Kildare 2-15
Meath 0-13

Neil Flynn shot 1-6 as Kildare advanced to the Leinster U21 final at the expense of Meath in Portlaoise tonight.

The sides were evenly matched early on but the Lilywhites hit a purple patch during the second quarter and built up a 0-9 to 0-5 cushion by the halfway stage.

Goalkeeper Colin Heeney pulled off a fine save to deny Ruairi O Coileain almost straight from the second half throw-in and Royal County woes were compounded when Flynn finished to the back of their net two minutes later.

Centre-forward O Coileain kept the team in green and gold in touch when kicking four points to leave his side just three in arrears but Cein McMonagle applied the gloss to Kildare's victory with an injury-time goal.

Senior star Niall Kelly chipped in with three points for the winners while O Coileain and Eamon Wallace finished with 0-8 (6 frees) and 0-3 respectively for the Sean Barry managed Royals.

Kildare's reward is a final date with holders Dublin which is fixed for Thursday, April 2nd.

Kildare - C Heeney; P Mescal, D Maguire, B Byrne; R Houilhan, D Duke, D Hyland; R Moore, P Connell; C Fenner (0-2), M Sherry, D Fitzpatrick (0-1); N Flynn (1-6, 0-4f), N Kelly (0-4), C Healy (0-2). Subs: D Flaherty for C Fenner, C McMonagle (1-0) for C Healy, T O'Connell for R Houlihan (BC).

Meath - J Hannigan; M Flood, G McGowan, L Ferguson; S Dowling, B Power, S McEntee; A Flanagan; H Rooney; P Harnan (0-1), R O Coileain (0-8, 6f), C Rooney; J Wallace, P Kennelly (0-1), E Wallace (0-3). Subs: B Duggan for H Rooney, J McEntee for C Rooney, O Reilly for M Flood, B Dardis for P Kennelly, F Ward for S McEntee.

Referee - F Smyth.

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