The dearth of quality on display for long stretches of this afternoon's contest at Bord na Móna O’Connor Park illustrated why these two teams are mired in relegation trouble at the bottom of Division Two of the Allianz Football league, but the drama and tension in the closing stages more than made up for it in terms of a spectacle.
In the end it was a hotly-disputed Joey Wallace goal in the fifth minute of stoppage time that ensured a share of the spoils, a result that will leave neither team entirely happy this evening.
Wallace palmed the ball in after Paddy Dunican blocked a punched attempt on goal from Eoin Harkin, with Offaly defenders screaming for a square ball decision. Referee Fergal Kelly consulted his umpires and allowed the goal to stand, and that was to be the last action of the game.
It may have felt like heartbreak, but Offaly had Dunican to thank for even getting to that position, as he had made a host of wonderful stops over the course of the 80-odd minutes of action.
In the first half, Meath were probably the happier side as they got to the interval just a point behind, 0-06 to 0-05, despite playing into a very strong, albeit swirling wind. The Royal County enjoyed plenty of possession but since anything more that 25 metres out from the Park Avenue end goal was out of range, they found it difficult to create clear-cut scoring chances and instead were solely reliant on dead ball scores in the first half.
Offaly, understandably, had more and better chances of scores, but some desperately poor shooting ensured that there was never more than a point between the sides. Jack Bryant got the home side off the mark with a superb point from play, cancelling out an early free from Shane Walsh, but three terrible wides inside the first ten minutes ensured that there was no momentum picked up at any stage by Faithful men.
Meath’s support running and ball movement was decent, with Cillian O’Sullivan’s return to the starting team giving them a focal point at the centre of the attack, and that helped create goal chances for Tomas O’Reilly and Matthew Costello, which were blocked by Dunican and Colm Doyle.
It was only when Meath inched in front at 0-05 to 0-04, that Offaly finally seemed to show signs of life, restoring a narrow advantage through points from Dylan Hyland and Mark Abbott.
A lifeline came Offaly’s way when an inexplicable trip from Jack O’Connor on an Offaly defender with the last play of the first half meant he was shown a black card, and Offaly took advantage to kick on and add the first two points of the second half through Niall McNamee and Dylan Hyland.
Hyland was in sensational form for the home side in the second half, taking his tally up to four points, while McNamee mixed the good with the bad, adding a host of wides and giveaway passes to his scores.
However he was still the man that looked like he delivered the win when he finished the ball to the net in the 63rd minute, following excellent link up play with his Rhode colleagues Anton Sullivan and Rúairí McNamee to set up the close range chance.
Meath had their chances to level, and to take the lead, but some bad wides and two more incredible saves from Dunican looked like it was going to give Offaly the win, until the final twist in the tale decreed otherwise.
Offaly: Paddy Dunican (0-01, 45); Niall Darby, Kieran Dolan, Declan Hogan; Colm Doyle, James Lalor, Cian Donohoe; Bill Carroll, Jordan Hayes; Dylan Hyland (0-04), David Dempsey, Mark Abbott (0-01); Jack Bryant (0-01), Niall McNamee (1-03, 0-01 free), Rúairí McNamee.
Subs: Cathal Donoghue for Donohoe (21), Anton Sullivan for Donoghue (52), Keith O'Neill for Bryant (58), Cathal Flynn for Abbott (70), Cormac Egan for R McNamee (72).
Meath: Harry Hogan (0-02 frees); Robin Clarke, Eoin Harkin (0-01), Jordan Muldoon; Donal Keogan (0-01), Shane McEntee, Cathal Hickey; Ronan Jones, Pádraic Harnan; Jason Scully, Thomas O’Reilly, Mathew Costello; Jordan Morris (0-04, 0-02 frees), Shane Walsh (0-01 free), Cillian O'Sullivan.
Subs: Jack O'Connor for Hickey (17), Ronan Ryan for Clarke (31), Eamon Wallace for O'Reilly (52), Joey Wallace (1-00) for O'Sullivan (53), James McEntee for Costello (68).
Referee: Fergal Kelly (Longford)
