Meath 1-16   Louth 2-4

Meath minors completed the round robin stage of the Leinster minor league with a third straight win against Louth in windy Darver on Saturday.

Playing with the aid of a strong wind (not quite of Storm Doris proportions), the young Royals went straight into attack from the throw in and Robert Smith from Oldcastle hit the bottom of the upright before Jordan Morris knocked over the first point of the match. However the hosts soon replied in the best possible manner when John Gallagher eventually scored a goal despite the efforts of 'keeper , Andrew Beakey. In  ateam that had only 3 starting players from last weeks win over Kildare , Meath struggled to get on top of their opponents and after 15 minutes had only drawn level with Louth despite the elements in their favour. However when they did settle , they registered 7 points , all from play , while keeping Louth to just a single pointed free. Morris (0-04) , Conall Aherne (0-03) and points from Summerhill pair, Dairmuid Mc Cabe and Conor Freyne as well as Eoin Harkin gave a half time score of Meath 0-10 , Louth 1-01.

The lads from the "Wee County" started the second half in whirlwind fashion with the first two points of the half to leave four points the difference after 40 minutes. But that was as good as it got for the hosts as they failed to register another score until injury time at the end of the match. They had their chances but Meath custodian Andrew Beakey pulled of a number of super saves to keep the Royals in front. The visitors took control of the match thanks to 3 further efforts from the impressive Jordan Morris and a second punched point from Conall Aherne to lead 0-14to 1-03 after 52 minutes. The icing on the cake was then served when substitute Saran O'Fionnagain blasted to the net after an attempt at a point from Daragh Noaln was held up in the wind. Morris and Nolan raised the final two points for Meath before a late goal from Louths Dan Corcoran and a fine point from Shane Hic key completed the scoring.

Having already qualified for a semi final spot next week, the match gave manager Colm Coyle and his selectors a chance to look at further players on the panel. Although it took a while for the new players to "gel", they were quite impressive as the game progressed and after the three games there will be plenty of lads putting btheir hand up for inclusion in the semi final panel and further down the line in the championship.

Meath will now play the winners of Carlow and Tipperary in the semi final on Saturday 11th March.

Next week will see the county hurlers begin their Leinster League campaign with an away match against neighbours Westmeath.

Meath team and scorers: Andrew Beakey (St Colmcilles), Colm Craigie (Skryne), Liam Byrne (St Peters Dunboyne), Niall Mulvey (Longwood), Eoin Larkin (Dunsany, 0-01), Kieran Slevin (Meath Hill), Diarmuid Mc Cabe (Summerhill, 0-01), Thomas Murtagh (Nobber) , Fergal Watters (St Peters Dunboyne), Robert Smith (Oldcastle), Connall Aherne (Ratoath, 0-04), Caolan Ward (Wolfe Tones), Jordan Morris (Nobber, 0-08 .4 frees) , Tom Fadden (Ratoath) , Conor Frayne (Summerhill,0-01)

Subs : Dan Comiskey (St Peters Dunboyne), Dan Devine (Na Fianna), Sam Reynolds (Carnaross), Paddy Matthews (Meath Hill), Sean Bannon (Ballinabrackey), Darragh Nolan (St Peters Dunboyne,0-01), Saran O'Fionnagain (Wolfe Tones, 1-00), Joey Donnelly (Kilbride)  

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