GAELIC GAMES/All-Ireland SFC Qualifier (Round Three)/Meath 2-14 Galway 1-14:A tale of two sporting dynasties. One is dying, the other utterly revived. Meath are contenders again. The only team in Leinster to genuinely rattle the Dubs' cage have regrouped, from that defeat and the potentially catastrophic Graham Geraghty saga, to dismiss a Galway team that no longer sees the light.
At least they have Micheál Meehan. Without this magnificent footballer they would be sifting through the ruins of a heavy defeat this morning.
Regardless, the three-year term of manager Peter Ford has little chance of an extension.
Galway have stumbled through Ford's tenure, losing to Cork, Westmeath and now Meath in the championship. There was one provincial title, a league final and an under-21 All-Ireland but it looks increasingly likely that someone else will be awarded the rebuilding contract.
The old guard of Ja Fallon, Matthew Clancy and Pádraic Joyce also seem destined to take leave of the intercounty scene. Their legacies may be secure but their current influence is sorely waning.
Meehan is the future. Galway trailed 2-6 to 0-6 at half-time in this lively fixture but the 22-year-old had registered just a pointed free, after six minutes to put the Tribesmen in front for the only time. Then, early in the second half, he took responsibility for Galway's championship aspirations.
Along with Nicky Joyce, Meehan began to reduce the deficit. Darren Fay had been shadowing him but not even the great full back could hinder the athleticism displayed for the score that made it a three-point game.
Pádraic Joyce came in to replace Fallon and immediately acted as a lightning rod for Meehan and his younger brother Nicky to work magic off.
Geraghty was the next box office attraction to leap off the reserves bench. Strangely enough, manager Colm Coyle deployed him around the middle where he contributed in steadying the ship. By this stage, Cian Ward and Nigel Crawford were dominating the skies.
Stephen Bray brought his tally to 2-2 - more on him shortly - while a smooth left-footed strike from young Shane O'Rourke, living up to his schoolboy promise, kept Meath in control.
If the game was to be stripped down to its bare bones, Meath progress by virtue of their marksmen - on this occasion Bray and the free-taking accuracy of Brian Farrell delivered.
Just four wides in total supports this assertion. On other days it has been Cian Ward or Geraghty or the absent Joe Sheridan or Anthony Moyles. How many teams have such a wealth of scoring options?
The first Bray goal came after 23 minutes. The second four minutes later. Two excellently finished opportunities that arrived like hammer blows to Galway's collective jaw. Damien Burke is a handy corner back but he was left trailing in Bray's wake on both occasions.
In direct contrast, Seán Armstrong may be a proven score collector at underage but on Saturday he spurned three goalscoring opportunities. Or, more accurately, Brian Murphy produced a goalkeeping masterclass.
There were echoes of Seán Boylan's Meath coming up to the interval. Mark Ward picked up a yellow card and then kicked a point. Peadar Byrne followed him into Maurice Deegan's book. Anthony Moyles landed a quality score and then got himself a yellow too.
But back to the Galway comeback. It only really grew legs when Meehan was awarded a penalty by Deegan 15 minutes into the second-half. Stephen MacGabhann was charged with committing the foul but it looked harsh. The spot-kick was struck firmly to the right, so even the agile Murphy failed to keep it out.
The momentum swing was confirmed when Armstrong and then a long-range Meehan point levelled matters up at 2-9 to 1-12.
Meath needed inspiration and it duly arrived from three Farrell frees and the prodigal son himself, Geraghty. The 34-year-old held off two defenders to land his point.
Moyles had since moved into defence where his presence put some manners on the Joyce brothers. Fay had also got to grips with Meehan, while Caoimhin King was sweeping up any loose ball.
Galway were desperately searching for a goal but a quick free from Moyles gifted Charles McCarthy with an insurance point as matters entered injury-time.
Besides an even later Armstrong point, all that remained was for Geraghty to be officially welcomed back into the fold by the Meath people who collectively embraced their shirtless hero.
A renewed Meath, littered with quality, move into the last eight.
MEATH: 1 B Murphy; 2 E Harrington, 3 D Fay, 4 N McKeigue; 5 S Kenny, 6 K Reilly, 7 C King; 8 M Ward (0-1), 9 N Crawford; 10 P Curran, 11 A Moyles (0-1), 12 P Byrne; 13 S Bray (2-2), 14 S O'Rourke (0-2), 15 B Farrell (0-6, five frees) . Subs: 17 S MacGabhann for E Harrington (15 mins, inj), 22 C McGuinness for S Kenny (26 mins, inj), 23 C O'Connor for S MacGabhann (54 mins), 30 G Geraghty (0-1) for P Curran (42 mins), 21 C McCarthy (0-1) for P Byrne (69 mins). Yellow cards: M Ward (33 mins), P Byrne (35 mins), A Moyles (35 mins).
Galway: 1 P Doherty; 2 K Fitzgerald, 3 F Hanley, 4 D Burke; 5 M Comer, 6 D Blake, 7 G Sice; 8 B Cullinane, 9 N Coleman; 10 M Clancy (0-1), 11 N Joyce (0-5, one free), 12 J Fallon; 13 S Armstrong (0-3), 14 M Meehan (1-5, two frees, 45, 1-0 pen), 15 J Bergin. Subs: D Meehan for D Burke (29 mins), P Joyce for J Fallon (38 mins), C Bane for M Clancy (62 mins), P Geraghty for B Cullinane (65 mins), D Savage for J Bergin (66 mins). Yellow cards: F Hanley (12 mins), J Fallon (24 mins), D Blake (27 mins), G Sice (64 mins).
Attendance: 14,350.
Referee: M Deegan (Laois).
