The 2010 Leinster Senior Football Championship final was the last football match of the 2010 Leinster Senior Football Championship, played between Louth and Meath on 11 July 2010 in Croke Park, Dublin. Louth were appearing in their first Leinster Senior Football Championship Final in 50 years. The game is memorable for its contentious conclusion, such that in 2020 it was described as "the most controversial Leinster final ever".
Meath won by 1–12 to 1–10, thanks to a controversial late goal by Joe Sheridan. The goal was deemed illegal by television replays but was declared valid by referee Martin Sludden, from County Tyrone. He then blew the final whistle. Irate Louth fans stormed the pitch and commenced a process of chasing and physically assaulting the referee, who had to be led away by a Garda escort in scenes broadcast to a live television audience. Other scenes of violence saw bottles being hurled from a stand, one striking a steward who fell to the ground. The situation led to much media debate in the week that followed, the violence was condemned by senior politicians (some of whom were in the stadium), and there were calls for the game to be replayed—though, ultimately, this did not happen.
Seán Moran of The Irish Times said the next day: "What will be most vividly remembered of the 2010 final was compressed into a minute at the very end of the match with Louth getting ready to celebrate a deserved win – first over their neighbours in 35 years – and a resilient display". Colm Keys of the Irish Independent said it was "hard to disagree" that it was "the greatest injustice for many a year in Croke Park", and remarked: "The 320th anniversary of the Battle of the Boyne is being commemorated today, but that surely didn't throw up a talking point to match a Joe Sheridan goal that will have the counties divided by the same river at odds for years to come".
History of rivalry Louth and Meath were rivals of old, both winning the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship in the 1950s; however, this was to be Louth's first appearance in the Leinster Senior Football Championship final since a 1960 loss to Offaly. According to Colm O'Rourke, "there was a time in the late 1940s and '50s when Meath and Louth were the two best teams in the province [of Leinster] and played some memorable championship games". Keith Duggan of The Irish Times reported that the two teams "fight like alley cats". They had last met four years previously in a preliminary round of the Leinster Senior Football Championship, with Meath emerging victorious. Louth had last defeated Meath in 1975, also at Croke Park. Three matches were required to produce a winner when the two encountered each other in July 1949. Other meetings include a draw in a semi-final of the 1951 Leinster Senior Football Championship, with Meath narrowly winning the replay. Meath also defeated Louth in the 1952 Leinster Senior Football Championship Final. Following on from Louth's aforementioned 1975 victory, there were other Meath wins in 1998, 2002 and 2006.
Route to the final Preliminary Round: Louth 1–11 Longford 1–7; Meath 1–20 Offaly 2–7 Quarter-finals: Louth 1–22 Kildare 1–16; Meath 2–14 Laois 0–10 Semi-finals: Louth 1–15 Westmeath 2–10; Meath 5–9 Dublin 0–13
Pre-match
Team selection On 9 July, both teams announced their teams for the final. Meath announced their team first, with captain Nigel Crawford, returning after injury, replacing Mark Ward in midfield.
Attendance It was anticipated beforehand that attendance would be at its lowest of the decade, estimated at 45,000 or 50,000 by Ian O'Riordan of The Irish Times. 48,875 people attended the game. The issue of applying fencing around Croke Park to prevent pitch invasions had been discussed prior to the game. The violent scenes which followed the 2010 Leinster Senior Football Championship Final renewed this debate in the days afterwards, though President Cooney later said "the last thing we want to do is put fencing up around Croke Park".
Match Summary Louth's JP Rooney and Shane Lennon both missed opportunities in the first half. Louth dominated the second half, though spurned numerous opportunities to take a commanding lead over Meath. Rooney scored a goal with seven minutes of the game left. Meath converted two long-range free kicks from Cian Ward, but Louth still led by one point in the final minute. Louth's Colm Judge was sent off in the 69th minute for a second bookable offence. Then came the controversial goal by Joe Sheridan in the fourth minute of stoppage time. The ball was kicked into the square by Graham Reilly. It came out to Séamus Kenny, who could have gone for the point, but saw a goal chance and shot. But the ball was blocked by Louth captain Paddy Keenan, and fell into the square, towards Louth full-back Dessie Finnegan. But Finnegan failed to clear and the ball went straight to Joe Sheridan, who fell over the goal line and then threw the ball into the net – both illegal moves. Sheridan was also "inside the square" at the time the ball reached him, in a third illegal move. Yet the goal was allowed and all of a sudden Meath were winning by two points. Referee Sludden checked with the umpire and did not change his mind, blowing his whistle for full-time soon after with the score at Meath 1–12: Louth 1–10, much to the disappointment of everyone associated with Louth. TV replays immediately demonstrated that the referee was incorrect when he awarded the goal to Meath.
Violence
Louth fans poured onto the pitch to express their feelings to the referee, and, in the words of The Irish Times, "all hell broke loose". At least four fans physically attacked Sludden and struck him with violence. One man who was wearing a red shirt shoved Sludden in the chest before being pursued by television cameras as he made his departure. Sludden was awarded a Garda escort as he made haste his escape from the pitch. Stadium director Peter McKenna said the referee was "very shaken" after his experience.
Louth manager Peter Fitzpatrick intervened to physically urge the fans to halt their behaviour, an act later described by the Irish Independent as "a remarkable display of composure from the Dundalk man, who had every right to be spitting feathers at the defeat". Meath substitute Mark Ward was hit by a Louth fan. Children cried and looked sad, and one child allegedly received a wound when hit by a steward. Bottles were hurled from the stands. A steward also received wounds when he was assaulted by a soft drinks bottle. He was given medical attention, and later declared fit to steward further matches.
Elsewhere in the stadium, former Meath All-Ireland Senior Football Championship-winning manager Seán Boylan was involved in an altercation with an irate Louth fan in a corporate box. Boylan said: "People lose the head all the time" and that he was "more embarrassed than anything".
Details
GK1 Neil Gallagher (Cooley Kickhams)RCB2 Eamonn McAuley (Na Piarsaigh)FB3 Dessie Finnegan (St Patrick's)LCB4 Ronan Greene (Naomh Malachi)RHB5 Ray Finnegan (St Patrick's)CHB6 Mick Fanning (Naomh Máirtín)LHB7 John O'Brien (Seán O'Mahony's)MF8 Paddy Keenan (St Patrick's) (c)MF9 Brian White (Cooley Kickhams)RHF10 Andy McDonnell (Newtown Blues)CHF11 Mark Brennan (Mattock Rangers)LHF12 Adrian Reid (Mattock Rangers)RCF13 Colm Judge (Newtown Blues)FF14 Shane Lennon (Kilkerley Emmets)LCF15 JP Rooney (Naomh Máirtín)Substitutes: 16 Stephen Fitzpatrick (Clan na Gael) for Greene 17 Aaron Hoey (St Bride's) for Fanning 18 Páraic Smith (Dreadnots) for Lennon 19 Declan Byrne (St Mochta's) for ReidManager: Peter Fitzpatrick GK1 Brendan Murphy (Trim)RCB2 Chris O'Connor (Ballinabrackey)FB3 Kevin Reilly (Navan O'Mahonys)LCB4 Eoghan Harrington (Wolfe Tones)RHB5 Gary O'Brien (Navan O'Mahonys)CHB6 Anthony Moyles (St Oliver Plunketts/Eoghan Ruadh, Dublin)LHB7 Caoimhín King (Dunshaughlin)MF8 Brian Meade (Rathkenny)MF9 Nigel Crawford (Dunboyne) (c) RHF10 Séamus Kenny (Simonstown Gaels)CHF11 Joe Sheridan (Seneschalstown)LHF12 Graham Reilly (St Colmcille's)RCF13 Cian Ward (Wolfe Tones)FF14 Shane O'Rourke (Simonstown Gaels)LCF15 Stephen Bray (Navan O'Mahonys)Substitutes: 16 Cormac McGuinness (Navan O'Mahonys) for Moyles 17 Peadar Byrne (Ballinlough) for O'Rourke Manager:Éamonn O'Brien
View of match participants Joe Sheridan Joe Sheridan, who scored the controversial goal, described how he had done it: "It was well-worked and it was a definite goal. People are saying I threw it in, but I was heading for the line and I just dropped the ball and it was in the net. I got it and the lad just pushed me into the net. I tried to do whatever I could to hit it and the goal was given, simple as that. I was pushed in over the line so it should have been a penalty anyway. I think it was a perfect goal".
Match officials Referee Martin Sludden later admitted he had made an error. His referee's report acknowledged a "terrible mistake". However, based on past refereeing errors, his place on the panel of 18 referees to officiate during the 2010 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship was secure, though the likelihood of him refereeing another match was less so. It was thought likely he had been deducted four points from one hundred for his error by his assessor (1 for missing a foul and 3 for Meath profiting from it with a score), though rules banning the assessor from looking at video evidence meant Sludden may not have been deducted any points if the assessor could not see the incident properly from the stand.
Team managers Louth manager Peter Fitzpatrick said he was "absolutely devastated" on RTÉ. Appearing later on radio station LMFM, he described the referee as "Dick Turpin without a mask", adding "It was pure daylight robbery. I'm very, very annoyed".
When questioned at a press conference about Sheridan's goal, Meath manager Eamon O'Brien said: "I can't say and I'm not commenting. I can comment, as I said to RTÉ, that loads of decisions were made during the game that didn't go our way. I can recall three or four balls that were blown for picking off the ground that I didn’t think were off the ground. Nigel Crawford was booked up here and Louth got a point off it. The game goes for 70 minutes, decisions are made and you live with it. That’s it, that’s the way I see it".
Other players Meath's captain Nigel Crawford gave his opinion on the incident: "I'm sure most players have been involved in controversial situations like that where you get calls for replays and things like that happening, but I just don't think it's possible or I just don't think it can happen. If you start that, where do you end up? Do we go back and say the ball wasn’t on the ground when we touched it and they got a free or whatever? It's just very unfortunate that it happens in a high-profile game right at the end of a game to a team that hasn't won in a long time. It's just a very unfortunate situation".
Louth player J. P. Rooney said: "Aaron Hoey was pleading with [Sludden] to consult with his umpires but when he went in, he told them to put up the green flag. [...] I know it's wrong, people running at the ref, but you can see why Louth people did it. He brought it on himself and I wouldn't feel sorry for him".
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