All-Ireland SFC Qualifiers Round two/Meath 1-12 Leitrim 1-8: For 30 seconds or so, Seán Boylan's football life must have flashed before his eyes. Not far from his mother's birthplace, his long and distinguished managerial career hung in the balance.
Leitrim, after an intelligent and truly heroic 70 minutes of football, were just a single possession away from dumping the Royals from the championship when substitute Daniel Beck pushed them in front.
Such was the tenor of the match that a shock seemed fated. But to trace the turning of the game, it was necessary to head out the road to Dromod, where Meath had warmed up earlier at lunchtime.
It was only then that Ollie Murphy, suffering with migraine all week, felt well enough to tog out.
With Boylan's nose for moments like this, the Carnaross man entered the game just before Beck landed what appeared to be an immortal point - and was therefore on hand to land the equaliser, a trademark Murphy point on the run. It was his only score of the afternoon but enough to take the game to extra time, where Meath had simply too many resources for the exhausted local team to match.
It is hard to gauge how far Meath can go this season. But ominously, they seem to have rediscovered their love of living dangerously.
"Maybe I am around long enough to think you always have a chance, you always have a chance," smiled Boylan afterwards. "But just the bravery of the man to have his pot, to have his go. That is Ollie."
Boylan's pedigree means he is a bit of a connoisseur of the local game.
"Because my mother is from Cloone, I go to see them play whenever Meath aren't involved. I saw them against Sligo and Galway and they are an incredibly improved team. I mean, what Dessie has done is unbelievable and we are just relieved to have had the chance to play extra time and to get a victory."
It wasn't just sweet praise from the Dunboyne herbalist.
Leitrim gave it everything here. Their full-back trio of Michael McGuinness, John McKeon and Dermot Reynolds gave a near-flawless defensive performance.
Reynolds was smart and brave in the key role of shadowing Graham Geraghty, who cut a frustrated figure for much of the second half but still glimmered with potential throughout.
Colin Regan masterminded a path through the staunch Meath heartland for the entire game and his exit, from sheer exhaustion four minutes into extra time, seemed like a signal that Leitrim were running on empty. Time and time again Regan linked with busy midfielder Chris Carroll to lead Leitrim to safety.
The home team lived on lean fare yet made the most of their attacking opportunities, with Michael Foley tapping over a free to leave them 0-4 to 0-3 ahead at the break.
Meath looked good in places, with full back Kevin Reilly, a young Leaving Certificate student, giving a performance that Darren Fay must have been silently applauding.
Mark O'Reilly announced his return with a crunching - but fair - shoulder on Barry Prior in the first 10 minutes and was withdrawn only when the day was won.
Geraghty fired the goal in extra time that settled the day, reacting to a ferocious Murphy shot that came off the crossbar and coolly picking his spot. That point put Meath 1-12 to 1-6 up and given how hard Leitrim had worked for all their scores, there was no way they could come back after 90 minutes of running.
Geraghty's classic form means Meath are a danger to any team but there were periods on the field when he seemed to be operating on a different wavelength from some of his forward team-mates and yearned to strike up the old partnership with Murphy.
But one suspects Meath's season will have to extend into September before Geraghty meets such a formidable back line again.
It was a proud conclusion to what has to represent a very successful championship for Des Dolan. Leitrim are not the first county to learn that almost beating Meath and beating Meath are two very different matters.
"It was fierce disappointing all right," said Chris Carroll, the Kiltubrid midfielder who fought for every ball around midfield.
"But fighting back has been our trait and we did the same today. We have great belief and a great bunch of young lads. And we are not afraid to give it a shot and never say die."
The shot in this instance came from corner forward James Glancy, who worked Leitrim's only goal from a tough situation on 54 minutes, beating two Meath defenders before slipping his shot beneath David Gallagher.
That left Leitrim 1-7 to 0-6 up and the crowd in Seán McDermott stirred with real belief.
Seconds later, Geraghty raced out toward the ball and flicked it sublimely for Stephen Bray, but with a goal on, he could not pick up. Peadar Byrne levelled matters on 57 minutes and from there both teams played out a tense cat-and-mouse game until Beck went for glory.
It was a score he could have dined out on for many years but for that old Meath trait of refusing to die.
MEATH: D Gallagher; N McKeigue, K Reilly, C King; T O'Connor; D Fay, M O'Reilly; N Crawford, A Moyles (0-1); N Kelly, D Crimmins, P Byrne (0-2); G Geraghty (1-2), B Farrell (0-1) free), S Bray (0-2). Subs: J Sheridan (0-2, 1 free) for N Kelly (23 mins), M Burke (0-1) for B Farrell (44 mins), O Murphy (0-1) for P Byrne (70 mins), R Magee for J Sheridan (80 mins), N McLaughlin for C King (80 mins), S Kenny for M O'Reilly (85 mins).
LEITRIM: G Phelan; M McGuinness, J McKeon, D Reynolds; C Regan, B McWeeney, S Foley; C Carroll, G McCloskey; J Goldrick, B Prior, M Foley (0-4, 3 frees); J Glancy (1-1), D Duignan, D Maxwell (0-1). Subs: D Beck (0-1) for J Goldrick (63 mins), D Brennan (0-1) for G McCloskey, N Gibbons for C Regan (64 mins), J McGovern for S Foley (77 mins).
Referee: J White (Donegal).
