Royals withstand late Kildare rally to claim victory

It was tense it was tight but in the end Meath did enough to hold out against Kildare and chalk up a 2-11 to 1-13 victory in the Leinster u-20 FC at Pairc Tailteann today. 

The sides were level five times before Meath made a momentous breakthrough on 42 minutes when Darragh Campion fired to the net. The second Meath goal, this time superbly-taken by Jordan Morris after 47 minutes also helped the home cause greatly. With that second goal Meath led 2-10 to 0-11. 

Kildare, who led by 0-9 to 0-8, at the break came back strongly and reduced the deficit to a point but they were unable to get the score they needed to at least salvage a draw. Jimmy Hyland found the net for the Lilywhites while Paddy Woodgate and Brian McLoughlin made big contributions for them but there was no stopping the Royals. 

James Conlon had a very good opening half for Meath and he ended up with four points at the end of the game while Sean Reilly, Campion, Frank O'Reilly, Conor Moriarty and Morris were others to contribute to Meath's final tally. 

Next up for Brian Farrell's side is a clash with Laois. 

SEE MATCH REPORT, COMMENTS AND PHOTOGRAPHS FROM GAME IN NEXT ISSUE OF THE MEATH CHRONICLE.