A typical strong finish by Meath gave them victory over Offaly in this crucial third round match in the Leinster U-15 Summer FT at O'Dempsey's, Laois. Meath 1-9 Offaly 1-6 Meath had a 100% record going into the tie, but had to at least draw with Offaly to win the group. The game was played in torrential rain for most of the hour, which made it very difficult for both sides. Paul Conneally opened the scoring with a point and both sides had chances before Offaly found the Meath net. They followed up quickly with a point and then John Kelly reduced the gap with a Meath point. Offaly dominated for the next fifteen minutes and were adjusting much better to the conditions, yet they failed to take advantage of their opportunities which included two goal chances. In this period Offaly added two points to lead by four points. Meath got back into it before the break with points from Derek Doran and Paul Conneally (f) to leave two points between the sides at the break. H/T: Offaly 1-3 Meath 0-4 Meath started strongly in the second half and points from David Ryan, Paul Conneally (f) and Daniel Skelly had the sides level. An Offaly point put them ahead again, but Derek Doran responded with a point. Offaly were to regain the lead on two more occasions, with Meath getting an equaliser on each occasion by Derek Doran and Daniel Skelly respectively. Offaly were reduced to 14 men with five minutes remaining when their full back got a second yellow card. 14 man teams often succeed and Offaly had a great chance to snatch victory, but the Meath defence held strong. Derek Doran's injury time goal sealed a well earned victory for Meath. It augurs well for the future of Meath football shown by their success in winning their group of the Leinster U-15 Summer FT. Coach, Pat Flynn and his mentors, Have to take credit for their good work with the whole panel and taking into account the good campaign by Meath's second team. John Dalton (Leinster Football Development) presented the Perpetual Trophy to Meath's captain, Daniel Skelly after the game. Scorers for Meath: Derek Doran 1-2, Paul Conneally 0-3, Daniel Skelly 0-2, David Ryan and John Kelly 0-1 each. Meath - Padraig Curran, David Farrell, David Moran, Stephen O'Keefe, Stephen O'Brien, Brian McGrane, Tommy Johnson, Mark Battersby, John Kelly, John Power, David Ryan, Daniel Skelly, Stephen Dawson, Paul Conneally, Derek Doran. Subs - Donal McCarthy for O'Keefe, Robert Briody for Dawson and Anthony Lynch for Power -------------------------------------- An Mhí 2-12 Wicklow 2-8 An Mhí ended their campaign in their group of the Leinster U-15 Summer FT at Trim with victory over Wicklow played at Trim on Saturday in difficult conditions because of torrential rain. They played against the wind in the first half. Andrew Tormey's 1-1 in this half coupled with a fine point from Gary McGovern before the half contributed to Meath's lead at the break. H/T: An Mhí 1-7 Wicklow 0-6 The changes of moving Gary McGovern to midfield, Carl Burke to wing back and Shane Ennis to corner back just before the break had a big bearing on the outcome. Gary McGovern got a second great point with ten minutes to go, which boosted the team even more. From James Kelleher in goal, right down to corner forward, Cian Maguire there was nothing found wanting in the Meath lads who all put in a great display. They put up a very good performance overall in their campaign of the Leinster U-15 Summer FT and indeed could have been in contention for group honours, but they had lost many players through injuries and holidays. No doubt many of this panel will make their mark on future Meath teams that will lead to All-Ireland success. Scorers for Meath: Andrew Tormey 1-4, Philip Moran 1-0, Gary McGovern, Eoin Dolan and Michael Newman 0-2 each, Sean Dalton and Dean Hendricks 0-1 each Meath - James Kelleher, Colm McLoughlin, Ben Baxter, Gary McGovern, Cianín Byrne, Jack Grant, Shane Ennis, Michael Newman, Carl Burke, Eoin Dolan, Sean Dalton, Dean Hendricks, Philip Moran, Andrew Tormey, Cian Maguire Tweet

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