Honest Joe just doing what any forward would, says Dad

While the eyes of the sporting public - and beyond - have been fixed on the saga involving the unsavoury denouement to last Sunday's Leinster final between Louth and Meath, few have spared a thought for one of the men at the centre of the controversy, Joe Sheridan, a footballer with strong roots in Cavan. The Senechalstown man carried the ball across the goal-line in the dying seconds of the final, denying Louth a first Leinster title in 53 years and has been harshly labelled as a 'cheat' in some quarters, a label Sheridan's father Damien, a native of Maghera, took issue with this week. "Joe is the most honest player you will see, he has been fouled and taken a lot of abuse over the years and has never reacted to any of it in any shape or form. The ball was loose and he just reacted as any forward would, it was the last play of the match... No forward is going to stop and ask the ref should he play the ball. The word 'cheat' has been mentioned and there is no place for that at all. "From Joe's point of view, the ball was there, two backs palmed it down to him and he grabbed it, he did swing a kick because he didn't know if he was even over the line or not. "I've been involved in football for 40 years and there are loads of incidents like these. These things happen, every team has to get on with it." Sheridan pointed out that the incident took place in the fifth minute of injury time when only three minutes of injury time had been signalled. It is thought that referee Martin Sludden played the additional time due to Louth's time wasting in injury time. "Joe is a laid-back character and it takes a lot to get him annoyed but I'd say deep down it's bothering him a bit," said Damien. "He just plays the game and whether he wins Man of The Match or anything else, once it's over, it's over," he added. Damien, who was a member of the last Cavan team to win an Ulster minor title in 1974, is a hugely popular figure in his native parish and a respected coach in Meath. His father Eamon was chairman of the Breffni Minor Board, incidentally, on the year of that great win of 1974. He roundly condemned the scenes witnessed at the end of the match, when referee Martin Sludden was jostled and had to be escorted from the field, "The human condition is to err, nobody is perfect but no human being should have to put up with being accosted or assaulted on the pitch after a match," stated Sheridan, who condemned the alleged assault on Meath legend Sean Boylan and also mentioned an alleged assault on a 75-year-old Meath supporter. Meath county board met last Monday night and discussed the matter of a replay after calls from Louth officials and manager Peter Fitzpatrick. It's unfair, argued Sheridan, that Meath are being asked to make a decision in such a tricky case in which they themselves are involved. At the time of going to print, no decision has been reached.