Meath and Longford made GAA history in the O'Byrne Cup this afternoon, as they participated in the first ever free-taking competition in senior inter-county football.
Meath's Sean Tobin holds the distinction of taking the first ever free in a shootout, though his teammate Mark McCabe holds the possibly greater distinction of being the first man to score in such circumstances.
In the fading light of Pairc Tailteann (the floodlights were dismantled for safety reasons three years ago), only three of the 10 kickers converted from their attempts.
Sean McCormack levelled up the shootout for Longford on their second kick, but Cillian O'Sullivan responded on Meath's third attempt to nudge them back into the lead.
All the remaining kickers failed in their attempts and so Meath won the shootout 2-1.
1 point each in the shoot out pic.twitter.com/8sQJhV5MQQ
— Bernard Flynn (@bernardflynn15) January 14, 2018
Meath should probably have had the game wrapped up well before that. Longford's Robbie Smyth had taken the game to extra-time by levelling the game at 1-12 apiece in the dying stages of normal time.
The hosts would re-take the initiative in additional 20 minutes. A scoring burst early in the second period of extra-time opened up a four point lead, which was maintained right up until the final 90 seconds.
But Longford's Michael Quinn managed to rustle up a goal and a point to ensure a novel finale in Navan.
Westmeath await their neighbours in the O'Byrne Cup final after their 1-09 to 1-07 win over Offaly in a more sedate game in Cusack Park.
Tyrone will go in search of their seventh Dr. McKenna Cup title in a row after they overcame Fermanagh in a cagey and low-scoring semi-final in Brewster Park.
Throw-in was delayed by 10 minutes due to crowd congestion on the way into Brewster Park. The bumper January crowd saw Mickey Harte's men progress on a scoreline of 0-08 to 0-04.
Those in Clones were treated to a very different spectacle as an impressive Donegal saw off Monaghan on an eye-catching score of 4-17 to 0-19.
In Section B, Andrew Murnin nabbed the only goal as Armagh beat Derry 1-15 to 0-13 in the Athletic Grounds, while Down had eight points to spare in their victory of UUJ, winning 1-14 to 0-09.
Out west, Roscommon cemented their place in the FBD Insurance League final with a 0-14 to 0-11 win over an experimental Mayo side in Dr. Hyde Park.
The Rossies kept their noses in front throughout the first half but only a point separated the sides at the break.
Things looked bleak for the hosts after Ian Kilbride was sent off following a second yellow card and Conor O'Shea sent Mayo into the lead for the first time.
But Roscommon rallied well in spite of their numerical disadvantage with Diarmuid Murtagh's accuracy a pivotal factor in their 0-14 to 0-11.
Appalling weather conditions in Clonbur hobbled both Galway and Leitrim in their attempts to play football.
Leitrim, with the wind at their backs, reeled off seven points on the trot in the middle of the first half. Sadly for them, they had already given Galway a 2-02 to 0-00 start after nine minutes.
The hosts would plunder another goal - though Dessie Conneely was trying for a point - before the break and Galway led 3-03 to 0-07 by halfway.
The weather only grew more inhospitable after the break and Galway won the second period on a desultory scoreline of 0-03 to 0-01 to wrap up an eight-point victory.