happened before or after the sounding of the new hooter introduced by the FRC.

Remarkably, the men in maroon and white – who can’t buy a break this year so far (witness the late withdrawal of captain Ronan Wallace and the ever-improving Kevin O’Sullivan) – are still in with a very slim chance of avoiding the drop to Division 3. There would surely be very few friends or foes who would begrudge them what their Delaney Cup-winning manager, the late, great Paidí Ó Sé used to call ‘the rub of the relic’ in the two games remaining.

Meath had the aid of a useful wind in the first half. Like seven days earlier against Cavan, it was blowing towards the scoreboard end of the ground, but not with anything like the same ferocity. However, it was the home team which started much the brighter, retaining possession for the opening two minutes before shooting unanswered points from Danny McCartan and the lively Luke Loughlin (2) by the ninth minute.

Duke got the Royals on the scoreboard in the tenth minute, but Matthew Whittaker and Brandon Kelly (with his fist) put Westmeath deservedly ahead by 0-5 to 0-1 with a dozen minutes elapsed.

Meath had been out of sorts in the early stages, but they got a huge boost in the 13th minute when the referee brought a free kick forward by 50 metres and, in a flash, Jordan Morris fired a great shot to the roof of the net. Robbie Brennan’s charges added points from Eoghan Frayne (a free) and Duke, thereby taking the lead for the first time (1-3 to 0-5). A two-pointer from Jack Flynn followed and a single from Duke to leave the Royal County ahead by four points after 22 minutes.

Robbie Forde and Whittaker tagged on points at the other end before Morris pounced for a terrific two-pointer. Sandwiched between points from Forde and Lorcan Dolan, Conor McCormack brilliantly saved a 32nd-minute penalty by Morris after the officials combined to penalise Forde for a throw ball on his own goal line after he appeared to have prevented a certain Meath goal.

With just seconds remaining on the countdown clock, a delivery from Morris was fielded by Adam O’Neill who turned and found the net. This left the visitors ahead by a very flattering five-point margin at the break (2-8 to 0-9).

Points from Sam McCartan (who had a terrific game overall), Brían Cooney and Loughlin by the 40th minute had the gap down to two points, as Ray Connellan continued to be influential in and around the midfield area. Flynn replied with a point, with Westmeath’s wastefulness from frees and open play at this juncture proving costly in the long run.

A Loughlin free and a fine score from the hard-working Conor Dillon left the gap at the bare minimum. A needless free allowed Morris to double this, before a great two-pointer from a Loughlin free left the sides on level terms (2-10 to 0-16) at the end of the third quarter.

A very good Frayne point put the men in green and gold in front, but veteran sub Kieran Martin (who famously scored two goals when Westmeath won their first ever championship game against their old rivals in 2015 in Croke Park) pounced for a bundled goal approaching the hour mark, after a two-point attempt from a Sam McCartan free – controversially awarded – had come back off the upright.

The experienced Bryan Menton and Frayne (a routine free) pointed to tie up the scoring with six minutes remaining. Forde (a free) and Frayne (open play) then traded points.

A draw looked certain until sub Keith Curtis fed Duke just as the hooter was about to sound and he buried the ball in the Westmeath net to the delight of the huge Meath crowd present. It was a heart-breaking ending for the Westmeath players who had put in a huge – if somewhat profligate – shift from start to finish.

Scorers - Meath: C Duke, J Morris (1 2pt) 1-3 each, E Frayne 0-4 (2f), A O'Neill 1-0, J Flynn 0-3 (1 2pt), B Menton 0-1. Westmeath: L Loughlin 0-6 (1 2ptf, 1f), K Martin 1-0, R Forde 0-3 (1f), M Whittaker 0-2, D McCartan, B Cooney, C Dillon, S McCartan, L Dolan, B Kelly 0-1 each.

Meath: Billy Hogan; Seamus Lavin, Seán Rafferty, Donal Keogan; Brian O’Halloran, Adam O’Neill, Ciarán Caulfield; Jack Flynn, Bryan Menton; Conor Duke, Jack Kinlough, Thomas O’Reilly; Jordan Morris, Shane Walsh, Eoghan Frayne. Subs: Cillian O’Sullivan for O’Reilly (25), Sean Coffey for O’Neill (47), Aaron Lynch for Walsh (50), Keith Curtis for O’Sullivan (63), Michael Murphy for O’Halloran (inj., 70).

Westmeath: Conor McCormack; Jamie Gonoud, Jack Geoghegan, Conor Dillon; Joe Moran, Sam McCartan, Matthew Whittaker; Ray Connellan, Fionn O’Hara; Danny McCartan, Brían Cooney, Robbie Forde; Lorcan Dolan, Luke Loughlin, Brandon Kelly. Subs: Andrew Kilmartin for Cooney (temp, 26 – 30), Kieran Martin for Kelly (52), Ronan Wallace for Dolan (57), Andrew Kilmartin for Cooney (65).

Ref: Barry Judge (Sligo).