"I'm very proud of the battling qualities that our players showed"

Cathal O'Bric reflected on a fantastic win for his side under tough conditions

Cathal O'Bric's Meath came through very tough conditions on Tuesday night and got the better of Kildare in Ashbourne in the Leinster u-20 semi-final. Speaking to the press after the contest, O'Bric was very pleased with his side's resilience and tenacity, especially in the first-half. The Royals led at the break by five points and that cushion proved vital.

"We had a five-point lead at the break. We took the breeze in the first-half in the hope that we would gain an advantage from it. Then somehow in the second-half it seemed to change directions. I'm very proud of the battling qualities that our players showed. Kildare were going to come at us like a train in the second-half. They have forwards that can score two-pointers and we were very conscious of that. I was impressed by the way our lads shut them down as the second-half progressed."

Meath has played three of their four clashes so far at Ashbourne and O'Bric reckons that that familiarity with the setting gave his side a slight advantage over the Liliwhites.

"We are delighted that we have had the games here in Ashbourne because I think it has been worth a couple of points to us. Kildare were probably at a slight disadvantage tonight having not played here. We still had to put the ball over the bar though and credit to our lads tonight for putting up 19 points in horrendous conditions."

The conditions on Tuesday night were indeed horrendous as rain poured heavily throughout the contest. O'Bric speculated that the conditions may have favoured the Royals.

"The conditions were just awful. It was supposed to ease off at 8 pm but it got worse in the second-half. It was just torrential conditions. It's important in those sorts of conditions just to do the simple things well and try and prevent the opposition from turning over the ball. Up to this point Kildare were playing some lovely football on the front foot, but as a result of the conditions, they probably weren't able to play that free-flowing game. So the conditions probably suited us slightly better."

Meath was coming into this clash as underdogs after Kildare had made light work of their group. O'Bric explained that he felt the underdog tag was slightly disrespectful to his side but did say he was under no illusion about the talent that Kildare had in their squad.

"I'm not a betting man but someone told me that Kildare were 5/6 to win the Leinster which is probably a little bit disrespectful to ourselves as champions but at the same time we knew that Kildare were coming down here tonight with some serious quality. They were excellent in the first three games and we were under no illusions coming here tonight about the talent that they possess."