Louth players celebrate following the Dalata Hotel Group Leinster U20 Final. Photo by Seb Daly/Sportsfile
Dalata Hotel Group Leinster U20 Football Championship Final
Louth 2-19 (2-2-15) Meath 1-15 (1-3-9)
By Paul Keane at Cedral St Conleth's Park
What a year this is proving to be for Louth football.
With Sunday week's Leinster senior football final on the horizon, the Wee County's U-20s this evening signposted the route to provincial success by beating Meath at their grade in the Dalata Hotel Group sponsored final.
A third quarter scoring siege in Newbridge propelled Fergal Reel's side to a first provincial win at the grade since 1981.
Taking down Meath at St Conleth's Park amounted to revenge for Louth too after last year's defeat to their neighbours.
Louth were a cut above this time around with a brilliant team performance that the holders had no answer to. First-half goals from senior panellist Pearse Grimes Murphy and Adam Gillespie were important.
But it wasn't until Louth reeled off eight points without response in the third quarter that they set the seal on a landmark win.
Gillespie and Grimes Murphy finished with 1-3 each while Tony and Tadhg McDonnell slotted some super scores after the break. Darragh Dorian showed his quality throughout too.
Meath threw the kitchen sink at it late on but blasted 10 second-half wides as Louth forced them into error after error.
Louth will face Connacht champions Mayo in an All-Ireland semi-final in mid-May.
They will also hope that having ended one provincial hoodoo at Meath's expense, they can do the same on Sunday week when the seniors also take on the Royals. The county's minors will also be in action tomorrow evening at the provincial quarter-final stage.
The fact that both teams were even in this U-20 final marked significant progress.
The two counties lost all of their games at the minor grade three years ago, exiting at the earliest possible stage.
They've clearly made giant strides since and holders Meath returned to the final with three starters from last year's U-20 final win; AFL bound Eamonn Armstrong, full-forward Jamie Murphy and Rian Stafford.
The trio contributed 0-7 between in a terrific first-half that Louth edged by 2-8 to 1-8.
The Wee County retained seven starters in their team from last year's final; captain Sean Callaghan, Cormac McKeown, Tadhg McDonnell, Keelin Martin, Grimes Murphy and Dorian.
McDonnell, Callaghan and Grimes Murphy are all senior panellists and their quality shone through.
Grimes Murphy struck 1-3 of Louth's first-half tally, opening the scoring for his team with a two-pointer.
His goal just before half-time was a real boost and separated the sides at the break. Dorian set him free with a hand-pass over the top on the left of goals and Grimes Murphy rocketed a shot beyond goalkeeper Matthew Kealy.
Adam Gillespie struck Louth's earlier goal, capitalising on the surprising amount of time he was afforded with a blistering left footed finish.
Meath did lead for spells in a back and forth first-half with Tadhg Martyn netting in the final for the second-half in a row in the 10th minute.
It was still anyone's game but Louth took a giant step towards victory with that eight point burst between the 34th and 42nd minutes.
The first two points in the blitz came from sweeping moves up the pitch after Meath had butchered scoring chances at the other end.
It was clinical stuff from Louth who didn't waste a ball and Tadhg McDonnell rounded off the siege with a 42nd minute two-pointer, leaving them 2-16 to 1-9 clear.
Meath tried their best to reel in the 10-point deficit but not even a couple of raking two-pointers from towering midfielder Michael McIvor made much difference.
Tony and Tadhg McDonnell kept Louth ticking over with timely points as Meath, unsuccessfully, went for goals and two-pointers to reel in the deficit.
Scorers for Louth: Pearse Grimes Murphy 1-3 (1tp), Adam Gillespie 1-3 (0-1f), Tony McDonnell 0-4 (1f), Tadhg McDonnell 0-4 (1tp), Darragh Dorian 0-2, Shane Lennon 0-1, Tiarnan Markey 0-1 (0-1 45), James Maguire 0-1.
Scorers for Meath: Jamie Murphy 0-6 (1tp, 2f), Michael McIvor 0-4 (2 tp), Tadhg Martyn 1-0, Eamonn Armstrong 0-2, Rian Stafford 0-1, Zach Thornton 0-1, Finn White 0-1.
Louth: Tiarnan Markey; Padraic Tinnelly, Keelin Martin, Micheal Reid; Tadhg McDonnell, Cormac McKeown, Conor McGinty; Sean Callaghan, James Maguire; Shane Lennon, Conor MacCriosta, Pearse Grimes Murphy; Adam Gillespie, Tony McDonnell, Darragh Dorian.
Subs: Dylan Shevlin for MacCriosta 53.
Meath: Matthew Kealy; Sam Jordan, Rian Early, Ciaran O'Hare; Eamonn Armstrong, Fiach Hartigan, Finn White; John Harkin, Michael McIvor; Rian Stafford, Tadhg Marty, Zach Thornton; Liam Jennings, Jamie Murphy, Ben Corkery.
Subs: Michael O'Sullivan for Corkery 43, Cillian Yore for Hartigan 43, Pat Crawley for Corkery 49, Sean Betson for Thornton 49, Conor O'Brien for Betson 58.
Referee: Ian Howley (Dublin).
