Meath set for Leinster MFC decider against Dublin

Meath minor football team manager Cathal O Bric had plenty of reasons for optimism after watching his players produce an improved second-half Leinster MFC semi-final performance for a merited victory against Louth at Pairc Tailteann last Saturday.

One pleasing aspect for O Bric is the prospects of a more fluent performance next Monday when he takes his panel to Tullamore for a midday showdown against Dublin in the provincial decider.

Meath will go into that game with serious aspirations of holding on to the silverware that the class of 2020 won against Offaly last month.

With four of that 2020 panel in the starting 15 last Saturday - Sean Emmanuel, Jack Kinlough, Tomas Corbett and Liam Kelly - there is huge potential for more success.

One of the problems that faced O Bric and his selectors Aidan Young, David Callaghan, Michael McFadden, Eddie McCormack, Eoin Joyce and Marcus Brennan, was the disrupted preparation for this year's campaign due to the ongoing 2020 Leinster and All-Ireland MFC series.

Meath won the 2020 provincial title with a 1-7 to 1-6 victory against Offaly at Cusack Park, Mullingar at the end of June and then progressed to the All-Ireland MFC semi-final where they were eclipsed by Derry a fortnight ago.

"The challenge for us was to integrate the lads from the 2020 panel into this team and it was a fair proposition for us," O Bric told the Meath Chronicle.

"You could see, as the game went on, that they had a major bearing on us winning.

"We were up against it a bit at half-time after playing with the breeze, we didn't capitalise on the possession and we were two points down.

"We gathered the troops together at half-time, we got them settled and in the second-half they played the type of football that we wanted them to play.

"That third-quarter performance was the key to the victory, we carried the ball with more menace and we either got scores or drew frees," he added.

The manager also highlighted the lack of a competitive game as one factor in the slow start by Meath after they received a bye to the semi-final.

"Louth had two competitive games coming into this semi-final and they had two convincing wins," stated O Bric.

"We were coming in cold and while we had challenge games it wasn't the same as what you get in a championship game.

"This game was a big step forward for most of our players and the intensity that Louth brought will stand us in good stead now for the decider against Dublinnext Monday.

"We got a grip at midfield in the second-half and created more scoring opportunities, Hughie Corcoran has that mercurial ability to pop up for a score when you need it and we needed it a few times in this game.

"Hughie has the confidence to take on a score and the other players were quite prepared to give him the ball.

"We have nothing to fear from Dublin, obviously we will give them lots of respect and they will be looking at us as a big challenge also.

"It's great to have a Leinster final this weekend against Dublin, hopefully we can get another win and the players will continue to improve," he concluded.

DUBLIN

Dublin edged out Kildare by two points in the other Leinster MFC semi-final at Parnell Park winning by 0-13 to 2-5.

The opening half was notable for the fact that in the opening 22 minutes Tadhg Gorman was the lone marksman as he pointed Dublin into a 0-4 to 0-0 lead.

Fionn Cooke's goal revived Kildare, but Dublin held on for a 0-5 to 1-1 interval advantage.

A tight second-half saw Dublin pegged back as Kildare levelled with a goal to tie the scores at 2-4 to 0-10.

Kildare then forged ahead with a well-taken point, but Dublin countered with points from Ronan Geoghegan, Gorman and Karl Flynn to set up a showdown with the Royal County next weekend.

Dublin - C Coghlan; R Geoghegan (0-1), D Murphy, F Bruton; M Gardiner, G McEneaney, E O’Connor-Flanagan; C Duggan (0-2), D Colbert; R Mullarkey, M McNally (0-2), Z Delmar; T Gorman (0-5), S Gannon (0-1), S McConnell (0-1). Subs - C Burke for Mullarkey, K Flynn (0-1) for Gannon, J Smith for Geoghegan, M O’Rowe for McConnell.