Promotion 'nowhere near on our radar', insists Meath boss Brennan

It's Cork next up for the Royals after defeat of Louth.

Mon, 16 Feb, 2026 - 07:11

Paul Keane

Meath 1-20 Louth 0-22

Meath manager Robbie Brennan has refused to entertain promotion talk despite their perfect start to the campaign.

For the second game running, the Royals struck at the death to clinch victory in Division 2 with Jack Flynn, just as he was in Cavan, the hero with a late two-pointer.

Remarkably, Flynn struck at almost the exact same time in both games, with just less than a minute left to put his team one up. They added another late score in Cavan to win by two though it was the narrowest of one-point victories on Saturday, their second win at Croke Park having also beaten Derry there in Round 1.

Meath travel to face Cork at Páirc Uí Rinn next Sunday and if they can win again and cross the half-way stage of the campaign with eight points from eight, they'll be favourites to go up.

Asked if they'll set a target for points now, Brennan shook his head.

"No, I think the way we'll do it is it'll be more just looking at that second half against Louth and the key areas we need to improve on," he said, referencing Meath's second-half collapse. "Ahead of Cork, it's just about getting to the Tuesday session now and making sure we're better than we were against Louth.

"And we'll have the chance to look at Cork, Cork against Offaly, so we'll do that and try to prep as much as we can. But promotion, no...when you look at who we still have to play, it's nowhere near on our radar. It's get through Tuesday first and see where the bodies are at."

Brennan said that Mathew Costello looks unlikely to feature against Cork after the leg injury that forced him off against Louth. Costello was booked for the foul on Ciarán Downey that led to Louth's penalty late in the first half. Sam Mulroy's shot was saved by goalkeeper Seán Brennan and a rampant Meath went in 1-15 to 0-7 ahead after a brilliant half though Costello had to be replaced after injuring himself during the challenge.

"He's hurt himself alright," said Brennan. "He'd obviously be a big doubt now for next week."

Meath could have done with Costello's experience when things turned against them in the second half, particularly around midfield where they'd previously dominated. Louth turned that 11-point deficit into a one-point lead thanks to a comeback engineered by Mulroy, who nailed four two-pointers, former All-Star Craig Lennon and Downey.

"We were saying it on the line, a lot of what Louth got, particularly in the early stage of the second half, we gave to them realistically," said Brennan. "There was a breach in there too which is on us as a management moreso, with the way we set it up, as opposed to anybody individually. There's a lot of stuff that we need to tighten up on ahead of Cork next week."

The repeat of last year's Leinster final was a tetchy game with a dozen cards - four black and eight yellow - dished out. Louth's Peter Lynch was booked for a big hit on Ruairí Kinsella who scored 1-3 for Meath in the first half. Minutes later, Jordan Morris was booked for a challenge on Lynch that forced the defender off.

Morris himself crumpled to the ground early in the game, sparking fears of a repeat of the knee injury he suffered against Louth in last year's League but he was able to play on this time, and finished with 0-6.

Louth manager Gavin Devlin said he was delighted with the patience his team showed to reel Meath in during the second half. But he was disappointed that Flynn was allowed to turn onto his right foot for the winning score.

"I looked up and we were ahead with about 90 seconds, or just under, left," said Devlin. "The first thing that came into my head was, 'No two-pointer, no matter what'. When Jack Flynn got the ball, he was coming down the left side, I was thinking, 'Good, good, don't let him back on his right side because that's when he's so devastating'. But as soon as he goes to come back inside, it's 'Oh, he's going to take a go at this'."

Meath scorers: R Kinsella (1-3, 1 tp); J Morris (0-6, 1 tp, 1 free); M Costello (1 tp), J Flynn (1 tp) (0-3 each); A Lynch (0-2); B Menton, E Frayne (1 free), J O'Connor (0-1 each).

Louth scorers: S Mulroy (0-9, 4 tpf, 1 free); C Lennon (0-4); P Mathews (0-3, 1 tp); C Downey (0-2); C Grimes, D McDonnell, T McDonnell, C Keenan (0-1 each).

Meath: S Brennan; S Lavin, S Rafferty, B O'Halloran; D Keogan, S Coffey, C Caulfield; J Flynn, C McBride; M Costello, R Kinsella, B Menton; J Morris, E Frayne, A Lynch.

Subs: C Duke for Costello (h/t); J O'Connor for Lynch (49); A O'Neill for Menton (56); K Smyth for Keogan (65).

Louth: N McDonnell; P Tinnelly, D Campbell, D McKenny; C Lennon, P Lynch, E Carolan; D McDonnell, C Early; P Mathews, S Mulroy, C Grimes; T McDonnell, C Downey, R Burns.

Subs: C McKeever for Lynch (32); K McArdle for McDonnell (h/t); E Callaghan for Grimes (48); C Keenan for Burns (48); D Nally for McDonnell (63).

Referee: B Griffin (Kerry).