Despite victory in Letterkenny Meath fall short of Christy Ring Cup final

It wasnt to be for the Meath hurlers as Derry's win over Kerry ended the Royals' Christy Ring Cup campaign.

Meath 2-18

Donegal 1-16

Meath did what they had to do and got the victory over Donegal in Letterkenny on Saturday but Derry’s victory over Kerry at Celtic Park meant that the Royals fell short of making the Christy Ring Cup final and were left to rue their drawn game with Oak Leaf county last weekend in Trim.

After 47 minutes had elapsed, Damien Healy found the back of the Donegal net to put Meath ahead by four while at that stage Kerry led Derry by six points. In not as dramatic but similar circumstances to last week’s contest, Derry scored two goals in the final quarter and closed out the game well to book their spot in the decider.

Meanwhile, Meath weathered a late storm from Donegal but their efforts proved to be in vain as the curtains were pulled shut on the Royal hurlers' journey for 2026. Overall, the Royals were not entirely convincing and they made hard work of the victory. With a strong breeze behind them, Meath hit 11 wides in the first-half and only led at the break by one point.

Healy’s aforementioned goal boosted the Royals and Mikey Cole raised Meath’s second green flag in the 62nd minute which handed Johnny Greville’s side a nine-point lead. Between the 67th minute and the full-time whistle, Donegal shifted momentum and outscored Meath by 1-4 to 0-2.

The Royals were loose in possession at times and made several handling errors. However, at the right time, Meath racked up enough of a lead to at least seal the what transpired to be a moral victory.

Mark Leavy caused the home side’s defence a lot of issues with his superb footwork and blistering pace. The talented Dunderry forward finished with a nice tally of 0-5 from play.

Defensively, Meath were well set up and for the majority restricted the influence of some talented Donegal attackers. In particular, the efforts of Captain Daire Shine and the energetic Anthony Healy stood out.

Meath had a slow start to the contest and trailed by 0-2 to 0-1 after seven minutes. The Royals eventually found their rythem and after Tom Shine knocked over his first placed ball, his brother Daire linked up superbly with Sean Coloe before he split the posts from distance which edged the Royals ahead.

Leavy matched Daire Shine's effort a few minutes later with a long-range score of his own before Tom Shine stretched Meath’s lead to three points after 15 minutes. Gerard Gilmore pulled one back for the home side before Lorcan O’Connor added his name to the scoresheet.

In the 25th minute Josh Cronnolly McGee had a half-goal chance blocked by Gavin King in the Meath net. Two points in quick succession from Danny Cullen brought Donegal back to within one of the Royals.

Tom Shine and Leavy traded scores with Kevin Kealy and Gilmore. At the break, despite the aide of a strong breeze, Meath only led narrowly 0-8 to 0-7.

Boosted by whatever message was delivered by Greville at the break, Meath made a strong start to the second-half as scores from Joey Cole and Tom Shine stretched the Royals' lead to three points.

Donegal net-minder, Luke White split the posts with a long-range free before Meath were very fortunate not to concede a goal when Cronnolly McGee’s effort rattled off the post. John Kealy then reduced the gap back to one again.

Word was filtering through that the Kingdom were well on top at Celtic Park as Meath took a stronghold on proceedings. A lovely move that included some fine build-up play involving Joey Cole, Daire Shine and Damien Healy was polished off when Leavy tapped over for a nice score.

Three minutes later, a ball into the danger zone from Tom Shine was well fielded by Damien Healy and the Longwood stalwart scrambled the ball over the net with a little help from pressure by Darren O’Higgins on a Donegal defender.

Tom Shine knocked over another free before Leavy showed a moment of class with a superb dummy shot before he split the posts. Two minutes later, Leavy put Meath ahead by 1-14 to 0-9 after 53 minutes.

Two points on the spin from Brian McIntyre kept the home side's hopes alive. However, Mikey Cole dealt a crucial blow when he raised Meath’s second green flag after he was assisted by Leavy.

In the 65th minute, Mikey Cole stretched Meath’s lead to 10 points before Donegal seized momentum and made a late spurt to try and salvage something from the contest. Ruairi Campbell found the back of the Meath net as the home side rattled off 1-4 on the spin to get back within three points of the lead deep into injury time.

Tom Shine made sure of the victory with two late frees but the Meath players' bubble was quickly burst when they were informed of the final score from Celtic Park.

Meath - Gavin King; Jarlath Ennis, Seanie Geraghty, Lorcan O’Connor (0-1); Eoin Donegan, Daire Shine (0-1), Anthony Healy; Sean Coloe, Simon Ennis; Damien Healy (1-0), Lorcan Byrne, Tom Shine (0-8 seven frees); Mikey Cole (1-2), Joey Cole (0-1), Mark Leavy (0-5). Subs - Kyle Donnelly for Geraghty 23m, Darren O’Higgins for Donnelly half-time, Fergal Flynn for Coloe 44m, Kyle Ennis for Leavy 67m.

Donegal - Luke White (0-2 two frees); Oisin Kelly, Ciaran Bradley, Gavin Browne; Conor O’Grady, Kevin Kealy (0-2), Stephen McBride; Brian McIntyre (0-2), Gerard Gilmore (0-3); Liam McKinney (0-3 two frees), Danny Cullen (0-2), Declan Coulter; John Kealy (0-1), Donal Farrelly, Josh Cronnolly McGee. Subs - Peter Kelly for Coulter 43m, Richie Ryan for Cronnolly McGee 53m, Ruairi Campbell (1-1) for J Kealy 62m, Caolan O’Neill for Farrelly 71m.

Referee - Michael Connolly (Sligo).