Glens can’t conquer the

THERE is always a bit of added spice to a Meath versus Louth fixture and it was no different at the Gaelic Grounds on Saturday as Glen Emmets came up short in this absorbing Leinster Junior quarter-final.

The men from Tullyallen probably knew that the Royal County’s standard-bearers in this competition would be a step up in class from first-round opponents Conahy Shamrocks, and that proved to be the case as Meath Hill fended off a second-half comeback before sealing victory deep in stoppage time.

In the opening 30 minutes Glen Emmets faced into a near gale-force wind and intermittent heavy rain and it was quite an achievement to reach the halfway stage with just a three-point deficit.

Ian Malone had the first score

Meath Hill 0-14 Glen Emmets 0-11

on the board for Meath Hill from a second-minute free, but the Emmets responded impressively when James Butler collected a loose ball and soloed forward from half-way before driving the ball over the bar.

Perhaps the youngster had goal on his mind for a moment, but one point apiece after seven minutes represented a good start for the Louth champions.

With the driving rain at its heaviest, though, Meath Hill posted back-to-back scores through Tommy Rooney and Pearse McGrath, only for Damien Grimes to respond with a Glen Emmets single after battling hard to retain possession.

The Meath club went up a couple of gears at this point, though, and kicked four scores in a row in the space of six minutes. Captain Chris Yorke set them on their way with a beautifully struck long-range free from the saturated ground, and a brace of excellent points from play by McGrath were followed by an equally impressive angled effort from the boot of Jason Yorke.

At 0-7 to 0-2, Glen Emmets needed to hang in there, but they did better than that, kicking three of the remaining four points in the first half to leave the tie perfectly balanced.

Grimes profited from Kealan O’Neill’s fine approach play to spark the revival and skipper Ronan Grufferty slotted over a free won by O’Neill after tenacious work from Ian Cusack.

Wing back Thomas McGrath sauntered forward to respond for Meath Hill, but Butler had the last score of the half for Glen Emmets - a free after a foul on Stephen Healy - to leave the Royal County side just 8-5 ahead at the interval.

With significant wind advantage in the second half, the Tullyallen side would have fancied themselves to eat into the deficit, but instead Malone took advantage of a Grufferty slip to slot over a free in the opening minute.

Emmets full forward Sean Byrne was substituted moments after being yellow-carded, with Jamie Farnan entering the fray, but on 39 minutes Butler perhaps should have made it a one-point game when he made a clean catch from Grufferty’s long delivery in behind the Meath Hill defence.

The supporting Grimes was possibly better placed in front of the uprights, but Butler went for goal himself and sent an angled effort well wide.

The number 11 made some amends by hooking an excellent point over the bar to keep Emmets in touch - 0-9 to 0-6.

They suffered a blow on 45 minutes when Ronan Carr’s legs tangled with James Mooney’s as they chased a long delivery and the Emmets number 8 got a black card, but Butler’s 48th-minute score made it a twopoint game.

Once more Meath Hill raised their game in the face of adversity and Rooney and Jason Yorke pointed from play in the space of 60 seconds.

At 0-11 to 0-7 the game looked to be slipping away from Glen Emmets, but a pointed Grufferty free won by Andrew Mooney offered hope.

An off-the-ball skirmish was spotted by the stand-side linesman and after a long consultation with referee Gary Hurley the outcome was straight red cards for Butler and Meath Hill’s Simon Martin.

McGrath then pointed to make it 0-12 to 0-8 and with talisman Butler off the field Glen Emmets’ prospects were looking forlorn.

To their immense credit they came again and after Hill keeper Dominic Yorke saved from Grufferty, wing back Andrew Mooney kicked two brilliant long-range points either side of a Grufferty score to leave Emmets trailing by the minimum with three minutes of the six allocated for stoppages still to be played.

When it came to the crunch, though, Meath Hill had the