Meath Masters march on to All-Ireland semi-finals
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The Meath Masters received new gear bags from sponsor Gormley Pharmacy. At the presentation (from left) were David Gormley, Stevie McManus, Keith Reilly and Joe Sheridan.Image 2 of 2
The Meath and Longford/Leitrim Masters mingle with family, friends and supporters following their All-Ireland clash at Grangegodden on Saturday.The Meath Masters have qualified for the tier two All-Ireland Football semi-finals after a comprehensive 4-18 to 2-8 victory over Longford/Leitrim in Kells on Saturday.
The Royals, in their first season competing in the over-40s competition, finished fifth out of 26 teams – missing out on the top four by just a single point.
The top four sides after the round-robin stage advance to contest the All-Ireland semi-finals with the four counties in positions fifth to eighth competing for the shield.
Meath got maximum points from five of their six games – their only defeat in the group stages was a two-point loss away to All-Ireland favourites Dublin. Dublin (12 points), Donegal (12), Kerry (11), Waterford (11) finished in the top section. Meath and Monaghan (both on 10 points) are guaranteed a place in the shield semi-finals but a play-off is required involving Armagh, Sligo, Roscommon (all on eight points) to determine the last two qualifiers.
In glorious sunny conditions at Gaeil Colmcille’s Grangegodden grounds on Saturday, and in front of a sizeable crowd, Meath led 2-9 to 0-3 at half-time and they pushed for home early in the second half with a flurry of scores.
John L McGee (two), Stevie McManus and Owen McGrath netted the goals for the home side on Saturday while Ronan McGuinness, Barry Balfe, Neil Darby, Keith Reilly, Gordon Weldon and Joe Sheridan were among Meath’s point scorers.
Meath: Willie Arkins, Ray Russell, Brian O’Reilly, Ronan McGuinness, Stephen Reddy, James Flavin, Brian Lucey, Keith Reilly, Niall Mooney, Stevie McManus, Gordon Weldon, Peadar Byrne, Owen McGrath, Joe Sheridan, Barry Balfe, Keith McGuinness, Mark Brennan, Neil Darby, David Gormley, Matthew Hanley, Brendan Heffernan, Gordon Manning, John L McGee, Bertie McLoughlin, David Poynton Rowley, David Russell.