Meath SHC Final: Kilmessan finish strongly to regain Jubilee Cup

Meath senior hurling championship final

Kilmessan 0-22 Kiltale 0-15

By Paul Keane at St Loman's Park, Trim

With eight minutes to go in Trim, Kilmessan's Lorcan Byrne rode a heavy challenge and somehow pirhouetted himself into a position to get a point attempt away. He took another hit just after making contact with the sliotar but jumped back up as the ball dissected the posts and punched the air in celebration a couple of times. Kilmessan were all but home and hosed.

That was Kilmessan's seventh point in a row and Seán Doyle, the official Man of the Match, added an eighth shortly after as the men in blue enjoyed a blitzkrieg of scoring that ultimately decided the contest.

Trailing by a point with 20 minutes to go, that onslaught of scoring left Kilmessan seven clear and knowing that a first title since 2013, and their 30th overall, extending their lead on the roll of honour, was theirs.

It was a powerful period of play from a side desperate to regain the Jubilee Cup having watched Ratoath, Kildalkey, Trim and Kiltale share the honours between them over the last decade or so.

In what was a novel campaign, with a new SHC structure and a final played in Trim for the first time since 2006 due to redevelopment work at Páirc Tailteann, Charlie 'Chucky' Keena's side seized the opportunity to take the silverware.

And the win will surely feel all the sweeter given that opponents Kiltale are near neighbours and located just a couple of miles down the road.

Kiltale were narrow favourites too having contested a senior final replay in 2025 and appeared to be in a decent position with that narrow lead approaching the final third of the game.

But a more youthful and hungrier Kilmessan took over from there with 10 of the game's last 12 scores.

Captain Mark Horan and Darragh Horan were also among the scorers during that eight-in-a-row blitz between the 41st and 53rd minutes as Kilmessan turned the screw impressively.

Coached by Paul Reilly, Kilmessan had powerful performers throughout the field and an excellent defensive performance was led by Lorcan O'Connor who scored an important point himself during a quieter first half for the men in blue.

Kiltale brought on experienced Meath footballers Cillian O'Sullivan and Ronan Ryan but Kilmessan got a greater kick from their bench overall with Joey Keena's half-time introduction significant.

Kiltale were 0-9 to 0-8 up at the break though had played with the breeze.

In truth, it was a tense and lacklustre opening 30 minutes with Kiltale registering eight wides while Kilmessan drilled five wides in that period and dropped another three score attempts short.

Jack Regan and Ross Ryan fired five points between them for Kiltale to give them a slight edge at the interval but it was anyone's game at that stage.

Kiltale twice took two-point leads in the third quarter but never got the goal they needed to put real daylight between the teams.

Ross Ryan drew an excellent save from Kilmessan goalkeeper Seán Power in the 12th minute and Ryan again saw a swiped effort from a Cillian O'Sullivan centre go just wide in the 46th minute.

Later on, as Kiltale chased the game, Regan tried for a green flag score from a free but it was comfortably dealt with by Power.

Kilmessan were on top at that stage and there were late points from Mark Horan and the brilliant Byrne to maintain the gap on the scoreboard.

Aside from the local bragging rights, Kilmessan have also secured an AIB Leinster club IHC quarter-final tie against Castletown of Laois on November 7 back in Trim.

Kilmessan scorers: Seán Doyle 0-10 (0-7f), Lorcan Byrne 0-6, Mark Horan 0-2, Darragh Horan 0-2, Lorcan O'Connor 0-1, Finn Conroy 0-1.

Kiltale scorers: Jack Regan 0-6 (0-5f, 0-1 65), Peter Durnin 0-2, Ross Ryan 0-2, Mark O'Sullivan 0-2, Craig Gilsenan 0-1, James Kelly 0-1, Conor Ryan 0-1.

Kilmessan: Seán Power; Lorcan O'Connor, Shane Brennan, Alex Smyth; Kris Gorman, Kyle Donnelly, Will Byrne; Cian Maguire, Finn Conroy; Mark Horan, Lorcan Byrne, Darragh Horan; Kevin Keena, Jack Cottrell, Seán Doyle.

Subs: Joey Keena for Will Byrne h/t, Noah Conroy for Finn Conroy h/t, Chris Green for O'Connor 55, Peter Farrell for Kevin Keena 55, Paddy Lally for Cottrell 60.

Kiltale: Shane McGann; Jack Bannon, Iarla Hughes, Seán Harrigan; Brian O'Reilly, Philip Garvey, Fearghal McCabe; James Kelly, Conor Ryan; Adam Murphy, Jack Regan, Mark O'Sullivan; Peter Durnin, Ross Ryan, Craig Gilsenan.

Subs: Cillian O'Sullivan for Conor Ryan 43, Ronan Ryan for McCabe 43, Anthony Forde for Kelly 48-52, Forde for Durnin 52, Luke Madden for Mark O'Sullivan 58.

Referee: Kevin Brady (Louth).