2010 Leinster Senior Football Championship Final

The 2010 Leinster Senior Football Championship Final was the last football

Gaelic football

Gaelic football , commonly referred to as "football" or "Gaelic", or "Gah" is a form of football played mainly in Ireland...

match of the 2010 Leinster Senior Football Championship

Leinster Senior Football Championship

The GAA Leinster Senior Football Championship is the premier "knockout" competition in the game of football played in the province of Leinster in Ireland. The series of games are organised by the Leinster Council and are played during the summer months. The competition involves the counties of...

, played between Louth

Louth GAA

The Louth County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association or Louth GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Louth. The county board is also responsible for the Louth inter-county teams....

and Meath

Meath GAA

The Meath County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association or Meath GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Meath, as well as for Meath inter-county teams.- Pre-1960s :...

on 11 July 2010 in Croke Park

Croke Park

Croke Park in Dublin is the principal stadium and headquarters of the Gaelic Athletic Association , Ireland's biggest sporting organisation...

, Dublin. Louth were appearing in their first Leinster Senior Football Championship Final in 50 years. The game was notable for its controversial ending.

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

County Tyrone

Historically Tyrone stretched as far north as Lough Foyle, and comprised part of modern day County Londonderry east of the River Foyle. The majority of County Londonderry was carved out of Tyrone between 1610-1620 when that land went to the Guilds of London to set up profit making schemes based on...

. He then blew the final whistle. Irate Louth fans stormed the pitch

Association football pitch

An association football pitch is the playing surface for the game of association football made of turf. Its dimensions and markings are defined by Law 1 of the Laws of the Game, "The Field of Play".All line markings on the pitch form part of the area which they define...

and commenced a process of chasing and physically assaulting the referee, who had to be led away by a Garda

Garda Síochána

, more commonly referred to as the Gardaí , is the police force of Ireland. The service is headed by the Commissioner who is appointed by the Irish Government. Its headquarters are located in the Phoenix Park in Dublin.- Terminology :...

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 this did not happen.

Seán Moran of The Irish Times
The Irish Times
The Irish Times is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Kevin O'Sullivan who succeeded Geraldine Kennedy in 2011; the deputy editor is Paul O'Neill. The Irish Times is considered to be Ireland's newspaper of record, and is published every day except Sundays...

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
Irish Independent
The Irish Independent is Ireland's largest-selling daily newspaper that is published in both compact and broadsheet formats. It is the flagship publication of Independent News & Media.-History:...

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

Battle of the Boyne

The Battle of the Boyne was fought in 1690 between two rival claimants of the English, Scottish and Irish thronesthe Catholic King James and the Protestant King William across the River Boyne near Drogheda on the east coast of Ireland...

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

River Boyne

The River Boyne is a river in Leinster, Ireland, the course of which is about long. It rises at Trinity Well, Newbury Hall, near Carbury, County Kildare, and flows towards the Northeast through County Meath to reach the Irish Sea between Mornington, County Meath and Baltray, County Louth. Salmon...

at odds for years to come".

History of rivalry

Louth and Meath were rivals of old, both winning the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship

All-Ireland Senior Football Championship

The All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, the premier competition in Gaelic football, is a series of games organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association and played during the summer and early autumn...

in the 1950s; however, this was to be Louth's first appearance in the Leinster Senior Football Championship Final since a 1960 to Offaly

Offaly GAA

The Offaly County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association or Offaly GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Offaly...

. According to Colm O'Rourke

Colm O'Rourke

Colm O'Rourke is a retired inter-county Irish Gaelic footballer for County Meath in Ireland, a columnist with the Sunday Independent and a panellist on The Sunday Game on RTÉ Television....

, "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

Longford GAA

The Longford County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association or Longford GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Longford...

1-7; Meath 1-20 Offaly 2-7

Quarter-Finals: Louth 1-22 Kildare

Kildare GAA

For more information see Kildare Senior Club Football Championship or Kildare Senior Club Hurling Championship.The Kildare County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association , or Kildare GAA, is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Kildare...

1-16; Meath 2-14 Laois

Laois GAA

The Laois County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association or Laois GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Laois and the Laois inter-county teams.-History:...

0-10

Semi-Finals: Louth 1-15 Westmeath

Westmeath GAA

The Westmeath County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association or Westmeath GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Westmeath...

2-10; Meath 5-9 Dublin

Dublin GAA

Dublin County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association , or Dublin GAA, is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Dublin. The county board is also responsible for the Dublin inter-county teams...

0-13

Team news

On 9 July, both teams announced their teams for the final. Meath announced their team first, with captain Nigel Crawford

Nigel Crawford (footballer)

Nigel Crawford is an Irish Gaelic footballer who plays for St.Peter's, Dunboyne and the Meath intercounty team. Crawford made his debut with Meath in late 1998 and has been there since. He has won three Leinster medals in 1999, 2001 and in 2010 and has won one All-Ireland medal...

, returning after injury, replacing Mark Ward

Mark Ward (Meath GAA footballer born 1985)

Mark Ward is a football player from Ireland. He currently plays with Navan O'Mahonys GAA. He holds a county medal which he won playing Sigerson football for University College Dublin A.F.C. He is a current member of the Meath senior football team. He is the inaugural member of the "Copper Face...

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 J. P. Rooney and Shane Lennon

Shane Lennon

Shane Lennon is a Gaelic footballer from County Louth, Ireland. He plays with the Louth and Kilkerley teams. He was part of the Louth team that played in the final of the Leinster Senior Football Championship in 2010, but were beaten in controversial circumstances by Meath...

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

Cian Ward

Cian Ward is an Irish Gaelic footballer who currently plays for Meath Senior Football Championship team Wolfe Tones and the Meath intercounty team. He is known as one of the greatest free kick takers currently playing. In the 2009 All-Ireland, he was the third highest top scorer after Donegal's...

, but Louth still led by one point in the final minute. Louth's Colm Judge

Colm Judge

Colm Judge is an Irish sportsperson. He plays Gaelic football with his local club Newtown Blues and has been a member of the Louth senior inter-county team since 2006. Judge is regarded as one of Louth's top GAA players...

was sent off in the 69th minute for a second bookable offence. Then came the controversial goal by Joe Sheridan in the third minute of stoppage time, Meath's only score from play in the entire game. The ball was kicked into the square by Graham Reilly. It came out to Seamus Kenny

Seamus Kenny (footballer)

Séamus Kenny is a current Gaelic football player who plays for his club Simonstown Gaels and plays for the Meath senior football team....

, who could have went for the point, but saw a goal chance and shot. But the ball was brilliantly blocked by Louth captain, Paddy Keenan

Paddy Keenan

Paddy Keenan is an Irish player of the uilleann pipes who first gained fame as a founding member of The Bothy Band. Since that group's dissolution in the late 1970s, Keenan has released a number of solo and collaborative recordings, and continues to tour both as a soloist, and with...

, and fell into the square, towards Louth full-back, Dessie Finnegan

Dessie Finnegan

Dessie Finnegan is a Gaelic football player for Louth & St.Patrick's,Lordship. He won a National Football League Division 3 medal in 2011.His older brother Ray is also a member of the Louth senior football team....

. 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

Garda Síochána

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

Dundalk

Dundalk is the county town of County Louth in Ireland. It is situated where the Castletown River flows into Dundalk Bay. The town is close to the border with Northern Ireland and equi-distant from Dublin and Belfast. The town's name, which was historically written as Dundalgan, has associations...

man, who had every right to be spitting feathers at the defeat". Meath substitute Mark Ward

Mark Ward

Mark William Ward is a former footballer from Liverpool. He started his career as a youth player with Everton F.C. and then played for Oldham Athletic, West Ham United, Manchester City, Everton, Birmingham City, Huddersfield Town, Ayr United, Wigan Athletic, Dundee, Valur and Northwich...

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

Seán Boylan

Seán Boylan is a former football manager from Dunboyne, County Meath, Ireland. He retired from his position as manager of the Meath GAA Senior Football team on the evening of 31 August 2005 after twenty-three years in charge...

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".

Match details

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

LMFM

LMFM is an independent Local Radio station in Ireland. It is also the largest Local radio station outside of Dublin and Cork broadcasting to a population in excess of 300,000 adults. Media group UTV bought the station in a deal worth about €10 million in 2005.LMFM broadcasts on a number of...

, he described the referee as "Dick Turpin

Dick Turpin

Richard "Dick" Turpin was an English highwayman whose exploits were romanticised following his execution in York for horse theft. Turpin may have followed his father's profession as a butcher early in life, but by the early 1730s he had joined a gang of deer thieves, and later became a poacher,...

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".

Media

The Irish Independent said "Meath's Leinster Final goal-that-never-was will go down in history -- and not only in Ireland, since by now the images have flashed round the world -- among the great injustices suffered in any sport". The Irish Times described "ugly scenes", with Damian Cullen calling it "one of the strangest endings ever to a GAA match", Seán Moran describing it as "the most extraordinary refereeing error since Jimmy Cooney whistled up early 12 years ago", and the newspaper publishing numerous letters on the topic from disgruntled members of the public every day that week. The same newspaper's Philip Reid remarked upon the coincidence that these events had occurred on the same day as the 2010 FIFA World Cup Final

2010 FIFA World Cup Final

The 2010 FIFA World Cup Final was a football match that took place on 11 July 2010 at Soccer City in Johannesburg, South Africa, to determine the winner of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Spain defeated the Netherlands 1–0 with a goal from Andrés Iniesta four minutes from the end of extra time...

in South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

, wondered why goal-line technology could not be used and added: "On this point, it would appear, the GAA and FIFA

FIFA

The Fédération Internationale de Football Association , commonly known by the acronym FIFA , is the international governing body of :association football, futsal and beach football. Its headquarters are located in Zurich, Switzerland, and its president is Sepp Blatter, who is in his fourth...

have something in common: they live in the times of the dinosaur". The events in Croke Park led to less prominent newspaper coverage of the FIFA World Cup Final itself the next day. The incident surrounding the goal was likened to Thierry Henry

Thierry Henry

Thierry Daniel Henry is a French professional footballer who plays for the New York Red Bulls in Major League Soccer.Henry was born in Les Ulis, Essonne where he played for an array of local sides as a youngster and showed great promise as a goal-scorer. He was spotted by AS Monaco in 1990 and...

's illegal handball in the France vs Republic of Ireland 2010 FIFA World Cup play-off

France vs Republic of Ireland 2010 FIFA World Cup play-off

The France vs Republic of Ireland 2010 FIFA World Cup play-off, dubbed by the media as the Hand of Frog affair, was a controversial association football game played on 18 November 2009 in the Stade de France outside Paris between the national teams of France and the Republic of Ireland...

. Public service broadcaster RTÉ referred to "disgraceful scenes". The GAA website's official match report brushed aside the controversy, saying Sheridan had "smuggled the ball over the line". Eugene McGee, writing in the Irish Independent, said "It will be a stain on the good name of the GAA if this result is allowed to stand". His colleague Martin Breheny said there ought to be no replay and that "no sport can run its affairs on the basis of sentiment".

GAA administrators

The following day, the GAA released a statement confirming that Sludden admitted he had made an error. The GAA also stated that the rules left it powerless to offer a replay and that this would be decided by Meath, though most Meath players did not wish to facilitate a replay, while former Meath players were said to be in favour of one. The GAA said it would work with the authorities to capture Sludden's attackers.

GAA President Christy Cooney

Christy Cooney

Christy Cooney is the current President of the Gaelic Athletic Association...

said the events were a "watershed" and one where the "circumstances were bizarre. I have never seen circumstances like it as long as I have been a member of this Association". He promised life bans for those who assaulted the referee.

Croke Park's stadium director Peter McKenna questioned why Louth manager Peter Fitzpatrick had walked onto the pitch to ask the referee about the decision. Gaelic Players Association

Gaelic Players Association

The Gaelic Players Association The GPA was formed in 1999 when former IMG employee Donal O'Neill and a number of high profile inter-county players including Tyrone's Fergal Logan and Peter Canavan, Derry's Fergal McCusker and Dublin's Dessie Farrell were instrumental in the birth of the organisation...

(GPA) chief executive Dessie Farrell

Dessie Farrell

Dessie Farrell is a former Irish Gaelic footballer who played for Dublin. He plays his club football for Na Fianna although his playing days may be numbered due to suffering a suspected torn cruciate ligament...

said: "What went on last Sunday was a PR disaster for us all". The National Referees Committee gave a negative response to the idea of goal-line technology being used in future. Retired referee John Bannon

John Bannon

John Charles Bannon AO is a former Australian politician. He was the 39th Premier of South Australia, leading the Labor Party to government at the 1982 election. The Bannon Labor government was re-elected at the 1985 election and the 1989 election...

said "No one deserves to be attacked, either verbally or physically, especially in Croke Park. [...] This attitude still remains part of the GAA's culture, it has never been rooted out". Tyrone

Tyrone GAA

The Tyrone County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association or Tyrone GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Tyrone. The county board is also responsible for the Tyrone inter-county teams....

County Board (from where the referee originated) sympathised with the Sludden but said the crowd's reaction was "unbelievable". Liam O'Neill, a candidate for the GAA presidency in 2012, later said: "Quite simply, there should have been a re-fixture for that game. Everyone knows that. Everyone knows a wrong was perpetrated".

GAA personalities

There was significant public and analytical support for Louth and condemnation of the refereeing decision.

On The Sunday Game
The Sunday Game
The Sunday Game is Raidió Teilifís Éireann's main Gaelic games television programme. It is shown on RTÉ Two every Sunday during the Football Championship and Hurling Championship seasons. It is one of RTÉ Two’s longest-running shows, having been on air since 1979, one year after the channel first...

TV highlights programme, Pat Spillane

Pat Spillane

Patrick Gerard Spillane , better known as Pat Spillane, is a retired Gaelic footballer and well known Irish sports pundit. He played Gaelic football with his local club Templenoe and was a member of the Kerry senior inter-county team from 1975 until 1991...

called both the fans and the referee "disgraceful", commenting:

Former Meath player Trevor Giles

Trevor Giles

Trevor Giles is a successful Meath Gaelic Footballer. He is regarded as one of the best players of his generation. He plays club football for Skryne. He came to prominence first when he won an All Ireland minor medal with Meath in 1992. He would go on to win 2 All Ireland Senior medals, 3...

said: "If this victory stands, it won't do Meath any favours because there will always be a question mark over the result". Former Kerry

Kerry GAA

The Kerry County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Kerry...

footballer Darragh Ó Sé

Darragh Ó Sé

Darragh Ó Sé is a former Irish sportsperson. He plays Gaelic football with his local club An Ghaeltacht and was a member of the Kerry senior inter-county team from 1994 until 2009. Ó Sé has made more championship appearances than any other player in the history of the game...

described the idea of Meath County Board having the final decision on a replay as "a complete and utter cop-out". Former Kerry footballer and manager Páidí Ó Sé

Páidí Ó Sé

Páidí Ó Sé is a retired Irish Gaelic football manager and former player. He played football with his local club An Ghaeltacht and was a member of the Kerry senior inter-county team from 1975 until 1987...

said: "there is no way any referee should have allowed Sheridan's goal to stand". Sligo

Sligo GAA

The Sligo County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association or Sligo GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Sligo...

footballer Eamonn O'Hara

Eamonn O'Hara

Eamonn O'Hara is a Gaelic football player from County Sligo, Ireland. He plays for both the Sligo senior inter county football team, and his club, Tourlestrane. He won a Connacht Senior Football Championship medal for Sligo in 2007. This victory made Sligo the Connacht champions for the first time...

suggested that the events gave "the perfect opportunity [for the GAA] to revamp the way match-day officials are selected".

Veteran commentator Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh

Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh

Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh is an Irish Gaelic games commentator for the Irish national radio and television, RTÉ. In a career that has spanned six decades he has come to be regarded as the "voice of Gaelic games." His prolific career has earned him a place in Guinness World Records.-Early...

told Ryan Tubridy

Ryan Tubridy

Ryan Tubridy , affectionately known as "Tubs", is an Irish broadcaster and writer, a presenter of live shows on radio and television in Ireland. He has been described as "one of Ireland's most gifted broadcasters"...

on his radio show

The Tubridy Show

The Tubridy Show was an Irish talk-based entertainment radio programme presented by Ryan Tubridy. It was broadcast on Mondays to Fridays at 09:00 on RTÉ Radio 1....

that "Croke Park abdicated responsibility. They should have taken the matter from Meath".

Politicians

Minister for Justice and Law Reform Dermot Ahern

Dermot Ahern

Dermot Christopher Ahern is a former Irish Fianna Fáil politician. He was a Teachta Dála for the Louth constituency from 1987 to 2011...

, himself from Louth, made known his condemnation of the violence. He attended the match. Taoiseach

Taoiseach

The Taoiseach is the head of government or prime minister of Ireland. The Taoiseach is appointed by the President upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas , and must, in order to remain in office, retain the support of a majority in the Dáil.The current Taoiseach is...

Brian Cowen

Brian Cowen is a former Irish politician who served as Taoiseach of Ireland from 7 May 2008 to 9 March 2011. He was head of a coalition government led by Fianna Fáil which until 23 January 2011 had the support of the Green Party and independent TDs.Cowen was also leader of Fianna Fáil from 7 May...

also made known his disapproval later from New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

: "I didn't see what happened as the ref was leaving the pitch. But obviously none of that is justified. It was an exciting match obviously. But it doesn't justify anyone engaging in that sort of activity. So I wouldn't like to see it repeated anywhere". Cowen was also at the match.

Other

The Garda Síochána

Garda Síochána

announced that it would investigate those persons they said breached the Non-fatal Offences Against the Person Act by battering the referee and others.

Bookmaker Boylesports

Boylesports

Boylesports is the largest independent bookmaker in Ireland. Headquartered in Dundalk, County Louth, Boylesports has 161 retail branches throughout the country. In addition to their retail stores, Boylesports operates a telephone betting service, "Fon-A-Bet", and Internet-based betting and gaming...

paid all losing bets on the match.

Outcome

On 13 July, Louth's county executive committee issued a statement condemning what it described as "the unsavoury incidents after the match". Meath's county board gathered in Navan

Navan

-People:Navan was the childhood home of Pierce Brosnan, who appeared in the television series Remington Steele and was the fifth film actor to play James Bond. TV personality Hector Ó hEochagáin, and comedians Dylan Moran and Tommy Tiernan also hail from Navan....

but did issue an immediate statement, instead requesting more time to think. They later decided there would be no replay and that that would be "the end of the matter". Meath were officially champions of Leinster for 2010, though Meath secretary Cyril Creavin conceded that it was a "tainted" title and that "Some of the players are devastated with the reaction in newspapers". Louth accepted this: their official statement referred to the July 2010 R238 traffic collision

July 2010 R238 traffic collision

Eight people were killed on the night of 11 July 2010 when a black Volkswagen Passat collided with a red Toyota Corolla on the R238 Buncrana to Clonmany road on the Inishowen Peninsula in County Donegal, Ireland. It was the deadliest road accident in the country's history. The road at Glasmullen...

which occurred on the same day as the final, sympathising with relatives of the eight people killed, and opting to avoid legal action in such a context. Therefore Meath automatically entered the quarter-finals of the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship

All-Ireland Senior Football Championship

, with Louth left to qualify for that same stage by playing (and winning) a further game in Round 4 of the All-Ireland qualifiers.

Louth were drawn against Dublin

Dublin GAA

in their next game. The appointment of experienced referee Pat McEnaney

Pat McEnaney

Pat McEnaney is a former inter-county Irish Gaelic football referee, from Corduff in County Monaghan. He has officiated many high profile Gaelic Athletic Association matches, including four All-Ireland finals and several International Rules Series matches, including the first test of the 2006...

was scrutinised and praised in advance. In the game, held once again at Croke Park on 24 July, Louth were defeated by 2-14 to 0-13, thus being eliminated from the 2010 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship. By defeating Louth, Dublin joined Meath in the quarter-finals of the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship. For Louth so ended "the longest summer the county has witnessed in over half a century".

External links

Official GAA match report
As It Happened - Sunday's GAA Matches - RTÉ's live text of the match
GAME AT A GLANCE - Match statistics in the Irish Independent
Croke Park chaos - Timeline of controversy in the Irish Independent

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

History of rivalry

Route to the final

Team news

Attendance

Match summary

Violence

Match details

Joe Sheridan

Match officials

Team managers

Other players

Media

GAA administrators

GAA personalities

Politicians

Other

Outcome

Further reading

External links