by Coilin Duffy

Meath 1-21
Kildare 0-21

Meath survived a stern Kildare challenge to book their place in a first ever Christy Ring Cup Final, with a hard earned three-point win over Kildare at St. Conleth's Park.

Meath failed to trail this contest, but were made work hard by former champions Kildare, as the Royals advanced to a June 4th decider against Antrim.

A 20th minute Gavin McGowan goal ultimately provided the difference in the end, with Kildare playing with 14 men for the bulk of this game, after Paul Divilly was shown a straight red card in the 19th minute, following a foul on Meath defender Damian Healy.

This game got off to a frantic start with six scores inside the opening seven minutes, as Meath led by 0-4 to 0-2, with Gavin McGowan and James Toher equally sharing the Royals early tally.

Gerry Keegan and dual player Jonathan Byrne kept Kildare in touch, but Meath were that bit sharper.

Toher bagged seven points before the interval, six from frees, while Keegan was equal to this first half tally - although crucially Meath got a vital goal midway through the half.

Ratoath clubman McGowan leaving the Kildare defenders chasing, as he sent a close-range effort past Kildare keeper Paul Dermody at the town end.

Meath led throughout the opening half, but were lucky to hold a two-point advantage at half-time, after a solid second quarter by Kildare.

Despite dual player McGowan sneaking through for a 20th minute goal, helping the visitors to a 1-7 to 0-4 lead, Meath were held scoreless in an eleven-minute spell.

Keegan continued to punish the Royals with his dead-ball accuracy, firing four unanswered points to cut the gap to two.

Meath responded with three of the next five points, including two from Toher, but Philip Cocoman claimed the final score of the half, with the last strike of the first-half, to ensure a 1-10 to 0-11 score-line.

Despite Meath's numerical advantage, Kildare continued to push them hard in the second half.

McGowan and Mark Grace swapped fine individual points inside five minutes of the restart.

Both sides produced some stunning scores from play, with Sean Heavey and Toher excelling for Meath and Martin Fitzgerald and Leo Quinn with fine long range efforts for Kildare.

Although Kildare worked hard, Meath continued to maintain a two-point cushion, and moved back into a three-point lead when Toher fired his ninth point, and third from play in the 48th minute.

Meath extended their advantage to four points soon-after, before Kildare worked hard at the opposite end.

A Leo Quinn goal shot was blocked by Meath keeper Shane McCann, before Sean Heavey carried the ball out for a 65' which Keegan converted.

Steven Clynch became Meath's sixth scorer with an excellent score from play, and with points from Toher and Clynch pushing the Royals six points clear with 15 minutes remaining.

Heavy rain prevailed over the remainder of the contest, with thunder and lightning also, but Kildare showed well despite the testing conditions.

Scores from Jack Sheridan, Keegan and Mark Delaney cut the gap to the minimum by the 68th minute.

With four minutes of injury-time to follow there was still a strong chance for Kildare to book a final place, but Meath held firm.

Toher ended a 15-minute barren spell for the Royals with his twelfth point as Meath took a 1-20 to 0-21 lead.

Both sides had goal chances over the net minutes.

Stephen Morris denied by Kildare goalkeeper Dermody, before Martin Fitzgerald was denied by Shane McCann at the opposite end, after a well-worked move from the hosts.

Meath finished strong as Clynch slotted over his third point of the half from play, to ensure a three-point win and wild celebrations by the Royals at the full-time whistle.

Meath: S McGann; C Reilly, D Donoghue, S Whitty; S Brennan, D Healy, K Keoghan; S Heavey (0-1), S Morris (0-1); J Toher (0-12, 9f), J Keena, A Gannon; G McGowan (1-3), N Heffernan (0-1), S Clynch (0-3). Subs: R Sherlock for Whitty (14); S Geraghty for Keena (HT); K Keena for Heffernan (52); S Quigley for Reilly (65). 

Kildare: P Dermody; R Bergin, J Doran, C Gordon; S Gainey, M Moloney, M Grace (0-1); M Fitzgerald (0-2), N Ó Muineacháin; P Cocoman (0-1), P Divilly, L Quinn (0-1); M Delaney (0-2), G Keegan (0-12, 9f, 1 65), J Byrne (0-1). Subs: J Sheridan (0-1) for Cocoman (HT); P Ryan for Gainey (47); B Byrne for Quinn (56).

Ref: John Keane (Galway)

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