Trip to Tipp on the cards for Meath hurlers

Comfortable victory for Meath although the lop-sided nature of the scoreline at the end of this All-Ireland u-21 A HC semi-final at St Loman's Park, Mullingar on Saturday wrongly gives the impression that they were on Easy Street from early on. Going into the last 10 minutes Meath only led by five points and Roscommon carried enough threat in attack to ensure that their opponents could never rest on their laurels - until the final minute or two. A revealing fact from this entertaining encounter was that Roscommon shot 11 wides while Meath registered only eight. The Connacht side wasted some good chances. It also says a lot that one of Meath's heroes on the day was their goalkeeper Shane McGann. The Kiltale youngster made a number of breathtaking saves that suggested he is one for the future and it inspired one of the Meath mentors to come up with a phase that could catch on. "McGann again," he said on the sideline every time the goalkeeper displayed the eagle-eyed reflexes to prevent a shot from ending up in the net. Meath didn't only rely on McGann's skills to ensure that they are in an All-Ireland final. They also produced spells of inventive hurling with the fact that 10 players got on the scoresheet suggesting this was very much a team effort. Roscommon had defeated Mayo in the Connacht final although reports indicated that they weren't all that impressive. However, they showed in this game a level of skill and commitment that had Meath troubled with the Leinster champions unable to pull away until the closing stages. Roscommon proved to be particularly troublesome opponents in the opening half regularly carving out good goal opportunities. Meath could hardly have made a better start when after just three minutes Anthony Healy, David Kennedy and David Raleigh combined to create a chance for Barry Slevin who shot to the net. Yet by the 14th minute Roscommon were ahead when one of their chief dangermen John Coyne eluded a few tackles before firing past McGann who had no chance. That put the Connacht side 1-4 to 1-3 in front. It was score for score until the 29th minute when Meath snatched a second goal that suggested Roscommon's resistance was eventually starting to weaken. Keith Keoghan sent in a free from near the right sideline about 40 metres out. It was hit head high and with considerable power. It looked like it would be blocked until Trim's Neil Heffernan got a slight touch to divert the ball to net. It was the break Meath needed and helped them go in at the interval 2-8 to 1-7 in front - where they stayed. One of the cornerstones of Meath's success was the performances of Keoghan and Mark O'Sullivan at midfield. They both mopped up a lot of ball. O'Sullivan made a series of surging runs that caused Roscommon endless problems and he capped a fine display with two points. Keoghan's general contribution and accuracy from frees and 65s was another important factor. The Meath half-forward line of Healy, Eoin Marsh and Alan Douglas were busy and alert and all three players split the posts with excellent efforts. Defensively, Daniel Carty and William Mahady did a lot of good work on the wings. At full-back Michael Dunne had his hands full dealing with the elusive Coyne early on. The Dunboyne player stuck manfully to his task and eventually subdued his opponent. The half-back line of Alan Watters, Kieran Joyce and David Kennedy also had to deal with tricky opponents although they had the defensive door firmly bolted in the latter stages. Up until then Roscommon were a threat and they broke through a few times only to find that man McGann in form. McGann had made an excellent double save from David Dolan and Adrian Purcell early in the game. He executed a few more stops until late in proceedings when he produced his party piece. Coyne looked destined to grab his second goal when he broke through. He was about 15 metres out when he let fly yet McGann dived low to his left to somehow get a touch and turned it away. Shortly before that Coyne also had a shot rebound off the bar. By that stage Roscommon looked a beaten side yet the Meath 'keeper still did the business. The score that eventually killed this game off arrived on 53 minutes. Raleigh embarked on a pacy run, cut in from the left and passed to Noel Fagan who fired home at the far post. Keoghan, Marsh, Heffernan and Kevin Keena tagged on late points and the Royal County were on their way to an All-Ireland final against Kerry. Meath - Shane McGann (Kiltale); Daniel Carty (Blackhall Gaels), Michael Dunne (Dunboyne), William Mahady (Kiltale); Alan Watters (Dunboyne), Kieran Joyce (Trim), David Kennedy (Killyon); Keith Keoghan (Killyon 0-4 two frees, two '65s'), Mark O'Sullivan (Kiltale 0-2); Anthony Healy (Longwood 0-2), Eoin Marsh (Kilmessan 0-2), Alan Douglas (Trim 0-1); Barry Slevin (Na Fianna 1-1), Neil Heffernan (Trim 1-2), David Raleigh (Killyon 0-1). Subs - Noel Fagan (Rathmolyon 1-0) for Slevin 41mins; Ger Murphy (Dunboyne) for Watters 41m; Kevin Keena (Kilmessan 0-2 one free) for Healy. Roscommon - N Connaughton; B Donnelly, P Kelleghan, M Keaveney; E Mulroy, P Kelly, C Kelly; A Moore, J Donnelly; E Kenny (0-1), N Kilroy (0-4 two frees, one '65'), D Dolan (0-2 one free); A Purcell, J Coyne (1-1), A Leahy. Subs - J Lawlor (0-1) for Moore 22 mins; K Egan for Purcell half-time. Referee - Jim O'Rourke (Monaghan).