Royals tick another box as Cork look at bigger picture

Meath rounded out their spring by picking up silverware on Sunday. 

29 March 2026; The Meath players celebrate with the cup after the Allianz Football League Division 2 final match between Meath and Cork at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Ray McManus/Sportsfile

Meath 1-22 Cork 2-17 

Another little step on the way. Far from the stop-off point for either. Meath continue building towards their something special. Cork continue building towards their breakthrough.

With the long-held goal of promotion achieved by both the weekend before last, this Division 2 final represented, arguably, the two counties’ least important 70 minutes of the spring. That said, it is still a 70 minutes that should not and will not be dealt with in isolation.

Meath’s success in preventing their opponents from getting off a two-point equalising shot during the two minutes and 28 seconds, close to the final hooter, where Cork held possession and prodded for a gap delivered them a fourth successive Croke Park victory of the spring.

Add Cork to the roll call of Louth, Derry, and Tyrone that they have bested at GAA HQ. If the redevelopment of Páirc Tailteann goes the same delayed way as the Children’s Hospital, there won’t be too many Royals up in arms.

Let’s go wider again with the frame of the picture. Since last summer’s Leinster final defeat, Meath are 10 wins, one draw, and two defeats from 13 outings. Donegal, in the All-Ireland semi-final, and Cork away, in Round 4 of the League, are their only two afternoons of angst and agony.

As Robbie Brennan articulated afterwards, this Meath project is no longer about collating belief and self-confidence. The bank account is plenty full in that respect. It is about summer assertion, the same as they achieved last year, but this time without the element of surprise, shock, and awe.

Yesterday ticked the box of a first Division 2 League title since 2007. Up next is the provincial box unticked since Joe Sheridan did what he did in 2010.

“You have to hope this League title is another little step on the way. It's not our stop-off point at all. We still have other plans we want to try and get after, whether it's this year, next year, or whenever,” said Brennan.

“We're getting to the stage where it's not necessarily about belief anymore. The lads should understand now that they're at that level, and they're more than capable of holding their own and beating good teams, like we did last year, and we've done again this year.” 

Captain Eoghan Frayne expanded on this theme.

“We know we can mix it with the top teams in the country. We know where we want to go, so it's just about getting a performance on the day in here.” Ahead of their Leinster opener, against either Westmeath or Longford on April 19, there is obvious homework to be done.

Seán Brennan’s restart capitulated in the second quarter. Six out of seven were lost. It would have been seven for seven had referee Brendan Griffin not deemed Ian Maguire - somewhat harshly, it appeared - to have fouled Cian McBride in the air.

Their last line of defence was scorched, save for the 16 second-half minutes where Cork could hardly get a finger on their own kick-out, starving red forwards in the process, and ensuring Cork’s 1-16 total on 46 minutes was still 1-16 on 61 minutes.

Chris Óg Jones could have had two first-half goals, Steven Sherlock took Séamus Lavin for 0-6 before Brennan decided to do anything about it.

Against that, their policing of the arc was particularly effective. Cork arrived into Croker averaging three orange flags per game this year. They managed one here.

Their deconstruction of Pa Doyle’s restart was responsible for five of the eight unanswered points that put them in 1-21 to 1-16 pole position on the hour mark. Their lines of front-foot running were a joy.

Minus Adam O’Neill and Matthew Costello, their depth chart was still mightily impressive. Introduced on 42 minutes, James Conlon kicked four from play.

“We had our team meeting before we came down, and we highlighted the 10, 12 subs. We just looked at them and said, My God, they'd be in any squad in the country. That's a sign of how strong we are,” added Brennan.

To Cork. An eighth successive Croke Park defeat, going right the way back to 2015. No Croke Park final win since 2012.

Same as was shown against Derry and at times against Kildare, the No.1 shirt still has question marks hanging over it. Culpability for Cork’s kick-out woes were not exclusive to Doyle. There are experienced operators in Cork’s middle-third who’ll be bitterly disappointed at how Bryan Menton, Jack Flynn, and co dominated them in stretches.

Brian Hurley’s cameos in Omagh and yesterday offer encouragement. Making sure the soon-to-be 34-year-old is capable of close to 70 minutes come Munster final afternoon is imperative.

“That is a good Meath team. On another day, we'd have been there at the end and maybe going to extra-time and maybe winning it, but we weren't, and we'll take the learnings,” said Cleary.

Vexation over not having a final minute free advanced 50 metres will quickly subside. They’ve shown too much progress this spring to get fixated on the last line. Focus is now firmly on achieving the sort of summer breakthrough their Division 2 final conquerors know only too well.

Scorers for Meath: R Kinsella (0-5, 2tp); J O’Connor (1-2, tp); J Conlon (0-4); S Brennan (tp free, 0-1 ‘45), J Morris (0-1 free), E Frayne (0-3 frees, 0-3 each); C Caulfield, A Lynch (0-1 each).

Scorers for Cork: S Sherlock (0-9, tp, 0-1 free); C Óg Jones (1-3); B Hurley (1-0); C O’Callaghan, P Walsh (0-2 each); M Cronin (0-1).

MEATH: S Brennan; S Lavin, S Rafferty, B O’Halloran; D Keogan, S Coffey, C Caulfield; B Menton, J Flynn; J O’Connor, R Kinsella, C McBride; J Morris, E Frayne, A Lynch.

Subs: K Curtis for Frayne (4-8 mins, temporary); J Conlon for Lynch (42); R Ryan for Lavin (45); C Hickey for McBride (50); K Smyth for O’Halloran (52); O Martin O’Connor (60).

CORK: P Doyle; M Shanley, S Meehan, D O’Mahony; B O’Driscoll, T Walsh, L Fahy; C O’Callaghan, I Maguire; P Walsh, D Sheedy, S McDonnell; M Cronin, C Óg Jones, S Sherlock.

Subs: B Hurley for Sheedy (43); K O’Donovan for Shanley (50-52, temporary); R Deane for McDonnell (52); S Walsh for Cronin (55); R Maguire for Fahy (57).

REFEREE: B Griffin (Kerry).