In the last few editions of this publication, we have been forced to tell the tales of successive Meath underage hurling sides who unfortunately fell just short of the hurdle. For the most part, these reports contained tales of frustration and disappointment, though all that changed on September 10th in Nenagh when the U21's claimed an All-Ireland crown. The capture of the All-Ireland U21 B title was an overdue reward for all those who have worked so hard to promote hurling in the county for so long. The players in particular found huge relief in the win as most of them had been part of panels that lost successive All Ireland MHC B Finals. Goalkeeper Neil Hackett, who also played his part as senior net minder during the year, takes up the story: "There is no doubt that losing the two finals (minor) to Carlow did drive us on as we said there was no way we were going to let this one go." Though before they set out on the road to glory, they had to suffer more disappointment at the hands of Carlow as they were soundly beaten in the Leinster Special decider after defeating Kildare in the semi-final. Little went right for the men in green and gold at Dr. Cullen Park as the home side ran out eight point winners. However, there was some solace in that loss as it entitled Meath to enter the B competition and wins over Monaghan and Kerry ensured that the year would certainly not be considered a right off. Martin Curran's charges decided to give the Special competition a 'real go' and set down a marker with a comfortable win over Monaghan at the penultimate round. Sean Heavey's goal set his side on the way to a 1-13 to 0-6 win at Breffni Park. That set up a decider against the Kingdom at Nenagh and it took over 80 minutes of high scoring action to separate the sides. Meath were slow to settle but it was a goal from Joey Keena that ultimately set them on their way. "Joey got a goal just before half time and that was a massive lift altogether. We just said at half time that we were going to up our game 100% and take our chances, luckily it all paid off," says Neil. While Keena's goal was obviously a massive boost, Meath couldn't get far enough away from their opponents from the Kingdom to prevent the tie going to extra time. At that point, did the memories of past defeats come back and place a grain of doubt in the minds of Hackett and his colleagues? "No to be honest, because every time Kerry got a score we hit back with one or two, they never looked like getting a goal and I knew our hunger would see us home in the end." See them home it did, and with that finally bring some reward for those who have put so much into developing fine underage teams over the years. And, of course, as a knock on effect, it will hopefully lead to an upturn in the fortunes of the county senior side. Neil Hackett is certainly optimistic: "It definitely should, there is unbelievable talent in the county, both adult and underage. If the lads put in the effort from the start of the year, Meath should certainly go far in the championship in years to come," he concludes. The side that clinched All-Ireland glory for Meath was: N. Hackett; P. Donohoe, D. Brennan, P. Farrell; S. Heavey, P. Fagan 0-3, P. Ryan; S. Clynch 0-2, C. O Mealoid; P. Durnin 0-1, C. Burke, J. Keena 1-1; D. Kirby 0-7, M. Burke 0-1, P. McKeown 0-1. Subs - C. Ryan 0-1 for O Mealoid, P. Muldoon for Keena; Keena for Durnin, A. Mulvihill for McKeown. Tweet

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