Meath beat Dublin again and clinch the Leinster title  

Story by Conall Collier (Meath Chronicle) Saturday, 22nd July 2017  

Meath clinched the inaugural Leinster U-17 Special F.C. title with a thoroughly deserved 3-12 to 1-13 victory against Dublin today at the Gaelic Grounds, Drogheda.  

Meath defeated Dublin in the first round of the competition at the end of June, but the back-door system paved the way for the Metropolitan boys to get back into the competition. Both teams played semi-finals last Tuesday night with Meath beating Kildare and Dublin accounting for Laois. The reward for Meath now is an All-Ireland semi-final date against Tyrone next Saturday.  

The teams were level four times in the opening half today with Meath ahead by 1-4 to 0-6 at the break with the help of Mathew Costello’s 29th-minute goal. Meath blitzed Dublin in three second-half minutes with a goal from Jordan Morris inside 20 seconds and points from Michael Gavin and Shane Walsh. Dublin countered through a John Foley goal before points from Fionnan O’Sullivan, Sean Lowry and Darragh Warnock drew the sides level (2-6 to 1-9). Costello finished to the net again for Meath and it got better when points followed from Morris (two), Costello, Walsh and Barry O’Connell for a 3-11 to 1-10 advantage. Meath kept a tight grip on the game for the remainder although Cian McBride departed to a second yellow card near the end.  

Meath scorers: Mathew Costello (2-3), Jordan Morris (1-3), Shane Walsh (0-3), Barry O’Connell (0-1), Michael Gavin (0-1); Liam Byrne (0-1),  

“We won this Leinster title the hard way, beating Dublin in the first round and again today in the final,” stated Meath manager Ronan Kearns. 

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