Leinster SFC Semi-Final: Meath And Kildare Square Off At GAA HQ
By Daire Walsh
The first of two Leinster Senior Football Championship final spots is up for grabs at Croke Park on Sunday afternoon when Meath and Kildare face off behind closed doors at GAA HQ (throw-in 1pm).
The curtain-raiser to the meeting of All-Ireland champions Dublin and Laois in the same venue, the two sides come into this game on the back of very different quarter-final encounters last weekend. Whereas Meath came away from Aughrim with an emphatic 7-14 to 0-7 victory over Wicklow, Kildare had to dig deep before earning a 0-20 to 0-16 triumph at the expense of Offaly in O’Moore Park, Portlaoise.
Despite finishing Division One of the National Football League without a win to their name, pitting themselves against the top side in the country – either side of the first national lockdown – was just what Andy McEntee’s Royals needed. While Wicklow earned promotion from Division Four, last Sunday’s fixture represented a major step up in quality.
Having recorded a 7-11 to 0-7 success against Antrim in their return to competitive action on October 17, the Garden County found themselves on the receiving end of a heavy defeat. Meath had ended their top-flight league campaign with a morale-boosting draw against Monaghan and they were ruthlessly efficient on their 2020 championship bow.
An Under-20 footballer this year, Jordan Morris had a debut to remember as he registered an outstanding haul of 3-4. A total of 10 Meath players got their name on the scoresheet, including Cillian O’Sullivan – brother of Leinster rugby scrum-half Hugh O’Sullivan.
It has been a total of 10 years since the Royals got their hands on the Delaney Cup – and that was in controversial style. Trailing Louth by a single point with time almost up, Meath attacker Joe Sheridan was awarded a goal despite replays clearly showing there was a number of reasons for it not be awarded.
The final result stood and Eamon O’Brien’s side moved forward to an All-Ireland quarter-final, where they lost to Kildare.
The following year saw Dublin regaining the Leinster title on their way to acquiring the Sam Maguire Cup for the first time since 1995 and the Metropolitans have comprehensively dominated the province in the past decade.
Green shoots are beginning to appear for both Meath and Kildare, however, and this makes Sunday’s clash in the capital all the more intriguing. The youthful exuberance of Royal attackers Morris, O’Sullivan and Shane Walsh is supplemented by the experience of 2019 All Star nominee Donal Keogan and midfielder Bryan Menton.
Menton, Matthew Costello, Joey Wallace and Cathal Hickey all rattled the net against Wicklow and their confidence will have soared as a consequence. Last year saw Meath reaching the Super 8s after four consecutive seasons of qualifier defeats.
They were on the wrong side of the result in all three of their round robin games, but had pushed opponents Donegal, Mayo and Kerry for 55 to 60 minutes of each tie. If their fitness and stamina levels can be increased, McEntee’s charges could well be a force to reckon with over the next few years.
Following the resignation of Jim Gavin at the end of the 2019 – and the recent exit of Mickey Harte’s Tyrone – Kildare supremo Jack O’Connor is comfortably the most successful manager left in this year’s football championship.
Over the course of two stints with Kerry, he led the Kingdom to three All-Ireland senior titles, four Munster senior championships and three National Football Leagues. Additionally, he also won a national Under-21 crown in 1998 as well as back-to-back All-Ireland minor championships in 2014 and 2015.
He is the second Kerry man to be in charge of the Lilywhites, following in the footsteps of the great Mick O’Dwyer. The Waterville native first assumed the reins of Kildare in the winter of 1990 and remained in the role until the summer of 1994.
While success evaded him in this spell, he latter returned ahead of the 1997 championship and proceeded to win two Leinster crowns with his adopted county. It was a more open province back then, with Dublin in a period of transition and Offaly also getting their hands on the Delaney Cup.
Nevertheless, a positive end to their Division Two campaign put O’Connor’s men in good spirits for last weekend’s Leinster opener against Offaly and his players responded to the challenge.
A three-time All-Ireland finalist as manager of his native Mayo, John Maughan had the Faithful County well primed for their last-eight showdown with Kildare. Indeed, it took the introduction of Maynooth’s Neil Flynn to finally see off the Offaly charge.
Flynn lined out a day after burying his later father Fergal and kicked three points in the final-quarter to seal a 0-20 to 0-16 victory. Kildare had led by a single score (0-10 to 0-9) at half-time and Offaly continued to persevere on the resumption.
Yet O’Connor will take considerable solace from the way the Lillies continued to battle and eventually got the job done when the game could easily have slipped away from them. There is a good deal of know-how in the Kildare ranks, with many of them having featured in the county’s superb qualifier win over Mayo just over two years ago.
A former professional footballer – and older brother of St Patrick’s Athletic star Rory – Kevin Feely is one of the finest high-fielders in the game. He will hope to build a midfield platform with Aaron Masterson and be a constant outlet for Mark Donnellan’s kick-outs.
Further up the field the last day, Kildare were well-served by Darragh Kirwan who finished with six points – five of them from open play. All of their attacking sextet worked their way onto the scoresheet and Paul Cribbin joined Flynn in scoring as a second half substitute.
While Meath’s league status in 2020 – and their superior championship showings in 2019 – makes them favourites for this game, Kildare will fancy their prospects if it remains in the melting pot heading towards the closing stages of the contest.