Ó Sé Rubbishes Severity Of Dublin Star's Careless Slap In Meath Loss

Meath delivered one of the biggest upsets in recent memory on Sunday afternoon when they stormed to an emphatic 0-23 to 1-16 win over Dublin in the Leinster SFC semi-final, booking their spot in a provincial decider with Louth.

The four-point win was a result 15-years in the making, and ended Dublin's decade and a half long domination of the Leinster SFC that last saw them succumb to a provincial loss in 2010.

It was an imperious performance from Meath, who dominated Dessie Farrell's men in every aspect of play from minute one to sixty. While Dublin did mount a towering comeback in the final stages, closing the once 12-point gap to a mere two, the Royal County had created a mountain that was too high for even a momentum-gaining Con O'Callaghan and Ciaran Kilkenny to climb.

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Despite a seismic result in the midlands, Dublin very nearly did the impossible and overturned Meath's Trojan first-half tally. However, some fans have questioned whether the pulsating finish should ever have come to fruition, citing an incident in the first half that many believe should have seen Dublin fullback Theo Clancy sent marching.

The incident, which occurred in the opening half of the action, shows Meath's John Conlon pushing Theo Clancy, who responds by striking Conlon with an open palm in the face, causing Meath's man-of-the-match to tumble to the ground holding his head.

No red?! 👀 pic.twitter.com/1qkoG0B5Yp

— David Rispin (@Davy_Rispin) April 27, 2025

While on social media, fans have been querying why Clancy did not receive a red for the incident, speaking on commentary for GAA+, Tomas Ó Sé was quick to dismiss any initial shock at the challenge and claimed that ultimately there was very little in it.

Brave shot, he knew he was going to come in for special treatment from the Dubs but he's started really well. There's not much in that at all to be totally honest, but he started really well and has been a real handful for the Dubs.

Ultimately, Clancy's presence had no impact on the result, with Meath holding on for dear life as Dublin's experience shone through and the walls began closing in during the final stages of action.

Speaking about how his time responded to their surprise first-half deficit, Dublin boss Dessie Farrell gave special mention to his young and inexperienced players, of which Kilmacud Croke's Clancy is one.

Obviously we're disappointed but it was a marvellous contest, Meath played brilliantly throughout and we found it very difficult to live with them in the first half.

I was very proud of how we dug in in the second half, twelve points is a significant lead at halftime but the lads kept trying until the bitter end. For our younger players, it was a baptism of fire, it definitely was a cauldron out there and a marvellous contest. It ebbed and flowed, particularly in that second half.

We were down a lot of bodies today through injury, and I'm not making excuses but we were quite depleted and have a number of key players to come back into the squad.

Meath will now take on Louth in the Leinster Senior Football Championship final, while for the first time since 2010 Dublin will look on from the sidelines and play no role in the provincial decider.