Meath…1-23
Derry…1-21
When Nicky Potterton gathered possession, wheeled away and ended up lashing the sliotar to the Derry net, it appeared to be merely the white icing atop the almond equivalent on Meath’s victory cake in this pulsating Christy Ring Cup decider at Croke Park. At that stage, it left Seoirse Bulfin’s side clear by 1-17 to 0-08 barely ten minutes after half time.
Game over you’d think? Not if you have even a scintilla of knowledge about Meath’s history in this competition. Remember, on the occasion of their first acquisition of the trophy named in honour of the greatest hurler of them all, they had to complete the task twice, after what looked like the winner against Antrim from Dunboyne’s Sean Quigley was subsequently chalked off.
So they had to go out and do it all again. Which would’ve been ordeal enough, but not only did they have to do it, they had to go into Ulster territory – Pairc Esler in Newry to be exact – and, as luck would have it, it was Quigley who again essayed the clinching shot.
This time round, a different story but no less terrifying from a cardiac perspective. At 1-17 to 0-08, even the most ardent Derry fan would have got hard to see them coming back. Yet back they began to come. And kept coming.
With no disrespect to the Oak Leaf County, it’s a good job for Meath’s sake that they were so dependent on Cormac O’Doherty for scores. Though ironically, the nearer they got to Bulfin’s brigade, the more freedom those in red and white seemed to hurl with.
A fact that manifested itself via John Mullan, Corey O’Reilly and Segdae Melaugh all registering in those frantic closing stages. All of which meant that, as an epic day’s hurling at GAA HQ headed for its concluding handful of minutes, almost unbelievably, just a single score separated the sides.
Fate has a funny way of operating, mind you. In the build up to the match, two thoughts refused to leave the thought stream here. Centring on the enormous contributions Joint Captains Charlie Ennis and Jack Regan had made to their team’s journey to the final hurdle.
And secondly, what a tremendously difficult decision it must have been for Limerick’s Bulfin and his management team to omit Padraig O’Hanrahan from the start 15. Especially given the amount of heavy lifting the Ratoath player undertook in the early part of the season when Regan was out injured.
However, it’s a sign of players and management very much on the one page that the gifted corner forward was very much to the fore in closing out the deal, being central to the move which, fittingly, culminated in Regan tapping over the insurance score guaranteeing Christy Ring a spot on the bus back to Trim for the third time in seven years.
The chaotic finish being in complete contrast to the blissful beginning Bulfin’s brigade built for themselves. Now, perhaps people won’t place much store in the following, but, Meath’s magnificence in that opening period was the best exhibition of stick craft ever witnessed by the one seeing eye here has ever witnessed from a Meath team.
By half time, Regan had eight points to his name, while Sean Geraghty, Martin Healy, Pa Ryan and Eamonn Og O’Donnchadh also kept the umpires busy during that golden spell before the unhinged brilliance of that second half.
MEATH – C. Ennis; S. Geraghty (0-1), S. Brennan, B. McKeon; N. McLarnon, M. Burke, S. Ennis (0-1); P. Ryan (0-1), M. Healy (0-1); J. Toher, J. Regan (0-14), J. Kelly (0-1); S. Morris, E. Og O’Donnchadh (0-3), N. Potterton (1-1).
SUBS – A. Gannon for Morris, P. O’Hanrahan for Ryan, G. Dwane for Brennan, M. O’Sullivan for Kelly, J. Murray for O’Donnchadh.
Referee: Kevin Jordan Tipperay
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