Turning point
An easy one really, with Mayo having just gone into a four point lead thanks to Aidan O'Shea's goal. The decision of the linesman on the Hogan Stand side of the field to award a line ball to Meath which looked clearly to be a Mayo ball. As Mayo players argued with the official Joe Sheridan dropped in the ball which lead to Cian Ward's goal from a penalty.
Wide of the mark or off target
Mayo kicked five wides over the seventy odd minutes on Sunday Meath hit nine, Mayo kicked all five of their wides in the first half,
Level pegging
The sides were level on seven occasions over the course of the game, with Mayo twice building up a four point lead in the 11th minute and in the 51st minute after O'Shea's goal. The most Meath led by was two points thanks to an early free at the start of the second half which doubled their lead, until the took the lead with six minutes to go in the game they kicked on into a five point lead.
Loosing the front three
Mayo were with out all of their chosen front three attackers from the 64th minute of the game. Barry Moran didn't make it and Aidan Kilcoyne had to go off with a shoulder injury after 41 minutes and Aidan O'Shea had to limp out of action after 64. Seven different people played in the full forward line for Mayo at some stage, along with Parsons who started for the injured Moran. Billy Joe Padden, Pat Harte, Mark Ronaldson and Conor Mortimer all had time in the inside line on Sunday.
Pitch perfect or not
While this reporter counted nine men with forks and spades on the pitch pruning it up for action just before the end of half time, the spill or rain over Jones Road around game time saw an awful lot of players loose their footing on the patchwork quilt that the pitch looked like from the higher reaches of the Hogan stand.
Getting the lecture
The old fashioned huddle around the door's of the dressing rooms for a a few quotes is a thing of the past in Croke Park these days. It's inside a lecture hall where the winners and losers management and players hold court over the questions from a couple of dozen journalists. The GAA modernizing or loosing it's charm?
