If only the senior team had the dominance the Meath juniors have in Leinster. Once again they captured the Leinster crown making it back to back titles and three in four years but All-Ireland success eluded them for the second year in a row as they went down to Munster opposition again. Managed by Dessie Hamilton they showed superb footballing skills and determination throughout the year. Indeed, many players will be hoping they are promoted to the senior set-up in the next few months after impressing in 2006. On their way to Leinster victory they beat Kilkenny, Kildare, Laois and Louth. The Leinster final won't be remembered as a classic. The game went right down to the wire with Meath once again beating local rivals Louth in a sun drenched Croke Park. Despite beating Kilkenny by a scoreline of 3-14 to 0-3, all did not look well at half time as both teams were level on three points apiece. Meath made substitutions with Jim Gallagher and Stephen Dillon coming on at half time. The substitutions had a positive effect as they came out a different side the second half and quickly moved away from their opponents. Goals from Rory Maguire, Dean Barrett and a superb personal tally of 1-7 from Brain Dillon ensured Meath went through to the next round. Páirc Tailteann was the venue for Meath's quarter-final match with Kildare. The men in white started the brightest and went ahead after a few minutes. This would be the first and only time they would lead in the match as Meath quickly found their rhythm. Meath played the possession game throughout the match with their opponents struggling to come to terms with the tactic. Meath were playing a higher tempo than their direct opponents and well worked moves weren't wasted as all of their forwards had a score registered by the 25th minute. The half forward line of Richie Kealy, Brian Dillon and Dean Barrett covered a huge amount of ground and found reward for their work rate by scoring four points between them. The highlight of the first half came after Rory Maguire finished off a beautifully crafted move that involved seven different players in the build up. Meath had a comfortable five point advantage at the break after Jim Gallagher pointed to leave the scores 0-7 to 0-2. Kildare came out and took the game to Meath as the home side seemed to leave their focus and game plan in the dressing room at half time. The Lilywhites piled on the pressure and 12 minutes into the second half there a single point separated the two sides. Meath finally woke up and responded in fine fashion by hitting the last four points. Midfielder Gallagher started the spree and was followed by substitute Brian Meade, Trevor Dowd and Richie Kealy to leave the final score 0-12 to 0-7. The fullback line of Trevor Bannon, Brian O'Reilly and Paddy Nugent was solid throughout while the battle for midfield was won by Gallagher and Tony Cunningham. Meath produced another Jekyll and Hyde performance in their Leinster semi-final clash against Laois. Just like the Kilkenny match they struggled in the first half as most of their football wasn't as fluent as they would have liked it to be. But in the second half they held Laois scoreless to win by 13 points. Meath started the brightest, as a Rory Maguire score left them with a two point advantage. With just over 15 minutes gone Meath conceded a soft goal that sent Laois a lead of 1-1 to 0-3. Laois stretched their advantage with two more points before Ian McManus set-up Stephen Dillon for Meath's first goal of the game. A point from Brian Meade right on the stroke of half-time left the Royal County ahead by the minimum of margins going into the break. Once again Dessie Hamilton's words at half time had an instant effect on his troops. They came out and within minutes they increased their lead. Scores from Trevor Dowd and Rory Maguire sent Meath further in front before Laois hit the crossbar which evidently was the turning point in the second half. Laois dropped their heads while Meath punished their opponents with every chance they got. On the day nine players finished up on the scoresheet with Rory Maguire finishing with an impressive seven points to his name. The final scoreline was 1-16 to 1-3. Meath took on a Louth team that had the pick of all senior clubs and could effectively choose their second best 15 while Dessie Hamilton had a choice of players who didn't play senior football in 2005. Louth could have had a goal in the opening few minutes as Shane Lennon rattled the post when he was one on one with John Curry. Scores from Brian Dillon, Jim Gallagher and Brian Meade settled the Royal men as they went into a lead of three points to one. Louth hit back and left the scores level after 15 minutes of play. Louth couldn't cope for the rest of the half as Meath upped their game and scored three unanswered points. Richie Kealy made it 0-5 to 0-4 before the woodwork was hit again, this time by Meath's Brian Dillon. Rory Maguire added two points to give the Royal men a lead of 0-7 to 0-4 at half time. Meath started where they left off as Maguire and Dillon pointed after the resumption to extend the lead to five. But all of a sudden the house came in as Louth started a fightback that would have them level in less than ten minutes. The hard working pair of Jim Gallagher and Brian Dillon was replaced by Dean Barrett and Ian McManus. The substitutions brought a new lease of life to the team and had an instant effect. Barrett pointed just after his arrival to give Meath a 0-10 to 0-09 lead. McManus followed suit with a pointed free before Rory Maguire scored a superb point with just three minutes remaining. Meath conceded two free's that were duly punished by Shane Lennon to make for a frantic few moments in injury-time. Tony Cunningham made an inspired block to deny Nigel Shevlin before Meath captured the Leinster crown when Trevor Dowd had an easy goal after Louth goalkeeper Sean Connor spilled a high ball. The final scoreline was Meath 1-12 Louth 0-11. Meath had plenty of heroes in Croke Park on June 24. The backline was solid with some top performances from Brian O'Reilly and team captain Paddy Nugent. Although he was carrying a niggling injury Jim Gallagher and his partner Brian Meade dominated midfield. The work rate of the Meath forwards on the day was superb; the likes of Tony Cunningham, Richie Kealy and the Dillon brothers grafted the whole time and set up Meath's most potent attacker Rory Maguire who took some of his scores in fine fashion. The Royal County was the cream of Leinster at junior football once again. Unfortunately for Dessie Hamilton and his troops their campaign ended in the All-Ireland semi final at the hands of Munster champions Kerry. On a rain soaked day in Dr. Cullen Park too many of Meath's players didn't perform to their capabilities. For the opening 20 minutes they kept up with their Munster counterparts before a five minute scoring spree left them three points in arrear at half-time. Kerry kept up their dominance in the second half as they quickly strode into a lead that Meath never looked like catching. A late rally from the Royal men reduced the deficit but was all little too late as Kerry ran out easy five point winners. Rory Maguire and Thomas Dillon stood out on a day where Meath didn't do themselves justice. Meath Junior panel: John Curry, Trevor Bannon, Brian O'Reilly, Paddy Nugent, Barry Kiernan, Thomas Dillon, John Bruton, Brian Meade, Jim Gallagher, Tony Cunningham, Stephen Dillon, Richie Kealy, Rory Maguire, Brian Dillon, Trevor Dowd, Ray McKeown, Conor Brennan, Paul Martin, Ian McManus, Peter Clinton, Kevin Smith, Mickey Foley, Ian Dowd, Dean Barrett. Tweet

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