Meath retain minor crown in stunning style

A blistering start proved to be more than half the battle as Meath claimed the Leinster MFC crown for the second time in a little over a month as they coasted to an easy 3-8 to 1-3 victory over Dublin at O'Connor Park Tullamore today.

After claiming the Covid-delayed 2020 title at the end of June with a win over Offaly, Meath were once again the dominant force as they rattled Dublin early on and never looked like letting their crown slip.

Dublin finished the game with 14 players after their goalscorer Scott McConnell was sent-off following an off-the-ball incident moments after his 44th minute goal, but that dismissal had no bearing on the outcome as Dublin were already a beaten docket by that stage.

Meath started in blistering fashion and had 2-1 on the board inside eight minutes with Oisin O Murchu firing a fortunate opening goal in the eighth minute to make it 1-1 to 0-0 and then player-of-the-match Sean Emmanuel bagged the second a minute later to put seven points between the sides.

Dublin struggled to get out of their own half in the opening quarter as two more frees from Hughie Corcoran and an excellent point from O Murchu pushed Meath 2-4 to 0-0 ahead at the water break.

Dublin managed to get off the mark in the 18th minute with a Sean Gannon free, but Meath replied with their only score of the quarter from Shaun Leonard to lead by 2-5 to 0-1 at half-time.

Corcoran stretched that lead from a free after the resumption and after McConnell and Corcoran traded frees Dublin gave themselves a glimmer of hope with a goal from McConnell.

However, the corner-forward was soon red-carded and trailing 1-2 to 2-7 at the second water break there was no way back for Dublin.

O Murchu clipped over another point to stretch Meath's lead and when Corcoran hit Meath's third goal when he lobbed Charlie Coghlan after a poor kickout it put Meath out of sight.

Reuban Cahill points late on for Dublin, but it was mere cosmetic as Meath coasted to victory and onto an All-Ireland semi-final where they will meet the Connacht champions in three weeks.

Meath - Oisin McDermott; Conor Ennis, Liam Kelly, Sean O'Hare; Shaun Leonard (0-1), Tomas Corbett, Killian Smyth; Paul Wilson, Jack Kinlough; John O'Regan, Sean Emmanuel (1-0), Conor McWeeney; Christian Finlay, Oisin O Murchu (1-2), Hughie Corcoran (1-5 five frees). Subs - Brian O'Halloran for Ennis 33 mins, Andrew Moore for McWeeney 38m, Tadhg Martyn for O Murchu 53m, Danny Ehichoya for Finlay, John Mannion for Smyth both 58m.

Dublin - Charlie Coghlan; Finn Bruton, Dan Murphy, Jamie Smith; Matthew Gardiner, Greg McEneaney, David Colbert; Ciaran Duggan, Eoghan O'Connor-Flanagan; Ross Mullarkey, Mark McNally, Zach Delmar; Tadhg Gorman, Sean Gannon (0-1 free), Scott McConnell (1-1 one free). Subs - Ryan Fahey for Mullarkey, Reuban Cahill (0-1) for Smith both half-time, Karl Flynn for Gannon 40 mins, Louis McGauran for Gorman 48m, John Clair for Duggan 58m.

Referee - Fintan Pierce (Offaly).

Full match report, reaction and photos in our four-page special in tomorrow evening's Meath Chronicle.

Full match report, reaction and photos in our four-page special