Wee Hands smash into a Bric wall

Meath 1-12 Tyrone 1-12 All-Ireland minor final

MEATH manager Cathal O Bric said their plan to ‘put ‘em under pressure’ worked a treat as the Royals won a first Electric Ireland All-Ireland MFC title in 29 years.

Shaun Leonard’s 65th minute point ultimately separated the sides in a tense if error strewn affair.

Wing-forward Leonard was Man of the Match seven days earlier in the semi-final defeat of Sligo.

And when the need was greatest in the county’s first final since 2012, he delivered again with a composed finish.

Tyrone had a chance to level it for a ninth time soon after but sub Conor Owens booted a free wide from 25 metres.

Meath boss O Bric said that having watched Tyrone breeze through Ulster with 53 points to spare, and then crush Cork by 14 points, it was about putting them under pressure.

O Bric said: “The game plan really was to try to put Tyrone in an uncomfortable position. They had won all their games by a fair distance and they had won from the front the whole time.

On gamebreaker Leonard, O Bric said the right player got the ball at the right time.

Mind you, TV replays picked up defender Conor Ennis getting away with hopping the ball twice in the buildup.

O Bric said of Leonard: “He’s the kind of guy you’d trust in those situations.”

Meath edged the firsthalf 1-7 to 1-6 thanks in part to top scorer Oisin O Murchu’s goal.

Tyrone kicked themselves for 14 wides overall, nine of which arrived in the second-half and they struck four-ina-row late on when the game hung in the balance.

MEATH SCORERS: O O Murchu 1-2, H Corcoran 0-3 (1f), S Leonard & O McDermott (2 45) 0-2 each, J Kinlough, C McWeeney & S Emmanuel 0-1 each). TYRONE SCORERS: C Devlin 1-1, R Cassidy 0-3 (2f), E McElholm, C Owens (2f) & R McHugh 0-2 each, H Cunningham 0-1 (1f).

DELIGHT Cathal O Bric