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Dublin 3-21 Meath 0-9
On a gloomy Saturday night at Croke Park, Dublin made its way into history with a 10th consecutive Leinster title. The provincial soccer final always had the chance to become a sideshow of the haunting ceremony, commemorating those who had died in the stadium 100 years earlier and it proved to be so.
The Irish champions laid a wreath on the Hill as a show of respect and both teams observed a minute’s silence. The match began in the resounding void of this year’s championship matches and as competition, faded in the eighth minute when Dean Rock fired his shot at the same goal to turn a level match into a 1-2 to 0-2 lead. which only got bigger as the night wore on.
Ciarán Kilkenny posted another good performance, scoring 0-4 from play and the defense was assured and largely impenetrable.
There were concerns that manager Dessie Farrell at Jonny Cooper would have to be retired at halftime injured and on the late red card given to Cormac Costello, apparently for verbal abuse from a linesman. In two weeks, the champions of Ulster, Donegal or Cavan, will be in Croke Park for an Irish semi-final.
It may not be a consolation to Meath, and he wasn’t judged on the behavior of his coach Andy McEntee afterward, but this was Dublin’s best performance of the championship, a fluid display of safe ball retention and forward motion that rivals simply they could not. Contains.
Meath entered the game, optimistic with the promise that an improving young team had left enough markers since losing the equivalent contest last year by 16 points. They had had a commendable season in Division One, even if it ended in relegation, and they had been scoring well in games through Saturday.
With Dublin’s O’Callaghan he scores a point against Meath at Croke Park. Photograph: Bryan Keane / Inpho
But for those keeping an eye on the comparative data, the early foray into the mouth of Dublin’s goal in which Cillian O’Sullivan stepped in and passed Bryan McMahon only for the latter to be shut down by the defense and left the captain of Meath, Bryan Menton, aim for a point.
A goal in the first minute would have been a huge boost for the team and the first of those goals would have been conceded by Dublin in two years in the province.
Meath played with a bit of spirit and handed James McCarthy by a point in the eighth minute, but that would be for over half an hour, at which point the match was as far out of reach as the moon.
The problem with last year’s Leinster final for Meath was that while they defended admirably and created plenty of opportunities, they managed just one point at halftime and lost 0-1 to 0-5. This time they doubled the score, but the defense took 2-12.
They also needed a good return on their ejections, but while Dublin captain Stephen Cluxton was perfect in the first half, rival Mark Brennan had their restarts under constant pressure and a good third of them strayed, to be prosecuted. in scoring opportunities. .
Again, all of Dublin’s starting forwards scored from the game in the first half: Seán Bugler was last off the mark as he charged down the middle of defense, played a one-two with winger Robbie McDaid, who had a adventurous ending. , and patted the net for 2-8 to 0-2.
In the second half, Farrell restored two of the great hitters off the bench in Brian Howard and Paul Mannion, but the urge to score lessened somewhat.
Dublin Captain Stephen Cluxton lays a Bloody Sunday memorial wreath in Croke Park. Photograph: Ryan Byrne / Inpho
Meath refused to give in, but in the box he would have stopped. However, there were some good replacement cameos. Joey Wallace’s pace caused a couple of problems and he kicked a mark. Jason Scully was also buoyant when he entered and the promising Jordan Morris entered the game more prominently, kicking 0-4 in the second half, two out of the game.
As the game dwindled, it took a veteran to put a little more pain on the scoreboard for Meath. Kevin McManamon came in in the 65th minute and in injury time he was able to throw one of those familiar bursts through the defense, but Brennan stopped his shot only for Niall Scully, with one of his family follow-ups, to hit the third goal and score. final.
It was Dublin’s biggest win over the neighbors since the Leinster final in 1955 when the margin was 20. That year ended with a legendary disappointment for them, something they hope to avoid this time.
DUBLIN: 1 Stephen Cluxton; 2 Michael Fitzsimons, 3 Jonny Cooper, 19 David Byrne; 4 Eoin Murchan, 7 Robert McDaid, 6 John Small (0-1); 8 Brian Fenton, 5 James McCarthy; 10 Niall Scully (1-1), 11 Ciarán Kilkenny (0-4), 12 Seán Bugler (1-2); 13 Paddy Small (0-3, two points), 14 With O’Callaghan (0-2), 15 Dean Rock (1-7, five free, one 45).
Subs: 21 Brian Howard for Cooper (break), 23 Paul Mannion (0-1, free) for P Small (42 minutes), 22 Eric Lowndes for J Small (54 minutes), 20 Cormac Costello for O’Callaghan (59 minutes)) , Kevin McManamon for Kilkenny (65 minutes).
MEAT: 1 Mark Brennan; 12 Ronan Ryan, 3 Conor McGill, 2 Séamus Lavin; 4 David Toner, 5 Donal Keogan (jt capt), 7 Matthew Costello; 8 Bryan Menton (captain jt; 0-1), 9 Ronan Jones; 10 Cillian O’Sullivan (0-1), 11 Bryan McMahon, 6 Shane McEntee; 13 Jordan Morris (0-4, two free), 14 Shane Walsh, 15 Thomas O’Reilly (0-1, free).
Subs: 19 Eoin Harkin for Toner (43 minutes), 18 Cathal Hickey for McGill (43 minutes), 21 Ethan Devine for Costello (48 minutes), 21 Jason Scully (0-1) for McMahon (52 minutes), 22 Joey Wallace (0 -1, mark) for O’Reilly (54 minutes).
Referee: Derek O’Mahony (Tipperary).
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