Meath lose to Dublin in Leinster u21
Meath exited the Leinster u-21 FC tonight at Parnell Park when they lost by 0-9 to 1-12 against Dublin at Parnell Park.
With the benefit of the first-half elements Meath registered a couple of early points with Ruairi O Coileain and Daire Rowe on target, but it wasn't sufficient to curtail a hard-working Dublin side that forged into a 0-4 to 0-2 lead by the end of the first-quarter.
Con O'Calllaghan (two), Donaghmore / Ashbourne's Michael Deegan and Aaron Byrne pointed for Dublin as the hosts created plenty of chances and moved well on and off-the ball.
The teams traded points through O'Callaghan and O'Coileain as Dublin maintained their dominance while Meath tallied some poor wides and finished the half with a total of seven.
Dublin wing-back Darragh Spillane got forward to score the best point of the half, but the Meath found a little bit of fluency and got back on level terms with substitute Caolach Halligan, Rowe (free) and James McEntee splitting the posts.
Halligan replaced Joey Wallace who limped out of the action in the 13th minute.
On the stroke of half-time Dublin found the net when O'Callaghan ghosted past defenders and a challenge from Meath custodian Johnny Lynch for a 1-6 to 0-6 interval advantage.
Meath lost Gavin McGowan early in the second-half with Syddan's Kevin Traynor deputising.
Rowe pointed a 37th minute free in a fiercely competitive third-quarter, but a couple of chances were also missed.
However, Meath also defended with great determination as they tried to get back into the game.
Brian Howard opened Dublin's second-half account, but then the hosts lost full-back Martin Cahilan to a second yellow card and Rowe converted another free which reduced the deficit to two points (0-8 to 1-7) with 11 minutes remaining.
Dublin upped the tempo to compensate for the numerical disadvantage and reeled off points from O'Callaghan (two) and Byrne before Rowe converted another free.
However, O'Callaghan added two more points for Dublin as each side lost another player with Killian Deeley (Dublin) and Ronan Jones (Meath) each collecting second yellow cards.
Meath - Johnny Lynch Moynalty; Michael Flood St Brigid's, Daniel O'Neill Wolfe Tones, Jamie Reilly St Michael's; Gavin McGowan Ratoath, Thomas McGovern Donaghmore/Ashbourne, Niall Kane Simonstown Gaels; Donie Ryan Skyrne, Ronan Jones Dunboyne; Shaun Byrne Donaghmore / Ashbourne, Joey Wallace Ratoath, James McEntee Curraha; Kevin Ryan Summerhill, Ruairi O Coileann Navan O'Mahonys, Daire Rowe Syddan.
Subs – Caolach Halligan (Rathkenny) for Wallace 13 mins, Kevin Traynor (Syddan) for McGown 39m, Ben Duggan (Dunshaughlin) for Byrne 48m, Jack McCarney (Donaghmore/Ashbourne) for O'Neill 56m, Sean Meade (Nobber) forKane 58m.