Young Royals punish mighty Dublin again
Meath Dublin 1-13 2-8
THERE were further signs that Meath are slowly closing the gap on their great rivals following this thoroughly deserved win in the Leinster MFC at Pairc Tailteann last Wednesday evening.
The Royals have now defeated Dublin on the last three occasions that they have clashed following last year’s two victories in the Under-17 Championship. This latest win will leave the Meath boys in buoyant mood as they head to the Gaelic Grounds this Wednesday to take on Louth at 7pm.
Both counties had won their opening-round game and Meath are now in an excellent position to claim a top-two finish and qualify for the semi-finals.
Following the clash with the Wee County, Joe Treanor’s side have a home tie against Offaly and are away to Wicklow in the last match of the round-robin section.
Meath enjoyed a dominance spell towards the end of the opening half and then built on their lead in the third quarter, opening up a six-point advantage at one stage. It left the visitors chasing the game and they never looked capable of reeling in their opponents.
Dublin did narrow the gap to two points in the closing stages, but a defence in which James O’Hare, Conor Harford and Cathal Hickey were outstanding held steady.
The Dubs made a promising start to proceedings, opening up a 1-2 to 0-1 lead by the 10th minute, and at that stage they looked the more competent of the two outfits. Their handling and passing was better and they were much more comfortable on the ball.
Meath, who had the opening two chances, both of which ended in wides, gradually worked themselves into the game after Dublin full forward Luke Swan had netted to leave his side with a four-point advantage.
Liam Dunne and Conor Hennessy had earlier hit the opening two points for the visitors.
David Bell, from a free, opened the hosts’ account and they responded well to the concession of the goal with points from Bryan McCormack and Luke Mitchell (two).
Dublin ended a 14-minute spell without a score when Sean Foran found the range, before Meath captain Matthew Costello responded at the other end. Wing back Mark Lavin then had Dublin’s final score of the half from a free to leave them two clear.
However, by this stage the Meath men were growing in confidence and they finished the half in style with points from Luke Mitchell and Luke Kelly to draw level before Bryan McCormack struck for a goal two minutes into added time to give his side a 1-7 to 1-4 lead at the break.
The hosts tightened their grip on proceedings at the start of the second half with points from Kelly, Bell and Mitchell to enjoy a six-point advantage by the 38th minute.
The game was in the 41st minute before Conor Murray opened the Dubs’ second-half account.
A scrambled goal, the ball bundled over the line by Swan, at the end of the third quarter gave Dublin hope. They eventually reduced the deficit to two in the closing minutes but at that stage were playing second best to the home side who found scores a little easier to come by.
Dublin struggled with the pace of the Meath attack and rarely looked capable of hauling in their opponents in the second half. Meath’s last score from Matthew Costello pushed their lead back out to three before Mark Lavin again pointed from a free in the third minute of added time. MEATH: Sean Brennan; James O’Hare, Harry O’Higgins, Cathal Hickey; Conor Farrelly, Conor Harford, Sean Coffey; Adam Reilly, Cian McBride; Matthew Costello 0-2 (1f), Luke Kelly 0-2, Colin Hawdon; David Bell 0-2 (1f), Luke Mitchell 0-6 (4fs), Bryan McCormack 1-1. Subs: Darragh Swaine for Hawdon (22), Brian O’Hanlon for Bell (47), Dylan Morgan for McCormack (52), Joe Moore for Kelly (58), Oisin McCloskey for O’Hare (59). DUBLIN: Simon Murphy; Josh Bannon, Adam Fearon, Adam Rafter; Rory O’Dwyer, Liam Dunne 0-1, Mark Lavin 0-2fs; Eoin Adamson, Mark O’Leary; Conor Murray 0-1, Enda Cashman 0-1, Conor Hennessy 0-1; Matthew Dunne, Luke Swan 2-0, Sean Foran 0-1. Subs: Ciaran McManus for L Dunne (37), Matt Grogan for M Dunne (39), Sean Guiden for Murray (46), Conor O’Brien for Fearon (48), Malachy Codd 0-1 for Adamson (51).
B Cawley (Kildare)