Meath fans set sight on Hill for Leinster Final

By Fergal Lynch, Louise Walsh

Meath fans will be able to recreate the old Croke Park buzz on Hill 16 with the news that the iconic terrace favoured by the Dubs will be open for the Leinster SFC final between Meath and Louth on Sunday 11th May. Fears it wouldn’t be open were allayed when tickets went sale on Monday with the terrace option available.

The call has already gone out for Meath supporters to gather on Hill 16 for the Leinster final and make it their own, just as they did when Meath last won the Leinster title in 2010 defeating Louth and for the All-Ireland successes under the legendary Sean Boylan.

There is the added carrot for Meath fans that if the Royal Ladies were to beat Kildare in the Leinster SFC in Newbridge next Sunday then they will be part of a double-header against Dublin in the Ladies Leinster final.

Rumours are already starting to swirl that the All-Ireland u-20 FC semi-final between the winners of tomorrow night's (Wednesday) Leinster final, also between Meath and Louth, and the Connacht champions could be added to the bill for Croke Park on 11th May.

If that scenario does play out then it would ease the pain of the €30 cost for a Hill 16 ticket or €40 for a stand ticket.

Juvenile tickets are generously priced at just €8 for the stand, while student/OAP tickets for the stand are €30.

Meanwhile, legendary Meath GAA fan Jacksie Kiernan went to work on his day off on Monday because he didn't want to miss the chat with customers about his team ending the Dublin run of success on the pitch after 15 years with a four point win in Sunday's Leinster semi-final.

The 80 year-old stalwart has followed the Meath team since he was just 10 years old and he is so well-known in the game, his 57-year old sports and shoe shop in Navan is a go-to place for all Meath merchandise and is often frequented by past and present players and coaches including Graham Geraghty, Joe Cassells and former manager Sean Boylan.

He's also regularly approached by fans desperate to get match tickets.

In recent years, he has been likened to the late sports presenter Jimmy Magee with his memory on all things GAA, but especially Meath and videos on TikTok have been viewed up to 500,000 times.

"The players are a great bunch of young guys who weathered the storm until the end. The Dubs aren't out of the championship yet but this win was good for football in Leinster. Fifteen years of success is a long time for Dublin. Sunday was the first time that my own grandchildren have ever seen them beaten."

Since early Monday morning, there was demand for bunting and flags as well as Meath jerseys as fans celebrated making it to the first Leinster final in five years.

"I was very vocal in encouraging the team from the sidelines but there was a man who had to go outside and smoke four cigarettes in a row because he couldn't stand the excitement of the game," he laughed.

"I remember like yesterday my parents bringing me to my first All-Ireland final when I was 10 years of age. There was a Kells man, where I'm originally from, on the team called Michael Grace and he was brilliant. It was 1954 and Meath won the match against Kerry."

Meath are now gearing up to play Louth in the Leinster final for the first time since Joe Sheridan’s controversial goal in 2010.

"I never regarded that as a win. I always thought the GAA should have replayed it. It was a disaster. Id' say Louth are slight favourites this time. We have a younger team, they have maturity but we'll turn up on the day and give it a rattle."