Louth & Meath Book U20 Final Showdown
Meath 2-9 Kildare 0-10
Louth 1-13 Dublin 1-9
By Paul Keane
Meath and Louth will contest the EirGrid Leinster U-20 final at Parnell Park next Monday evening, the north-eastern neighbours both advancing after a dramatic evening of semi-final action.
Meath’s bid to follow up their All-Ireland minor win of three years ago with U-20 glory remains intact after shrugging off holders Kildare at Hawkfield.
Goals from Eamonn Armstrong and Sean O’Hare in the moments before and after half-time proved the difference in their 2-9 to 0-10 win.
Meath lost to Dublin in their group earlier this month and may have even anticipated a rematch in the decider but Louth impressively beat the Sky Blues by 1-13 to 1-9 at Parnell Park this evening.
Kieran McArdle maintained his strong form for this talented Wee County group with six points while Sean Reynolds’ 13th minute goal and three points from Tadhg McDonnell were vital too.
Louth are now just an hour from picking up a first Leinster U-20 title since 1981 having last contested a final in 2012.
McArdle fired 1-7 in last week’s quarter-final defeat of Wicklow having previously registered 3-10 across their three-game group campaign.
The Reynolds goal helped Louth to lead by 1-6 to 0-7 at half-time and Louth turned the screw with five points in a row between the 41st and 50th minutes from McArdle, Tadhg McDonnell and Dara McDonnell.
Dublin had briefly levelled at 1-7 apiece following Luke O’Boyle’s 40th minute goal but they were overwhelmed by that Louth scoring siege and McArdle wrapped up the scoring with a stoppage time point.
Meanwhile, Jamie Murphy was Meath’s top scorer with four points though it was the two-goal blast that proved the difference in their five-point defeat of Kildare.
Armstrong struck Meath’s first goal just seconds before half-time to leave Meath 1-5 to 0-6 ahead.
O’Hare added another within two minutes of the restart and they kept Kildare at bay with final quarter points from Hughie Corcoran, Murphy, Conor Duke and Castletown’s Killian Smyth.
Ryan Sinkey and Killian Browne were Kildare’s leading scorers with a brace of points each on a disappointing evening for the Lilywhites.
