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The Irish Sun

I was flown from wedding to Meath vs Louth by helicopter – Micheal O Mhuircheartaigh called me the best dressed GAA star

HELICOPTERS, tuxedos, wild celebrations. Ghost goals, ugly scenes and injustice — strap yourself in for Meath against Louth. 2 Graham Geraghty before the GAA Football All-Ireland Senior Championship Final match between Armagh and Galway Credit: Ben McShane/Sportsfile Over 50,000 will flock to Championship reborn thanks to Dublin's shock exit at the hands of my county in Portlaoise a fortnight ago. None of us saw it coming, but it has resurrected a province that was dying on its feet. The saga of 2010 has dominated the pre-match build-up. Referee Martin Sludden didn't see Joe Sheridan throwing the ball into the net . . . and neither did I. Read More on GAA Seámie Kenny got the ball and it was blocked on the line by Paddy Keenan. I had a programme in my hand and I threw it on the ground out of pure thickness. When I went to pick it up, the ball was in the net and I'd missed the whole lot! No one knew what was going on, and I didn't actually see it properly until Most read in GAA Football Obviously what happened was wrong, and the scenes at the end said it all when Sludden had to be escorted from the pitch. But they were all to blame really. If the two umpires had more backbone they would have stood up and called for the goal to be disallowed. RTÉ GAA pundits Paul Flynn and Lee Keegan slam All-Ireland draw It was badly handled by Croke Park and the GAA too, by putting the onus on Meath to give Louth a replay, which was unfair as well. If you go down that route where you have a replay for every point or goal that was allowed and should have been disallowed, we'd probably never finish a game. In most games you have some kind of contention over a point or whatever. In hindsight, I think the result probably stood because it was on the field of play and that was it really. There's been plenty of banter around it this week and it might be some ammunition that Louth can use to gee the players up. But I don't think Ger Brennan will go there. NAVAN MEMORIES My flying visit to Navan in 2002 has cropped up a bit this week too. Times were good back then when Kepak sponsored the team. summer to set up a round-two qualifier against Louth in Navan. But the game was fixed for the same day I was groomsman at my close pal Richard Lynch's It was an awful predicament, but Seán Boylan had the solution as usual. He told me to go to the church , and I'd be brought to and from the game by helicopter. Bingo ! The happy couple said, 'I do' and before I knew it, the chopper was touching down at Bellinter House on the outskirts of Navan. We had a pre-match chat as I sat there in my tuxedo but there was drama before we even got to the ground. Paddy Carr was Louth manager at the time and he knew all the back roads into Páirc Tailteann. We came into the town around Balreask and as we were waiting to cross the road , there was Carr — stopping all the traffic to let his Louth team walk in before us. Michéal Ó Mhuircheartaigh, God rest him, was just inside the gate, smiling away and said, 'You're the best-dressed man I've ever seen at a game' as we made our way to the changing room. Boylan's big gamble paid off. Carr's head was in his hands at the end. I scored a goal and lost the run of myself when I swung my jersey around above my head as I raced towards the stand. That jersey wouldn't even fit me now! Back at the wedding, some of the guests picked up the game on LMFM. The signal was coming and going but they were able to make out that I scored the winning goal. Quick shower, tux on and back to the chopper towards the Riverside Park Hotel in Enniscorthy. 2 Graham Geraghty of Meath celebrates following the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Qualifying Round 2 win over Louth Credit: Damien Eagers/Sportsfile Straight out of a It was a great way to finish off the day, relax and toast the happy couple. Meath don't need helicopters today but the county is back in love with the team again since beating Dublin. Thinking back to 1996, we had a very bad league and spirits were low going into our Leinster quarter-final against Carlow — and some even said we'd lose. Leaving that morning, I said to Amanda, 'We'll win the All-Ireland this year'. She was laughing at me, but I had the last laugh that September. I'm not saying that we're going to win Sam this year but you can see the similarities between then and now — because we have gained a lot of momentum from the end of the league to where we are today. MASSIVE STEP This is a massive step for Meath and there's so much on the line. I didn't think I'd ever say this but Louth are probably that little bit ahead of us at the minute. They had their first Championship win over Meath since 1975 last year and are into their third Leinster final in a row. But our lads are really up for it and they mean business . They've been priming themselves over the last couple of weeks and we've Jack Flynn back in midfield now after a hamstring injury, and all set for a pivotal aerial battle with Louth's Tommy Durnin. Obviously, Meath will have their work done on that and will try to nullify the dominance that Durnin has had in the last few games. If Louth win, there will be fantastic scenes throughout the county and Croke Park. Obviously, as a Meath man, I don't want to see that but you wouldn't begrudge them one either after 68 years. But 15 years is a long time in the wilderness for us too. This bunch of lads seem to have really come together and gelled. They have great camaraderie between them all. I suppose that's what it takes — it's not just good players. You need to be able to play as a team and die for each other. We're under no illusion we're up against it. We need our sharpshooters like we had against Dublin and Eoghan Frayne needs to score every free he gets. Croke Park is a big place when you're out there, and it's very lonesome when you're standing over a free-kick. Louth are a fantastic side and have proven that, but beating Dublin will count for nothing if Meath don't back it up. Listening to my heart, Meath will win by two. That's what I'm saying to Amanda anyway.