The Post Mortem into the poor showing of the senior hurling side in this year's Christy Ring Cup may last for quite a while, but the State Pathologist won't be needed to pass judgement on their minor counterparts. 2008 proved to be a promising period for the Royal County under 18 side and their performances in the Leinster MHC and All-Ireland MHC 'B' certainly augurs well for the future writes David Jennings. Since the turn of the decade, Dublin have realised that if Kilkenny's dominance of the small ball code in Leinster is to be halted, then improvements in the underage setup must be made. And while Meath's juvenile academy may be a bit behind the Metropolitans, there were plenty of positives to be dissected from the minor's championship bouts this. Paul Reilly was given the responsibility of nurturing the side this term and the Dunboyne clubman did a fine job at the helm with victories over Westmeath and Laois in the provincial race leaving hurling enthusiasts in the county very satisfied indeed. Those successes set up a provincial quarter-final date with Carlow at Dr Cullen Park on the second last Saturday in May. Expectations entering that clash were soaring but despite a spirited second half fightback, the Royal county youngsters made their exit from the competition after a four-point loss. It was the familiar All-Ireland MHC 'B' route for this side now and hopes were high that the young Royals could successfully navigate that route. The second tier competition commenced for Meath in early August and they got off to a textbook start when disposing of Kerry by seven points at Pairc Tailteann, 2-16 to 2-9. All four goals were scored in a seven-minute spell in the first quarter and Meath laid a solid foundation for a place in the semi-finals when leading by 2-4 to 0-1 inside 10 minutes of the off. The visitors only managed to get their snouts in front for around 60 seconds after Glen Egan put over the first score on two minutes. Meath's goals were netted by corner forwards Doyle and Mikey Kelly and that pair and Mark O'Sullivan shared 2-9, all from play, of the winning total. Kiltale clubman O'Sullivan was the winners' top performer with a contribution of six points, five in the first half, in the course of a classy display. You wouldn't have blamed Royal supporters for travelling to St Loman's, Mullingar the following Saturday with confidence. Meath faced neighbours Westmeath in the last four of the competition and after comfortably seeing off them off in the Leinster campaign, it was fully expected that they would repeat the dose this time around. But past displays count for very little when a rivalry is renewed and Westmeath upped their performance considerably from earlier of the year and a scintillating first half showing paved the way for a fairly comfortable 0-13 to 0-8 success for the side in maroon and white. Torrential rain on Friday night and Saturday morning left the fixture in doubt but after Tullamore and Pairc Tailteann were deemed unplayable, St Loman's came to the rescue. And Meath certainly could not use the conditions as an excuse for their poor showing as the surface was immaculate and sunshine beamed down for the vast majority of the hour. But the young Royals didn't seem to have themselves in the right frame of mind in the opening stages of the encounter and by the time they wiped the sleep from their eyes, Westmeath were already firmly in the driving seat and sprinted into a 0-9 to 0-3 interval lead. A brace of Padraig Kelly frees accompanied by a Mark O'Sullivan point were Meath's only contributions to the scoreboard in the opening half hour. It was a different story in the second half as Reilly's charges had much more to offer and Ray Massey, Ger Murphy and Malcolm Doyle all began finding their range. And with 15 minutes of the encounter remaining, Meath only trailed by three points, 0-7 to 0-10. But they just couldn't conjure a late winning bid and Westmeath found another gear on the approach to the winning post to secure a five-point success. It was a disappointing conclusion to the campaign for all involved and after the defeat Reilly gave his verdict on the campaign. "It's just a bit disappointing really. My aim at the start of the year was to go for the 'A' competition and give that a good whack and even looking at Kilkenny winning the Leinster minor there a few weeks back it would have been nice for the lads to look at it and say - well I marked that lad - but again that day in Carlow we just didn't perform in the first half and we did the same out there today," Reilly said. "It disappointing that we didn't retain the All-Ireland MHC 'B' because I was hoping for an improvement on that. The only thing I will say is that we kept going with the lads that wanted to be there and because of that we have a lot of lads that are available next year and I would say that at least half the lads are eligible next year," he added. "The last day we played them we won well but we never turned up today. I know the preparations this morning weren't ideal but we can't use that as an excuse. Even from the semi-final, lads like Mark O'Sullivan, Ger Murphy and Willie Mahady just didn't click and we probably conceded too many frees as well. It was like the Carlow game in that we picked up the pace in the second half but it was too late at that stage." "In fairness to the lads involved I couldn't say a bad word about them. They have been the lads that have been with us all along but there were other lads that could have come in from different clubs and the door was left open for them but they didn't want to come in and they are the lads that you'd have to have question marks about." "I don't know if there were lads that had a problem with myself or any of the selectors and I suppose you'd have to ask them sort of questions. I wouldn't know a lot of them. There are lads that are playing senior hurling with their clubs and they weren't out there today." "Fair enough it's predominantly a football county and we don't expect to get phone calls or things but I think more questions have to be asked as to why some stronger lads are not there and it is the same with the senior side as well." "Them bunch of lads have been well looked after by the sponsor Martin Donnelly all year. Anything we looked for we got." The Leinster race couldn't have started much better for Reilly as his troops romped to an ultra-impressive 13-point victory over neighbours Westmeath in their championship opener at Pairc Tailteann in March. That 3-11 to 0-7 verdict was just about the best performance from a side in green and gold in that grade in recent memory. One of the best assets of the minor side this term was their scoring power and eight different players managed to get on the scoresheet against Westmeath. After a subdued opening in which the sides traded two scores each, Meath galloped into the lead at the end of the first quarter courtesy of a fine goal from Longwood's Anthony Healy. Points from Dermot Carty, Malcolm Doyle, Ger Murphy and Ray Hatton helped the Royals to a 1-8 to 0-3 interval advantage and they never looked back thereafter. The second half followed a similar trend. Talented Kilmessan youngster Doyle raised a second green flag shortly after the resumption and it was obvious even from that early stage that Westmeath were going to be outclassed. But Reilly's charges weren't finished there and they inflicted further misery on Westmeath with substitute Gary McGovern contributing 1-2 following his second half arrival. His goal came in the dying seconds of the clash and added a sheen of gloss to an already impressive scoreline. Next up was a meeting with Kildare at Naas where a bitterly disappointing first half showing ultimately proved Meath's downfall. Gale force winds and torrential rain made attractive hurling almost impossible and Meath found it hard to adapt to the terrible conditions. A brace of Dermot Carty points was all that Meath could conjure up before the break and their punishment for such a lacklustre effort was a 0-2 to 0-8 interval deficit. The second period saw a vast improvement from the young Royals. Ray Massey, Niall O'Rourke and Carty all found their range in a sterling second half showing but they weren't unable to find the net and Kildare held on in the closing stages to record a deserved three-point success, 1-10 to 0-10. It was make or break time now for the minor hurlers. And they knew they had to produce a performance of some substance to get the better of a well-touted Laois side. Clane was the venue for the crunch tie and Reilly's troops brought their 'A' game to the Kildare venue, eventually seeing off their O'Moore counterparts by 0-13 to 1-7. The game was originally fixed for Boardsmill but a mix-up in communications saw Laois turn up at Pairc Tailteann and the tie had to be re-fixed. But the later date and loss of home advantage certainly didn't inconvenience Meath who showed admirable resolution in the closing stages to earn their place in the last eight. Extra-time looked a distinct possibility when Laois full-forward Neil Foyle faced up to a 30 metre free from a scoreable position to level proceedings with the hour almost elapsed. But he fluffed his lines and in the time that remained, Meath tagged on two more scores to copperfasten the success. Meath were on a roll and had victory been achieved against Carlow at Dr Cullen Park in the Leinster MHC Quarter-Final, a dream last four date with Kilkenny would have been their reward. But things didn't go to plan in the midlands and despite an admirable second half fightback; it was Carlow rather tan Meath that got the chance to ply their trade against the Cats. But while the defeats to Carlow and Westmeath were hard to take, the victories over Laois and Kerry ensured that plenty of positives can be taken from the campaign and if the crop of players involved continue to improve, the future of Meath hurling could be set for a new lease of life. The Meath team that faced Westmeath in the semi-final of the All-Ireland MHC 'B' was as follows: Shane McCann; Shane Moran, Shane Troy, Ray Hatton; Darren Tormey, Conor O'Shea, Padraig Kelly; Ger Murphy, Willie Mahady; Keith Keoghan, Ray Massey, Mark O'Sullivan; Dermot Carty, Gary McGovern, Malcolm Doyle. Subs: Cathal Flaherty for Carty, Tommy Meyler for McGovern, Anthony Healy for Keoghan. Tweet

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