Bank of Ireland All-Ireland Senior Football Championship semi-final: Armagh 2-5 Meath 0-15
SEMI-FINAL losses are said to be the hardest to take but this reversal by Meath was even tougher for Armagh, who knew in their hearts the blame lay at their own door.
Skipper Jarlath Burns, who confirmed the end of his inter-county career, was as gracious as ever in defeat accepting his side had missed their chance by missing their chances: “We did excellently in the first half.
“Unfortunately in the second half we had more clear cut chances but weren’t able to convert them and that was probably the difference between the two teams.”
The dismissal of defensive lynchpin Ger Reid was another crucial factor but the Silverbridge man refused to criticise referee Paddy Russell.
“The sending off had to be the difference particularly as it was Ger Reid our outstanding, inspirational full-back all year,'' said Burns.
“It was a questionable sending off but we don’t want to dwell on that we just want to look at the good points.”
Accentuating the positive, Burns issued a rallying cry for the future, even though he will play no part in it: “There’s no doubt this team will be back. Although I am very heavy hearted and disappointed I am also optimistic – there’s definitely an All-Ireland in this team.
“I’m disappointed for the fans but you probably have to lose one of these games to win one and I’m convinced we’ll be back to win an All-Ireland in the next couple of years.
“I’m not left with any bad taste in my mouth about the refereeing.
“What I’m disappointed about is that on the day we were the better team and we just couldn’t beat Meath”.
STAR MAN
Trevor Giles (Meath)
ALTHOUGH Kieran McGeeney battled tremendously with Giles all through the game, Meath’s star forward still did enough to inspire.
Giles on occasions was able to get away to make the telling pass, not that often, but often enough to count, while his scoring was to prove a crucial factor.
Meath benefited from Giles’s accuracy, with his free kicks proving hugely important as Meath, like Armagh, found finishing difficult. He did miss three good chances in the first half but overall his contribution kept the Leinster champions in the game until they took over during the last 15 minutes.
TEAM STATS
Armagh: B Tierney, E McNulty, G Reid, J McNulty, K Hughes (1-0), K McGeeney, A McCann, J Burns (Capt), J Donaldson, P McGrane, T McEntee, D Marsden 1-1, J McEntee, O McConville, P McKeever 0-4.
Subs: C O’Rourke for J McEntee (61), A O’Neill for McGrane (65),
Meath: C Sullivan, M O’Reilly, D Fay, C Murphy, P Reynolds, E McManus (0-1), H Traynor, N Crawford, J McDermott, N Nestor 0-1, T Giles 0-5, D Curtis 0-2, E Kelly 0-3, G Geraghty 0-1, O Murphy.
Sub: R Magee 0-1 for Murphy (21)
Referee: P Russell (Tipperary)
Attendance: 60,589