Meath were crowned Leinster U-16 FT 'A' Champions with a deserved 1-13 to 2-9 victory over neighbours Westmeath at Drumbaragh in October, writes Eddie O'Reilly. The game was played in almost ideal conditions, after all the bad weather of the previous days and the teams provided an exciting final that went right down to the wire. Westmeath opened impressively and had two points recorded before two Colm Carry points had the sides level. Westmeath added two more points before Bob Doherty found the Westmeath net to give Meath the lead for the first time in the game. Colm Carry stretched Meath's lead with a point from a free, but Westmeath pulled one back with what was their forth point from a free of the half. Meath had a great chance to increase their lead before the break after a fine move that saw Alan Nestor's shot on goal hit the side netting. At the interval the home side led by 1-3 to 0-5. Gavin Butler opened the scoring in the second half with a point after a fine long solo run. Darren Mallon and Alan Nestor stretched Meath's lead to go four points up. Westmeath pulled two back, but points from Gavin Butler, Colm Carry and Darren Mallon put Meath five points up. Westmeath fought back to score a goal and Meath knew they had a real fight on their hands. An Alan Nestor point from a free followed by a Gavin Butler point put Meath back in a strong position. Again Westmeath fought back to put just two points between the sides, but Meath responded with points from Bob Doherty and Colm Carry. An injury time goal by Westmeath left the minimum between the sides, which was to be the final score of the game. It was the fourth game for the two sides in eight days, yet despite this we were treated to very good football and an exciting game. Credit has to be given to manager, Pat Flynn, his selectors and physio for all their hard work in preparing the panel to win the Leinster 'A' title, which they set as their goal early in the year. Pat Flynn paid tribute to the parents of the panel for all their help and support through out the year. Scorers for Meath: Colm Carry 0-5, Bob Doherty 1-1, Gavin Butler 0-3, Alan Nestor and Darren Mallon 0-2 each Meath - Shane Geraghty, Stephen Sheppard, James Moffatt, Ronan McCabe, Shane Carr, Paddy Brady, Diarmuid Bailey, Gavin Butler, Darren Mallon, Sean Keating, Cillian Finn, David Dalton, Colm Carry, Bob Doherty, Alan Nestor. Subs - Sean Mallon for Moffatt, James Power for Cillian Finn, Simon McNevin for Darren Mallon Tweet

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