A GOAL FROM JJ Smith with the last kick of the game rescued a draw for 13-man Carlow against 14-man Meath in their Leinster GAA Football Championship quarter-final clash in Tullamore this afternoon.
It was, in truth, no less than Carlow deserved despite failing to capitalise on what was, overall, a poor Meath performance.
Despite this, the Royals led by three points deep in injury-time and, when Carlow had two men of their own sent off in the dying moments, it looked like Meath had set up a semi-final with Kildare.
However, when Meath goalkeeper David Gallagher spilled a shot in the dying seconds, Smith pounced to stun Seamus McEneaney’s men.
The game started with both sides exchanging points before Cian Ward gave Carlow goalkeeper Trevor O’Reilly no chance with a phenomenal strike after benefiting from some lazy Carlow defending.
That made it 1-5 to 0-3 close to half time but Carlow scored four unanswered points to draw themselves back into the game.
Carlow got to within one of Meath several times in the second half but couldn’t seem to pull ahead though it looked like they would dominate the game when Conor Gillespie was sent off for Meath following a second yellow.
However, it was Meath that stretched ahead and Carlow, increasingly frustrated by their failure to punish their opponents slack performance, had two men of their own (Paul Reid and Derek Hayden) sent off.
But they got the draw they deserved when Keith Jackson flashed in a shot from an tight angle which bounced into the path of Smith to earn Carlow a replay.
