Meath 0-10 Offaly 1-11
Meath have been eliminated from the All-Ireland SFC and will instead play in the Tailteann Cup after losing to Offaly in the Leinster quarter-final.
It’s a significant fall from grace for a county that has won seven All-Ireland senior titles and sit joint fourth with Cork in the competition’s roll of honour but they could have no complaints after a 1-11 to 0-10 defeat in Tullamore having trailed by nine points at half-time.
Meath left themselves vulnerable to dropping out of the top tier after finishing sixth in Division Two and Clare’s victory over Cork earlier this month meant that they had to reach the Leinster final to avoid the Tailteann Cup.
It heaps the pressure on manager Colm O’Rourke who, after starting with two wins in the League, is now without a win in six games and faces a big task to lift his players for the second tier competition.
For Offaly, it’s their first victory over Meath since 2000 and they move into a Leinster semi-final against Louth next Sunday, bidding to reach their first final in 17 years.
They dominated the early stages and kept Meath scoreless for the first 22 minutes after hitting the first 1-4, Rory Egan with the goal.
Meath got a bounce from their bench in the second half but never looked like retrieving the situation, with the final four-point deficit as close as they got.
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