Heartbreak for Royals as Leinster MFC final decided on penos
There was heartbreak for Trevor Giles young Royals in the Leinster MFC decider on Friday.
Kildare 2-0-13 (19)
Meath 1-1-14 (19)
(Kildare win 5-3 on penalties)
Sport is cruel and Trevor Giles’ Meath were given a harsh lesson in just how cruel it can be on Friday evening when they lost out in the Leinster MFC final on penalties to Kildare in Portlaoise. It was particularly tough on their captain, the prolific Harry McGuirk who unfortunately missed his penalty in the shootout and as a result the Lilywhites lifted the Larry Murray Cup.
What compounded the pain for the Royals was that Kildare needed equalisers to firstly send the game to extra-time and also to penalties. In normal time, the Royals led by four points late on before Kildare substitute Logan Tennyson scored 1-1 to extend the contest for an extra 20 minutes.
Three points on the spin in the second-half of extra time edged Meath ahead narrowly before a questionable free was awarded deep into injury time and Tennyson tapped over to send the game to penalties. For the Royals, heartbreak and devastation followed.
It took some time for Meath to settle into the contest and Kildare were largely on top for the first quarter. A fortunate goal for Liam O’Donoghue who captalised on an error from the Kildare netminder Joe Crotty kept Meath in touch.
O’Donoghue then did very well to escape pressure from the Kildare defenders before he set up McGuirk for a lovely score. Eoghan Lyons contributed a brace of early points as the Lilywhites led narrowly after 15 minutes by 0-5 to 1-1.
Meath’s second quarter performance was driven on by the exploits of Conn Brennan as he really took a stronghold on the contest. Following on from a nice point in the 19th minute, Brennan was almost certainly fouled two minutes later but received nothing from the referee and did so well to get the ball away to McGuirk who slotted over nicely.
Points from Jack Reilly and Greg Kelly kept Kildare ticking over before Milo Stafford got his tally off the mark with a short-range free. A nice move that included some good link-up play between McGuirk and Smyth was polished off by Brennan and at the break the sides were level, 1-5 to 0-8.
Stafford edged Meath ahead soon after the restart before a brace of Reilly frees handed the advantage back to Kildare. The second of Reilly’s frees was awarded after Meath broke the three-up rule.
In the 41st minute, Tomas Proudfoot played a superb ball into Stafford who found himself in acres of space in front of the Kildare net and Crotty was forced to pull off a super save. A couple of minutes later, McGuirk once again showed his leadership qualities as he burst through the Kildare defence and slotted over to draw Meath level.
Meath then seized momentum as points from Stafford and Leo Kavanagh quickly followed. Brennan scored a super point before the Royals caught Kildare on the break and Cormac Walsh put them four points ahead on the cusp of injury time.
The Royals tried to hold on to possession and wind the clock down however a misplaced pass proved costly as Kildare burst forward and won themselves a free. Fiachra Martin sent the ball into the danger zone and an initial Kildare shot was blocked but the ball fell nicely for Tennyson who made no mistake with the finish to the net. A minute later, Tennyson drew the sides level and the game was extended into extra-time.
Despite being slightly behind the pace set by Kildare in the first-half of extra-time, a Tomas Dillon point maintained parity for Meath after Reilly notched a free for Kildare. At half-time the sides remained level with 1-12 apiece.
Kildare dealt a blow to Meath shortly after the restart when Kelly linked up well with Martin before he finished nicely to the net beyond Cormac Fitzsimons. Meath’s response to that goal was very positive. Stafford crucially raised the only orange flag in stylish fashion before Fitzsimons slotted over a free from a tight angle to draw Meath level again.
Brennan was then fouled deep in Kildare territory and Stafford edged Meath ahead by one in the 80th minute. Kildare were awarded a questionable foul deep into injury time which Tennyson made no mistake with and so the contest had to be decided by a penalty shootout.
Stafford, Brennan and Dara Loughran slotted their penalties but credit to Crotty in the Kildare net, he pulled of a wonderful stop to deny McGuirk. Kildare scored all five of their spot-kicks and hence were crowned Leinster MFC champions.
Meath - Cormac Fitzsimons (0-1 free); Ben Browne, Tomas Clarke, Niall Rogan; Liam O'Donoghue (1-0), Harry McGuirk (0-3), Niall Smyth; John Killoran, Tomas Proudfoot; Cormac McKenna, Conn Brennan (0-3), Alex Keane; Cormac Walsh (0-1), Milo Stafford (0-6 four frees, one two-point), Dara Loughran. Subs - Leo Kavanagh (0-1) for McKenna, Thomas McKeever for Loughran 52m, Harry Keating for Browne , Tomas Dillon (0-1) for Walsh both 61m, Dara Loughran for Killoran, Dillon Glynn for Rogan both 82m.
Kildare - Joe Crotty; Eoin Markey, Ryan Crawford, Liam Mescal; Fionn Lawlor (0-1), Luke Shanahan; Charlie Doran, Paidi Ryan (0-1); Jamie Flood, Aidan Tobin, Eoghan Lyons (0-2); Jack Reilly (0-5 four frees), Greg Kelly (1-2), Cian Kehoe. Subs - Logan Tennyson (1-2 one free) for Flood 34m, Aodhan Bergin for Tobin 45m, Fiachra Martin for Kehoe 53m, Rory Cooke for Ryan 58m, Gearoid Clare for Lawlor 69m, Callum Cowzer for Doran 74m
Referee - Enda Kelly (Westmeath).