Murphy steals the show as Meath dispatch the Dubs

The Meath u-20's began their defence of their Leinster title with a fantastic victory over the Dubs

Tom Gannon

Meath 1-5-12 (25)

Dublin 1-1-16 (21)

Cathal O Bric's Meath got their Leinster u-20 FC campaign off to a flying start with a fantastic win over Dublin on Wednesday evening at Ashbourne.

Jamie Murphy stole the show from a scoring perspective and racked up 1-10 for himself. Murphy's fellow forwards made great contributions to the cause as well and in particular, Rian Stafford and Ben Corkery caused the Dublin defence a lot of headaches.

Sam Jordan and Finn White made some fantastic interceptions in what was a solid defensive display from the Royals. Cillian Yore and Zach Thornton were both influential when they were introduced and were very important in what was a crucial last 15 minutes.

Meath never let Dublin seize momentum for too long and on the night their ability to kick points from distance got them over the line. Murphy kicked three two-pointers while Michael McIvor and John Harkin both got one apiece.

The game started lighting fast and between the two sides, there were eight scoring chances in the opening five minutes. Dublin then started to open Meath up a bit and they raced into a 0-5 to 0-2 lead after 10 minutes. Two two-pointers in the space of a minute courtesy of Murphy and McIvor, leapfrogged Meath into the lead.

A Pierce Donohue point drew the Dubs level before Murphy kicked a two-point free to put Meath up by two. A late addition to the Dublin starting 15, James Brady, then set up Joe Quigley who expertly finished to the back of the Meath net as the boys in blue regained the lead.

Goal scorer, Quigley then traded points with Cian Commons before Harkin secured Meath's fourth two-pointer in the first-half to send the Royals in at the break with a slender 0-11 to 1-7 advantage.

The Dubs clearly received a strong message at half-time because within three minutes they had kicked four points courtesy of a two-pointer by half-time sub Clyde Burke and one a piece from Rian Doherty and Ryan Mitchell. A Murphy free during this brief onslaught kept Meath within two of the lead.

Stafford and Mitchell traded scores before Meath regained momentum and fired over the next three points, the third of which was a fantastic score from Murphy while he was under severe pressure from numerous Dublin defenders.

That score gave Meath a one-point advantage heading into the final quarter. Dublin looked like they had regained momentum and they scored three points without reply to push the pressure on Meath with ten minutes left.

The turning point came for Meath in the 53rd minute when Rian Stafford was dragged to the ground by Darragh Murphy outside the box, denying the Royals a goalscoring chance, and the referee awarded Meath a penalty and gave the Dublin full-back a black card.

Murphy obliged and sent a bullet of a shot right into the top-corner to undo Dublin's hard work over the previous five minutes and it regained the lead for Meath.

While Darragh Murphy endured his spell on the sidelines, Meath took full advantage of the extra man and outscored Dublin by four points to two. Murphy, Stafford, Corkery and Zach Thornton all contributed with scores during this period.

The game headed into injury time and for the second occasion, Meath were penalised for not keeping three up. Shane Mullarkey tapped over a short-range free to reduce the gap back to two.

Meath were then awarded a long-range free, cometh the hour cometh the man, Murphy stepped up and kicked an absolute peach of a free off the ground from a distance and he was rewarded for the third time with two points.

Dublin had to go in search of goals but the Royals held strong. A long high ball sent into the danger zone was dealt with well, Jordan burst out with the ball and the referee blew the final whistle, much to the delight of the fantastic Meath support in attendance.

Meath will take on Westmeath in the second round next Wednesday evening in Kinnegad, 7.30pm

Meath - Matthew Kealy; Sam Jordan, Rian Early, Ciaran O'Hare; Tadgh Martyn, John Gormley, Finn White; Eamonn Armstrong (0-1), Michael McIvor (0-2 one two-point); Rian Stafford (0-2 frees), John Harkin (0-3 one two-point), Cian Commons (0-1); Ben Corkery (0-2), Jamie Murphy (1-10 two frees, two two-point frees, 1-0 penalty, one two-point), Liam Jennings. Subs - Cillian Yore for White 40m, Zach Thornton (0-1) for Commons 48m, Harry Cahill for Jennings 52m, James Reeves for Early 62m.

Dublin - Aaron Lee; Emmett Brady, Darragh Murphy, Sean Keogh; Ryan Mitchell (0-1), Senan Ryan, Jamie Smith; Charlie McMorrow, Stephen Hickey; Paddy Kelly (0-2), Joe Quigley (1-7 five frees), James Brady; Luke O'Boyle (0-2), Rian Doherty (0-1 free), Pierce Donohue (0-1). Subs - Clyde Burke (0-2 two-point) for Keogh half-time, Shane Mullarkey (0-1 free) for Doherty 42m, James McCormack for Hickey 46m, Dylan Kettle for Burke 48m.

Referee - Darragh Byrne (Wicklow).