Impressive Royals see off Saffrons

Meath just one win away from u-20 Tier 1

Meath 2-21

Antrim 1-17

EANNA MACKEY

Impressive Meath secured a dominant victory over Antrim in the opening round of the Leinster u-20 HC in Kilmessan on Sunday afternoon.

The Royals’ work rate formed the basis of their win over the men from the north coast, with the Meath half-back line offering a strong platform for the young Leinster men to secure an invaluable victory and safe passage into the second round, where they will now play Carlow for a place in the Leinster u-20 Championship proper.

Donaghmore/Ashbourne's Louis McIvor was impressive for the Royals and was razor-sharp in securing an excellent personal tally of 0-10.

A hat-trick of early scores from rising starlet McIvor got the Royals off to the perfect start, despite being cancelled out at the other end by Oisín McCallan and Fiontán Bradley to leave the game level at 0-3 apiece by the seventh minute.

The Royal County then seized control in a dominant spell where they raised six white flags without reply, with scores from McIvor and Mark Leavy and a brace of points from Kyle Ennis to lead 0-9 to 0-3 by the quarter-hour mark. However, completely against the run of play, the Saffrons dragged themselves in front in a frantic two-minute spell where they hit 1-4 without reply.

Fiontán Bradley popped up with a clinical goal and was followed by quickfire points from Liam McEnhill, Thomas McLaughlin and Orrin O’Connor. Oisín McCallan edged the Ulster side ahead before McIvor responded with another hat-trick of scores in a tit-for-tat opening half for the Royals to regain the lead, 0-12 to 1-7.

In the final two minutes of the half, Oisín McCallan and Mark Leavy traded scores as the home side went in ahead with a slender 0-13 to 1-8 lead.

Meath continued to keep their noses in front after the restart, with Finn Conroy, Ennis and McIvor raising white flags. Antrim responded with points from Oisín McCallan and Callagh Mooney before cutting the gap to the minimum with further scores from Orrin O’Connor and Conor Donnelly.

However, the Royals then wrestled back control of the game in the 40th minute, with Kyle Ennis pouncing first on a loose ball to bury his low shot into the net and make it 1-16 to 1-12.

The Saffrons responded with a hat-trick of frees from McCallan which were cancelled out by Cathal Barron and McIvor as Meath led 1-19 to 1-15 with eight minutes to play. Momentum seemed to swing back toward the Ulster champions, with Thomas McLaughlin and Charlie McCauley landing big scores to cut the gap to two.

But it was Louis McIvor who clawed the impetus back toward the Royals, along with Kyle Ennis, to push Meath 1-21 to 1-17 in front as the clock ticked into the red.

In the dying embers, Joey Christie turned over possession from a short Antrim puck-out before rifling his shot to the net, allowing Meath to breathe easy as they march into the second round with a place in the Leinster Round Robin at stake.

Meanwhile, for Antrim, the Leinster Tier 2 Championship awaits.

Meath - Conor Cummins; Brian Stagg, Adam O’Donoghue, Alex Fox; Anthony Healy, Jack McKeown, Fergal Flynn; Rian Fay, Finn Conroy (0-1); Louis McIvor (0-10 six frees, one '65'), Mark Leavy (0-1), Cathal Barron (0-2); Patrick Jordan (0-1), Kyle Ennis (1-4), Darren O’Higgins.

Subs - Joey Christie (1-0) for Fay 36m, Cadhan Crawford for Donnelly 42m, Callum Buckley for Barron 53m, Tom Condon for Ennis 60m.

Antrim - Sean Og McLaren; Cathair Donnelly, Liam Glackin, Colla Ward; Ben O’Kane, Reece Cunning, Conor McCann; Charlie McAuley (0-1), Callagh Mooney (0-1); Liam McEnhill (0-1), Thomas McLaughlin (0-2), Conor Donnelly (0-1); Fiontan Bradley (1-1), Orrin O’Connor (0-2), Oisin McCallin (0-7 five frees.

Subs - Oisín McCampbell for O’Connor 44m, Ronan McCarry for Bradley 51m.

Referee - Matthew Redmond (Kildare).