Meath fade in Fitzsimons final

Meath manager Mick O'Dowd saw his side relinquish their grip on the Fitzsimons Cup when they were beaten in the decider today in Kells as Offaly won by 0-16 to 0-13. The Royal County won the trophy 12 months ago and Meath went into the final on the back of last week's win over Cavan in the Gaeil Colmcille-promoted SFT that was played at Grangegodden. Offaly also went into the decider on the back of a good win over Louth last weekend and despite trailing in the closing stages today pulled away for a merited victory. The sides were level at 0-11 each at the interval and Meath were ahead by 0-13 to 0-11 with 15 minutes remaining. However, the Royal County failed to score again and Offaly reeled off five unanswered points to take the silverware. Meath's next game will be on Sunday 6th January in the O'Byrne Cup against Longford. Meath - P O'Rourke; C Young, D Keogan, S Curran; C Rowe (0-1), D Hagan, D Dalton; C Gillespie, T Walsh (0-1); D McNamara (0-1), D Carroll (0-1), S Crosby (0-1); S Tobin (0-2, one free), M Newman (0-5, three frees), A Tormey (0-1). Subs: D Larkin for Tobin 23 mins, D Morgan for Walsh (57m), E Harrington for Tormey (66).