Royal County hurlers slump to heavy defeat at Semple Stadium

"Welcome to the Field of Legends" is one of the signs that greets spectators on their way into Semple Stadium. The ground is a shrine to hurling stars of the past with pictures and words on walls outlining their heroic deeds from yesteryear. The so-called 'home of hurling' turned out to be anything but a 'field of dreams' for Meath on Saturday evening as they were soundly defeated by Kerry in the All-Ireland u-21 A HC final. There were no ifs, buts and maybes about this clash as Kerry proved far superior in the second-half showing a physicality and skill level that the Leinster champions simply couldn't match. It's not often that Meath hurling teams get to play in a stadium where so many great hurling battles have unfolded. It's even less of an occurrence to see a Meath side travel to Munster for a hurling game and return home with a victory. This was no different. The Kingdom played only one competitive game going into this encounter - when they defeated Fermanagh in the semi-final - yet their manager John Meyler had them well prepared. They were up for this one and deserved their victory. The former coach to the Kerry and Wexford seniors changed and chopped his team during the course of this game eventually coming up with the winning formula. Meath manager Kevin Dowd also had his team well tuned in for the start yet he could only watch from the sideline as they relinquished an early stranglehold before their challenge crumbled away in the second-half. It was looking ominous at the interval for Meath when the sides were level at 0-9 apiece. During that opening half Dowd's men had played with the benefit of a stiff breeze and looked to be on course towards building up a significant lead early on only to lose their way. Then in the second-half it completely unravelled for Meath as their opponents grew in confidence to close out the game with plenty to spare. The fact that Meath could only muster one point from play in the second-half from - a fine effort from Mark O'Sullivan - indicates just how difficult they found it to win clean possession in the midfield area and get it into their forwards. Like their Kerry counterparts, the Meath management also made wholesale changes emptying the bench and switching personnel around, without any noticeable improvement in performance. Kerry didn't rely only on their physical strength to find an edge. They also displayed plenty of skill. Once they got into the game their first touch and striking was first class and with the stiff breeze behind they soon pulled away. Meath enjoyed a bright opening to the game in lovely autumn sunshine with Colm Doyle setting them on their way with a point scored from midway. The Leinster champions were alert to any breaks around the middle of the field. Barry Slevin took a pass from David Raleigh after seven minutes, nipped past a defender and for a second looked like he might flash a shot to the net or pass to the unmarked Keith Keoghan. Instead he opted to shoot over. At that stage Meath looked like they would have many more opportunities like that. A further point from Raleigh and two pointed frees from Keith Keoghan, which included one fine effort from well inside his own half, pushed Meath 0-5 to 0-2 in front after 17 minutes and they were looking good. Then the storm clouds started to gather. Gradually Kerry came more into the game and particularly their talented teenage full-forward Padraig Boyle. He began to get an increasing amount of ball on the edge of the square and cause all sorts of difficulties. Darragh O'Connell was another who caused plenty of problems. Meath goalkeeper Shane McGann was called into action. He pushed away a James Flaherty effort. Kerry reeled off a series of points in quick succession to level matters up and with five minutes to half-time they edged in front with a point from Shane Nolan who powered through the middle of the Meath defence to shoot over. It was an ominous sign for the Royals and an indication of things to come. Alan Douglas split the post for Meath yet Kerry went two points in front before scores from David Kennedy and a huge effort from Slevin from distance, levelled matters (0-9 apiece) going into the break. Just before the interval Keoghan ran through, passed to O'Sullivan who unleashed a low drive from distance. The ball whizzed past the outside of the post. It was a chance for a goal and Meath were to get few of those. The second-half must have been an extremely frustrating experience for the Meath forwards as they were virtually reduced to spectators. As the stands started to fill up for the main event between Tipperary and Galway, Kerry flooded midfield moving Boyle out from his full-forward position. Meath hardly won any ball from their own puck-outs, were second to the breaks and their challenge gradually fell away as the Munster side steadily piled on the points. There were some occasional spurts from Meath. Soon after the interval Slevin passed to Douglas and his shot was deflected out for a '65' which Keoghan, uncharacteristically, hit wide. After 52 minutes substitute Brendan Murray passed to O'Sullivan and his shot was brilliantly saved by the Kerry netminder John Brendan O'Halloran. Shortly before the end Murray had a shot scrambled clear by the Kerry defence. By that stage it was clear that there would be only one winner - and it wasn't going to be the visitors from Leinster to the home of hurling. SCORERS Kerry - D O'Connell 0-10, five frees, one '65'; P Boyle 0-6; S Nolan 0-2; J Flaherty 0-2; R Kenny 0-1; P O'Keeffe 0-1. Meath - K Keoghan 0-5, four frees, one '65'; B Slevin 0-2; C Doyle 0-1; D Kennedy 0-1; M O'Sullivan 0-1; A Douglas 0-1; D Raleigh 0-1. TEAMS Kerry - J B O'Halloran; N Young, D O'Sullivan, J O'Connor; S Ryle, B O'Leary, P Monson; R Kenny, D Fitzelle; D O'Connell, P Costelloe, P Geaney; S Nolan, P Boyle, J Flaherty. Subs - A McCarthy for Geaney 38 mins; R Nolan for Kenny 44m; P O'Keeffe for Costelloe 47m; A McCarthy for Geaney S Leen for Flaherty 59m. Meath - Shane McGann (Kiltale); Daniel Carty (Blackhall Gaels), Michael Dunne (Dunboyne), William Mahady (Kiltale); Alan Watters (Dunboyne), C Doyle (Trim), David Kennedy (Killyon); Keith Keoghan (Killyon), Ger Murphy (Dunboyne); Mark O'Sullivan (Kiltale), Eoin Marsh (Kilmessan), Alan Douglas (Trim); Barry Slevin (Na Fianna), Neil Heffernan (Trim), David Raleigh (Killyon). Subs - Noel Fagan (Rathmolyon) for Watters 26 mins; Tommy Raleigh (Killyon) for Slevin 37m; Ciaran Joyce (Trim) for Marsh 42m; Brendan Murray (Gaeil Colmcille) for D Raleigh 47m; Kevin Keena (Kilmessan) for Douglas 58m. Referee - Dominic Connolly (Kilkenny).