'This is huge.. we needed to rewrite Meath's football history a little bit here'

LEINSTER U-20 FC FINAL REACTION O Bric delighted with his side's magnificent performance

It took a while to find Meath manager Cathal O Bric amongst the sea of green and gold that swamped the Parnell Park pitch following the last whistle of Monday night's thrilling Leinster u-20 FC final victory over Louth.

The huge Meath support in attendance rushed to offer their congratulations to the players and management. Selfies galore were the order of the day as proud parents, club mates and supporters swarmed their heroes for a lifelong memento.

Night's like Monday night can spark greater things and for the young men and women especially of Meath, to savour an occasion like a Monday night should be the inspiration they need to emulate the achievements of their heroes.

For manager Ó Bric is was a victory that was a long time coming, but he is not content with provincial glory he and his team want more.

"We referenced that for our county to have a 23 year gap for success at this level kind of boggles the mind really," admitted the former Navan O'Mahonys player after he had given his views to the live audience on TG4.

"All the great teams, great players and great managers who have been involved before us and just somehow we haven't been able to get over that final line together. We've been close a couple of times, but it is really, really satisfying to take this bunch of players to this victory.

"A lot of these guys would have started off in 2018 at the age of 13 and it's very satisfying to see them coming through that academy system and keeping the level of success going that they got in the minor three years ago and reproducing it here again today.

"This is huge. Dublin and Kildare have dominated this competition for the last 14 years, I think Offaly are the only team to break that stranglehold and we needed to rewrite Meath's football history a little bit here.

"We had to do something a little bit different that was going to change that narrative of being close this year.

"This is a really talented group of players. The players deserve huge credit for their engagement with everything that we've done with them physically, mentally and tactically.

"They've jumped on that engagement, they were so committed to make sure that they would get the best out of themselves and we saw that here tonight.

"We had some tough challenges along the way. Going back to the Dublin game here a few weeks back and maybe people might have doubted us a little bit, questioned is this Meath team ready to go on and win a Leinster title. There's huge resolve and huge character in this bunch of players and I'm really, really proud of them.

"There are three other provincial finals on this weekend with Kerry against Cork, Tyrone against Derry, and Galway against Roscommon, they are six fantastic teams who are vying for provincial honours in their provinces.

"I think we have a team here that's good enough to go on and challenge any of those teams in a semi-final and a final and let's see who comes out later in the week.

"We'll enjoy this evening and then we'll look forward from there."

O Bric and his management team of David Callaghan, Mark Brennan, Eoin Joyce and Niall Flynn will certainly look forward with plenty of hope.

Nine of Monday night's starting team started the All-Ireland MFC win three years ago and O Bric was quick to sing their praises and offer his admiration for the younger lads who have come in and added to that already successful panel and made them even stronger.

"This is what this part of the development pathway in Meath was missing for so many years. That guys, the minors who didn't make it straight to u-20, or u-21 level as it used to be and who often times went back to their clubs and then they might be called in two years or three years later.

"Unfortunately that momentum that they had up as far as the age of 17 or 18 was often lost and that's something we identified a few years back.

"That's where the likes of Rian Stafford, Jamie Murphy, Charlie O'Connor, Conor Duke, Davey Curtis, lads who were there or thereabouts at different squads along the way and maybe didn't at the age of 16 or 17 make it the full way.

"Those guys deserve the opportunity to come back and work hard to get back on the field and there they are starting in a Leinster u-20 final having not featured prominently on any of the earlier squads and playing such a huge role today."

As for Monday night's performance O Bric was delighted with the maturity and composure his side played with. He was wary of the threat of a good Louth side and took nothing for granted.

"That composure thing, it's hard at 18, 19 or 20 years old to have that. The instinct a lot of the time is to get forward as quick as you can and create another attack. When sometimes actually the opposite is what is needed and these guys have bought into that. Sometimes you need that lightning quick attack and that real ferocity of pace and intensity and then sometimes you need to ease back on that.

"It's knowing those parts of the game and when to do it that these guys are masters of. They are at such a young age, to have that composure and good decision making it's very satisfying to see.

"We were very wary of Louth after seeing how they knocked out Dublin and the calibre of the players that they have. Dara McDonnell, Kieran McArdle and Sean Reynolds, those guys are top class inter-county footballers and we were coming here under no illusion that we had a huge challenge ahead of us.

"However, the focus of the group, the 24 today and the 36 altogether contributed so much to making sure that every aspect of our play both on the ball and off the ball would be top class. That we would play to our maximum potential and I think all of that seemed to come together here tonight to produce that great performance we saw.

"You're looking to build that solid defensive platform and the likes of Conor Ennis and Sean O'Hare in both corners are masters at getting their hands in and making sure that very little gets past them. Liam Kelly and John O'Regan are such lynchpins in the centre of defence and what can we say about Killian Smyth and Eamonn Armstrong - they are just machines, up and down the field doing their defensive job, but also adding an extra layer to our attacking moves there as well.

"I'm really, really proud of the guys, really, really solid defensive display and we saw a little bit more up in the top third of the pitch there tonight to polish it off."

Meath will play the Munster champions, either Kerry or Cork, in the All-Ireland semi-final in just over a weeks time and O Bric offered an injury update on Cian Commons and Brian O'Halloran, both of whom suffered injuries in the win over Laois.

"Cian Commons had an operation earlier this week and he's likely to be out mid-term. Brian O'Halloran is working against the clock to try and get himself back into action, possibly for two weeks time or maybe further on if we make it further on.

"They are two huge men and two guys that any other team would miss. What we have to pay tribute to is the guys who have come in and replaced them and the huge impact that those guys have made as well.

"So we roll on and see, hopefully we'll get one of them back," concluded the now Wolfe Tones man before returning to celebrate with the supporters in green and gold.