There was a big upset in the Leinster MFC today as Meath scored an emphatic 1-18 to 2-5 quarter-final victory over Dublin at Pairc Tailteann.

The home side bossed the opening 30 minutes and their hard work was rewarded with a half-time lead of 0-12 to 1-2.

Barry Callaghan's charges had three points on the board before Dublin opened their account with a goal against the run of play from the boot of full-forward Kevin Callaghan.

The second-half followed a similar pattern with Jason Scully extending the Royals lead from a free while the visitors were reduced to 14 men shortly after when Cormac Howley picked up a second yellow card.

A late Scully goal was the icing on the cake for the team in green and gold.

There was a dramatic end in Drogheda, meanwhile, as a Johnny Kelly point deep into stoppage time secured a 2-10 to 1-12 victory for Laois over Louth. 

Goals in either half from Ciaran Carroll and Ciaran Comerford had placed the O'Moore County in the driving seat but, inspired by captain Sam Mulroy, the Wee County fought back to draw level with five minutes left on clock.

Mulroy netted his side's goal before levelling matters from a free but his efforts proved to be in vain as Kelly's late white flag sees Laois advance to a semi-final stages.

Earlier today, reigning champions Kildare registered an 11 point victory (1-16 to 0-8) victory over Westmeath at Newbridge.

The winners never looked back after Ciaran Kelly's converted first minute penalty and they held a commanding 1-7 to 0-2 interval lead.

Kelly was the star of the show for the Lilywhites as he finished with 1-5 to his name while goalkeeper Luke Mullins pulled off a penalty save in the second-half.

The Leaving Certificate now takes centre stage for many of these young footballers and the semi-finals are scheduled for Wednesday, July 6th.

Laois - R McGrath; S Bolger, D Bennett, J O'Connor (0-1); James Kelly, S Byrne, R Hitchcock; R Tyrrell, M Connolly; C Carroll (1-0), Johnny Kelly (0-2), F Crowley; A Kinsella (0-2, 1f), A Deering (0-3, 2f, 1'45), C Comerford (1-1). Subs: J Kavanagh (0-1) for C Carroll, D Whelan for A Kinsella, Conor Brennan for S Byrne, Caomhan Brennan for D Bennett, L McDonald for R Hitchcock (BC), S Byrne for F Crowley.

Louth - P McArdle; R Levins, C Kenny, I Connor; S McCooey, E Keenan, E McDaid; C Grogan (0-1), D Conlon; S Marry, C Callan, E Callaghan (0-1); C Whelan (0-2, 1f), S Mulroy (1-6, 0-3f), R Nally (0-2). Subs: J Culleton for C Kenny, M Carron for S Marry, B Matthews for C Callan.

Referee - F Smith.

**

Kildare - L Mullins; J O'Toole, N Brennan, D Shaw; T Archbold (0-1), T Connolly, S Doran; D Marnell, A Masterson; J Robinson (0-2), D Kelly (0-1), C Costigan; C Kelly (1-5, 0-3f, 0-1'45), B McLoughlin (0-2), J Hyland (0-5, 3f). Subs: J Burke for D Kelly, J Gibbons for T Archbold, N Murphy for C Costigan, K Foley for D Marnell.

Westmeath - DJ Fedronas; S Clinton, G Carr, B Treanor; J Maxwell (0-1), E Nally, P Maxwell; N Cully, A Loughlin Stones (0-1); F Ayorinde, C Mannion, D Hynes; T Molloy, C McCormack (0-1), D Reid (0-1). Subs: C Dillon for E Nally (BC), D Heavin for C McCormack, D Carroll (0-3, 2f) for D Hynes, M Scully (0-1) for E Nally, R Forde for C Mannion, C Gavin for J Maxwell.

Referee - C Dwyer.

Tweet

Most Read Stories