Meath SHC Final: Glory for Ratoath who secure back-to-back titles

Meath senior hurling championship final replay

RATOATH 2-22 KILTALE 4-10

By Paul Keane at Pairc Tailteann, Navan

The Jubilee Cup will remain in Brownstown for another 12 months after Ratoath hit the afterburners in the second-half in Navan to belatedly burn off Kiltale.

A week after exchanging seven goals in a thrilling Meath SHC final draw, the two clubs returned to Pairc Tailteann and shared six goals in this replay.

Kiltale may have edged the goal count but three of theirs arrived in the closing minutes as they chased a game that, in truth, was probably already beyond them.

Ratoath caught fire in the periods either side of half-time, moving from a level game with 21 minutes on the clock to a 13-point lead after Cian Rogers' 52nd minute goal.

Rogers finished with 1-2, the same as Bryan McMahon, while free-taker Podge O'Hanrahan, who struck the late equaliser a week ago, fired eight important points this time.

There were cameos too from Ben McGowan at full-back, Darragh Kelly at centre-back and Gavin McGowan in attack as the Brownstown club secured just their third ever title.

They got a giant boost in the 43rd minute when, with seven points between the teams, Kiltale lost defender Philip Garvey to a couple of yellow cards that he picked up in quick succession.

Ratoath were already in a strong position but piled on the pressure after that to open up a 2-18 to 1-8 lead in the final quarter.

Kiltale, chasing a 10th title and their first since 2018, refused to give in and got the margin down to just four points late on following goals from Jack Regan, two, and Adam Murphy.

But stoppage time scores from O'Hanrahan and Rogers eased Ratoath to a particularly sweet win having lost the county football final to a Summerhill side containing a number of Kiltale hurlers.

Kiltale backs Iarla Hughes and Jack Bannon, along with Ross Ryan up front, all started for Summerhill in their county SFC final win over Ratoath.

As for Ratoath, six dual players - Ben McGowan, Conor McGill, Daithi McGowan, McMahon, Rogers and Gavin McGowan - lined out in the two finals.

Ratoath had the wind initially but took their time to capitalise on it, blasting seven wides in the first-half.

The majority of those came in the opening 20 minutes and the sides were tied at 0-5 apiece at that stage.

Managed by Andrew Dermody, Ratoath then took off with an unanswered 1-7 to lead 1-12 to 0-5 at half-time.

Gavin McGowan fed Mahon for their first goal in the 26th minute but Darragh Kelly's 29th minute point after a terrific passing move that started with a sumptuous chip flick up by O'Hanrahan was the score of the half.

Things got a little bit better for Kiltale after the restart in the form of scores from ex-Leinster rugby player Hugh O'Sullivan and Adam Murphy before getting a whole lot worse.

Garvey was dismissed for two heavy tackles, in the 42nd and 43rd minutes, and Ratoath took full advantage, hitting five of the game's next six points.

Rogers' goal in the 52nd minute as good as sealed it, the full-forward gathering up the breaking ball after a long delivery to put Ratoath 2-18 to 1-8 up.

Remarkably, Kiltale whittled that deficit down to just four points late on with their three goals.

Regan's two goals arrived in the 53rd and 62nd minutes with Murphy netting a beauty in between.

James Kelly pulled first time on a throw-in by the referee in the 65th minute and struck the post for Kiltale too as Ratoath lived dangerously late on.

Ratoath scorers: Podge O'Hanrahan 0-8 (5f), Bryan McMahon 1-2, Cian Rogers 1-2, Daithi McGowan 0-3, Gavin McGowan 0-2, Darragh Kelly 0-2, Niall McLarnon 0-2, Jack McGowan 0-1.

Kiltale scorers: Jack Regan 2-3 (0-2f), Adam Murphy 1-2, Hugh O'Sullivan 1-1, Jack Bannon 0-1, Philip Garvey 0-1, Peter Durnin 0-1, Anthony Forde 0-1.

Ratoath: Colm O'Riordan; Liam Corbett, Ben McGowan, Conor McGill; Cian Kelly, Darragh Kelly, Domhnall Rogers; Ciaran O'Hanrahan, Jack McGowan; Niall McLarnon, Daithi McGowan, Podge O'Hanrahan; Gavin McGowan, Cian Rogers, Bryan McMahon.

Subs: Tomas Corbett for Jack McGowan 34, Rob Hayes for Rogers 43-46 blood, Hayes for Cian Kelly 60, Tim Fitzpatrick for Ben McGowan 65.

Kiltale: Shane McGann; Jack Bannon, Iarla Hughes, Padraig Kelly; Brian O'Reilly, Philip Garvey, Conor McNally; Conor Ryan, Fearghal McCabe; James Kelly, Hugh O'Sullivan, Adam Murphy; Peter Durnin, Ross Ryan, Jack Regan.

Subs: Anthony Forde for McNally h/t, Craig Gilsenan for Padraig Kelly h/t, Mark O'Sullivan for Conor Ryan 42, Cathal McCabe for Durnin 49, Dara McVann for McCabe 55.

Referee: Stephen Masterson (Kildalkey).