'Relief' for O Bric as Meath gameplan edges gruelling battle with Tyrone

The Royal County won a Croke Park minor contest which was level on eight occasions 

28 August 2021; Meath players and staff celebrate with the cup after the Electric Ireland GAA Football All-Ireland Minor Championship Final match between Meath and Tyrone at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Ray McManus/Sportsfile

Meath manager Cathal O Bric revealed their game plan for the Electric Ireland All-Ireland minor final was to put Tyrone under pressure and see how they responded.

The Royal County edged a gruelling Croke Park contest which was level on eight occasions thanks to a winning point from Shaun Leonard in the fifth minute of stoppage time.

Prior to the final, Tyrone had won their four championship games by 16, 30, seven and 14-point margins.

"The game plan really was to try to put Tyrone in an uncomfortable position," said O Bric, who guided Meath to a first title since 1992. "They had won all their games by a fair distance and they had won from the front the whole time.

"Our game plan was that at the first-quarter, half-time and at the second-quarter, that they'd be behind and we managed that pretty much, which put them under pressure and then coming into the final quarter I suppose they had a few chances there to narrow the gap and a lot of them went wide.

"They hadn't been in that situation before, they were chasing the game and because of that I think maybe lads who'd normally be comfortable slipping the ball over the bar, it just didn't work out that way for them.

"What bravery of Shaun Leonard then to pop up and score a point with his right boot from the right hand side."

Earlier in the half, Leonard had struck a wide from a similar position but O Bric said he had no doubt the St Colmcille's man would deliver when it truly counted.

"He scored two points against Sligo and won Man of the Match that day. He's the kind of guy you'd trust. I know he put one wide from that position earlier in the half with the outside of his right foot. This time he had gotten himself a little closer to goal, about 25 metres out and yeah, you'd back him from there.

"He has the confidence in himself and we'd have the confidence in him that when he'd get himself into that position that he'd be able to finish off the chance."

At the final whistle, O Bric said it was simply 'relief' that Meath had survived the epic and claimed the county's first minor title in nearly 30 years.

It was disappointment for Tyrone who rued the 14 wides they kicked and, in particular, their late misses.

"It's not frustration, it's just tough because you know how hard these lads have worked," said Tyrone manager Gerard Donnelly. "In Garvaghy at training, they're nailing those scores. That's probably what pressure does. Some of them were the wrong options but some of them the shots were on and nine times out of 10 they'd score them. The execution just wasn't there."