On Saturday the 29th of August, at 11.00 am the Meath Under 15 team tour bus, and supporters descended upon the majestic Tyrone Centre of Excellence in Garvahey.

This was to watch the Meath U15 Development Squad play their Tyrone counterparts in a series of challenge matches. This would be the first time that this bunch of Meath youngsters has had the opportunity to play against Tyrone, one of the kingpins of youth Gaelic football in Ulster. However this was the Meath youngster's first away trip since their success in the Leinster GAA U15 Talent Academy Tournament in Offaly on the 15th of August, and after winning their first trophy at Inter-County level  their confidence was high, so this was an ideal opportunity to gauge their progress against some Ulster opposition.

The games schedules started at 12.00 noon and as normal the Meath Development panel was split into two evenly balanced squads, Meath Green, and Meath Gold.

The two Meath Squads played simultaneously, and the intensity of the games were high from the start. The passing and movement of both Meath squads was sharp with all the teams defending strongly and hoping to gain the advantage in attack. All the games were played at a fast pace for the full forty minutes and while the Meath teams dominated most of the exchanges , the Tyrone players kept the scoreboards ticking over. However at the end of the first series of matches the Meath recorded 2 wins from 2 games but by some very tight margins.

Game 1 Results
Meath U15  (Gold ) 1-06   Tyrone U15 ( Red A) 1-03
Meath U15 (Green) 2-12 Tyrone U15 ( Red B) 1-10

The Meath U15 Development Team and Coaches at the Tyrone GAA Centre of Excellence, Garvahey.

The second series of games in the schedule started after a short break, with the squads changing opposition and pitches at the well-appointed facilities, indeed any of the 6 full sized pitches at this facility would have been suitable to play top level football on. The games continued on from where the first matches left except that the Meath Gold team took more of their opportunities and ran out with a greater margin than their Meath Green team mates. However the Meath Green game intensity continued right up to the last minute of the game as the Meath boys had to come back from a four point second half deficit with only 8 minutes to go, to snatch the winning score in the second last minute of the game.

The  effective use of substitutes in the second half enabled the Meath (Gold) coaches to inject much required pace and drive when needed most.

At the end of the day the Meath U15 Development panel  came away from Tyrone with 4 wins from 4 matches. And also in the knowledge that they could compete successfully with one of the leading teams in youth football in Ulster.

The Meath Green squad

Game 2 Results
Meath U15  (Gold ) 3-09   Tyrone U15 ( Red B) 0-09
Meath U15 (Green) 1-05   Tyrone U15 ( Red A) 0-07

After the final series of matches, the successful Meath panel and supporters were treated to refreshments and a tour of the  fantastic Garvahey facility by their Tyrone hosts.

The Meath U15 squad supporters and management would like to thank Tyrone Coaching and Games, and the Tyrone U15 Management team for the hospitality extended during their visit. And to thank them for the invitation and opportunity play at Garvahey .  

Meath U15 (Gold) Squad
Keith Hennessy, Sean Bannon, Liam Byrne, Sean Ryan, Michael Gavin, Ryan Summersby, Adam Muldoon, Pat Matthews, Shane Wals, Kean Flynn, Con Gordon, Jack McMahon, Aaron McNally, Jordan Morris, Craig Munnelly, Eoin Cairns, Ronan O'Leary, Steven Davis, Michael McNamee, Cadhla McKenna, Michael McHugh, Aaron Lynch.

Meath U15 (Green) Squad
Sean Melia, Dylan Garrigan, Adam Ryan, Richie Coffey, Carl Nulty, Evan Power, Oran Smullan, Peter Martin, Ruairi Crawford, Patrick McDermott, Adam O'Meara, Wesley Goodwin, Nathan Dunne, Colm Doherty, Eoin Martin, Ryan McManus, Jack Byrne, Jack Sweeney Leahy, Lee Brown, Michael Murphy, Dylan Keating, Kevin Barry, Alan Mulvanny, Conal Courtney, Niall Hurley .

Meath U15 Management team: Eamon Barry, Phil Fay, Greg Carry, Ciaron Byrne and Paul Nestor

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