A GOAL FROM JJ Smith with the last kick of the game rescued a draw for 13-man Carlow against 14-man Meath in their Leinster GAA Football Championship quarter-final clash in Tullamore this afternoon.
It was, in truth, no less than Carlow deserved despite failing to capitalise on what was, overall, a poor Meath performance.
Despite this, the Royals led by three points deep in injury-time and, when Carlow had two men of their own sent off in the dying moments, it looked like Meath had set up a semi-final with Kildare.
However, when Meath goalkeeper David Gallagher spilled a shot in the dying seconds, Smith pounced to stun Seamus McEneaney’s men.
The game started with both sides exchanging points before Cian Ward gave Carlow goalkeeper Trevor O’Reilly no chance with a phenomenal strike after benefiting from some lazy Carlow defending.
That made it 1-5 to 0-3 close to half time but Carlow scored four unanswered points to draw themselves back into the game.
Carlow got to within one of Meath several times in the second half but couldn’t seem to pull ahead though it looked like they would dominate the game when Conor Gillespie was sent off for Meath following a second yellow.
However, it was Meath that stretched ahead and Carlow, increasingly frustrated by their failure to punish their opponents slack performance, had two men of their own (Paul Reid and Derek Hayden) sent off.
But they got the draw they deserved when Keith Jackson flashed in a shot from an tight angle which bounced into the path of Smith to earn Carlow a replay.
Monaghan putting it up to Dublin in the second half certainly not a walk over. 53 minutes in and all square
League final for the rebels but will have to step it up against the Dubs as I expect them to brush Monaghan aside. Think it’s time the Northern to drop the blanket defence…. shocking to watch.
It’s been adopted by all teams below Division 1, if they try to match the big guns man to man they’ll get blown out if the water! It’s no longer just a Northern style
Maybe open your eyes Owl when watching a match and form your own unique opinions instead of following the media’s approach on criticising the northern teams. Donegal for one don’t have a blanket defence for the sake of negativity. The have a system that works and forwards that can cause real damage like against Dublin last year. They scored 19 points today. What a terribly negative team….
Maybe you should watch that game again. … blanket defence on show all day. Cork put pressure on them to come out and play and NOT because it was Donegals game plan. My opinions are formed by actually watching the game and not just reading the result…
You sir, can suck my white hammer.
Good man Jimmy. … constructive yet to the point !
Well I was at the game today so i saw quite clearly how Donegal played. You clearly have little understanding of how their tactics work. You may as well stick to the blanket criticism of every ulster team playing purely negative football.
How their tactics work ????
Yes I can see it works a treat. Silly little comment.