Bord Gáis Energy All-Ireland U21 'B' Hurling Final

MEATH 1-20 MAYO 0-15

By Jackie Cahill at Semple Stadium

MEATH have been crowned Bord Gáis Energy All-Ireland B hurling champions in Thurles this afternoon.

The Royals hit eight unanswered points down the home straight to claim the Richie McGelligott Cup at Semple Stadium.

In the process, Philip O’Brien’s Royals made up for last year’s heart-breaking final defeat to Wicklow.

It was a fully-merited victory for Meath but they were made to work for it by a spirited Mayo outfit.

Mayo came from four points down in the first half to draw level shortly after half-time but crucially, they could never get ahead.

Nine minutes from time, the sides were deadlocked again but Meath finished with a flourish.

There were some stellar performances in Meath’s attack as Gavin McGowan finished with the man of the match award after contributing six points from play.

Stefan Kelly scored 1-3 from play and captain Jack Regan nailed five pointed frees in the second half.

Mayo Free-taker Fergal Boland scored eight of his nine points from placed balls but twice in the final ten minutes, he missed efforts to bring the game level.

At half-time, Meath were 1-7 to 0-9 ahead but it was Mayo who finished the half stronger, having trailed by four points on three occasions.

Kelly gave the winners a perfect start with a goal in the second minute, set up by Ross Ryan after the Royals worked hard to turn over Mayo deep inside their own half.

Meath went close to a second goal three minutes before the break when Kelly struck the post but Mayo were in touch and drew level after the break when Boland converted a free.

Meath went on to lead until the 51st minute and they came again with a scoring purple patch to secure another big hurling crown from the county following the Christy Ring Cup success.

Scorers for Meath: S Kelly 1-3, G McGowan 0-6, J Regan 0-5f, R Moore 0-2, D Reilly, S McGrath, E Ó Donnacha & L Martyn 0-1 each.

Scorers for Mayo: F Boland 0-9 (8f), J Gallagher, S Scahill, Z O’Toole, S Forde, J Coyne & D Gallagher 0-1 each.

MEATH: C Bird; C Dempsey, I Hughes, L Ferguson; S Coloe, Ronan Ryan, D Reilly; L Martyn, S McGrath; J Regan, S Quigley, E Ó Donnacha; S Kelly, Ross Ryan, G McGowan. **Subs: **K Ryan for Ó Donnacha (35), R Moore for Ross Ryan (51), F McCabe for Martyn (60+3).

MAYO: M Parsons; C Murphy, M Phillips, J Lyons; D Harrison, D Kenny, C Murray; S Mulroy, J Gallagher; F Boland, C Scahill, Z O’Toole; S Forde, J Judge, J Coyne. **Subs: **S Nugent for Lyons (28), D Gallagher for Judge (30), M Lyons for Forde (50), C Collins for Coyne (60+2).

Ref – J Keane (Galway).