Five star Meath reach Leinster final with clinical second half display
Meath's Ronan Jones with Jimmy Hyland and Daniel Flynn of Kildare. Picture:Â INPHO/Ryan Byrne
Â
The omens are good, that's for sure.
The last time Dublin were beaten in the Leinster championship, 10 years ago, they coughed up 5-9 to Meath, the same score the Royals stuck on the board at Croke Park today to secure another date with the old enemy.
To repeat that landmark win, Meath would have to finally beat a team from Division 1, something they haven't managed to do, in either League or Championship, since 2014. Who did they beat back then? Kildare, of course.
Call it clutching at straws but after a decade in Dublin's shadow, Meath will grab onto any sliver of hope at this stage.
The indicators are that they've closed the gap somewhat since last year's 1-17 to 0-4 provincial final collapse.
They've been consistently competitive against Division 1 opposition throughout the League, pushing Dublin hard at Parnell Park last month and drawing with Monaghan, and they've started the Championship like a steam train, blasting a dozen goals in two games.
They needed goals here because they trailed 0-10 to 0-4 at half-time, had coughed up the majority of their own kick-outs and looked off the pace in most sectors of the field.
Then came the fight-back, a stunning 5-5 to Kildare's 0-5 in the second-half and goals from Mathew Costello, Jordan Morris, Cillian O'Sullivan, Joey Wallace and Jason Scully, three of those in their rookie campaign. Throw in the stat that subs have contributed 2-2 in each of their Championship games and there's surely a case to be made that Meath have narrowed the gap on Dublin since 2019?
"I think that's up for other people to decide on to be perfectly honest," said Meath manager Andy McEntee. "Ask me after the game next weekend I suppose and I'll tell you. I'm not being smart, it's hard to know. Look, nobody has managed to beat them in six years so that's everybody's aim but nobody has achieved it."
Beating Dublin can't have been on McEntee's mind at half-time when his team trailed by six points.
It should have been more because Kildare were cruising and closed the half with six unanswered scores.
They dominated Meath's kick-out and had a vibrant attacker in Jimmy Hyland who picked Seamus Lavin's pockets for four points.
McEntee said he didn't make any half-time changes because there were simply so many underperforming players.
"Where would you have started?" he said "That's the thing, there were a lot of guys who weren't doing themselves justice out there. Thankfully the vast majority of them turned the game around for themselves and for the team."
Meath hadn't won any of their 10 previous League or Championship games until they hammered Wicklow last weekend. It's two wins on the bounce now and Kildare had no answer to a resurgent Meath in the second-half, wilting and scoring just 0-5.
Costello and Morris, among six Championship debutants against Wicklow, grabbed goals to get the fightback underway.
O'Sullivan was a constant threat too, even when things weren't going well, and got the goal he deserved in the 45th minute.
Sub Wallace, who scored a goal and won two penalties against Wicklow in Aughrim, hit their fourth goal and Scully snatched a fifth in stoppage time.
It summed up Meath's improved work rate that the O'Sullivan and Wallace goals both came after winning turnovers.
The day finished on a sour note for Kildare when Shea Ryan was shown a straight red card for a high tackle on O'Sullivan.
"We need to get to a level of conditioning that we can sustain our first-half performance for two halves because we did well, we ticked all the boxes in the first-half," said Kildare manager Jack O'Connor.
"We went out to pressurise their kick-out and we disrupted them on nine of their 16 kick-outs which was great for us and we won most of our own. Unfortunately you have to sustain that right throughout the game and we weren't able to do that."
J Morris (1-1, 1 free), M Costello (1-1), C O'Sullivan (1-1), J Wallace (1-0), J Scully (1-0), T O'Reilly (0-2), S Walsh (0-1), C Hickey (0-1), S McEntee (0-1), J Conlon (0-1).
J Hyland (0-5, 3 frees, 1 mark), D Kirwan (0-2), D Flynn (0-1), B McCormack (0-1), M Byrne (0-1), P Brophy (0-2), K Flynn (0-1), F Conway (0-1), D Hyland (0-1).
M Brennan; S Lavin, C McGill, D Toner; D Keogan, R Ryan, M Costello; B Menton, R Jones; C O'Sullivan, B McMahon, S McEntee; J Morris, S Walsh, T O'Reilly.
C Hickey for Ryan, J Wallace for O'Reilly, J Scully for McMahon (all 55); J Conlon for Walsh (68); E Harkin for O'Sullivan (76).
M Donnellan; E Doyle, M O'Grady, M Dempsey; D Hyland, C Kavanagh, K Flynn; S Ryan, K Feely; M Byrne, B McCormack, P Brophy; F Conway, D Kirwan, J Hyland.
D Flynn for McCormack (48); P Cribbin for Byrne (51); A Masterson for Kavanagh (57); L Power for Conway (58); N Flynn for Kirwan (60).
C Lane (Cork).
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
