Leinster SFC final: Dublin 3-21 Meath 0-9
Sean Bugler was only approaching his teenage years when Dublin regained the Leinster senior football title after a 12-month break with a defeat of Wexford in 2011. Graeme Molloy scored a freakish own goal that day. The winning margin was just three points.
Different times.
The young Bugler couldn’t have known then what lay in store for the Dubs, or for Leinster as a province. Or that he would be an integral part of a side that, come the end of a decade, would complete the provincial 10-in-a-row at such a leisurely pace.
The Brogans and Ross McConnell may be gone but Bugler, their clubmate at St Oliver Plunketts/Eoghan Ruadh, is a tangible representation of the tradition that has been spawned.
The torch has been passed on, and Dublin haven’t missed a beat.
One of the many remarkable aspects to Dublin’s standing in Leinster is the seamless manner in which they have shed their skin as a collective over the years but always presented the same formidable visage to each and every challenger.
Three managers, from Pat Gilroy through Jim Gavin and Dessie Farrell, have used 50 players in the course of these 10 provincial finals. That’s a ridiculously small number for that span of time and it bears comparison for full context.
Meath have played four Leinster finals in that time, in 2013 and a year later and another back to back in 2019 and last weekend. That’s less than half the games and yet they have utilised 52 players across that quartet of appearances.
Dublin have perfected the trickle effect, feeding a handful of new faces into the ranks every season and refertilising the already rich ground underneath their feet. Bugler, Eoin Murchan. Robbie McDaid and Paddy Small all featured in their first Leinster senior final two days ago.
The beat goes on.
The net result is that only four of the men who featured in that close-run thing against Wexford nine years ago took part on Saturday night. People talk about a freakishly talented generation of Dublin footballers. There is no such thing. Dublin’s riches spill beyond such an arbitrary boundary.
Take the four newbies just mentioned on Saturday: Bugler claimed 1-2 from play, Small struck three points, McDaid was a persistent thorn in Meath’s side with his attacking threat and Murchan has already starred in an All-Ireland final.
It’s a frightening prospect to anyone who harboured the hope that this Dublin supernova would eventually burn itself out, and the superiority they hold over the rest of the province is emphasised further in the scorelines they have put together.
Dublin won the first three of this 10-in-a-row by margins of three, three, and seven points. The average in the seven years since has been almost 16. This 21-point chasm was the widest of that run and bettered only by the 23-point thrashing of Wexford back in 2008.
Fifteen titles in 16 years it stands at now and the most dispiriting aspect is Meath are an example of a county that has done so much to up their game. They have put structures in place, appointed a highly-regarded management ticket, and yet they are further away than ever.
Saturday was their worst ever championship defeat to Dublin.
“To be fair to them, they probably were slightly off,” was Farrell’s take on the opposition. “I do believe they’re a much better team than that. They’ve showed it in their last couple of Championship games, they were very unlucky in a number of their league games and they’ve been really competitive and they showed it against us (in the league last month).
“They may have just been off the boil, caught us on a good night, and sometimes that confidence... once it’s sucked away it can be very difficult to find your mojo or whatever. Up until tonight Meath people would be very happy with where Meath football is at. Obviously they’ll be very disappointed with this result but I’d put it down a once off more than anything else.”
Dessie the diplomat. The truth is far more painful.
The 60-second report
Key Moment
Meath had a couple of early goal chances but the space was swiftly swallowed up and their attackers forced into retreat both times. Dublin showed how it was done with a lethal move that ended with the first goal, from Dean Rock, inside the first 10 minutes. Sean Bugler claimed the second later in the first-half and Niall Scully added the third as the clock went into the red.
Talking point
An evening that will be remembered not for Dublin’s little piece of history but for the Bloody Sunday commemoration that preceded it. Brendan Gleeson read passages about each of the 14 victims whose lives were lost 100 years ago. President Michael D Higgins and the Taoiseach Micheal Martin were among the few in attendance for a sombre occasion. Dublin marked the occasion as a team when Stephen Cluxton laid a wreath in honour of the victims.
Key man
Con O’Callaghan ‘only’ claimed two points himself but the Cuala star was integral in everything Dublin did in attack, claiming kickouts in his deep-lying role and feeding those further forward. Ciaran Kilkenny was the main recipient with four from play. Some of the newer faces impressed too with Sean Bugler claiming 1-2 and Robbie McDaid effective going forward.
Injury watch
Dessie Farrell is concerned about Jonny Cooper’s fitness after the defender came off injured at the break. Another concern is the red card handed to Cormac Costello and the suspension that awaits
Ref watch
How fitting that a Tipperary man should be involved for a Dublin game on the 100th anniversary of Bloody Sunday. Derek O’Mahony didn’t shy away from the hard decisions and showed a number of yellows before Costello saw the straight red card towards the end.
What’s next
Dublin take on the Ulster champions in the All-Ireland semi-final in a fortnight’s time.
Scorers for Dublin: D Rock (1-7, 5f, 1 ‘45’); S Bugler (1-2); N Scully (1-1); C Kilkenny (0-4); C O’Callaghan (0-2); P Small (0-3, 2 marks); J Small (0-1); P Mannion (0-1 free).
Scorers for Meath: J Morris (0-3, 1f); B Menton, C O’Sullivan and J Scully (0-1); T O’Reilly (0-1 free); J Wallace 0-1 mark).
DUBLIN: S Cluxton; E Murchan, M Fitzsimons, D Byrne; J Cooper, J Small, R McDaid; J McCarthy, B Fenton; N Scully, C O’Callaghan, S Bugler; P Small, C Kilkenny, D Rock.
Substitutes: B Howard for Cooper (ht), P Mannion for P Small (42); E Lowndes for J Small (53); C Costello for O’Callaghan (59); K McManamon for Kilkenny (65).
MEATH: M Brennan; R Ryan, C McGill, D Toner; S Lavin, D Keogan, M Costello; B Menton, R Jones; B McMahon, C O’Sullivan, S McEntee; T O’Reilly, S Walsh, J Morris.
Substitutes: C Hickey for Toner and E Harkin for McGill (both 44); E Devine for Costello (46); J Scully for McMahon (52); J Wallace for O’Reilly (53).
Referee: D O’Mahoney (Tipperary).
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