Meath recorded superb victories over bogey team Kildare and arch rivals Dublin in the 2007 Leinster U21 football championship, but there was a lethal sting in the tail as Dudley Farrell's charges surprisingly slipped up against Offaly at the provincial semi-final stage. Thus, a 1-10 to 0-10 defeat at Tullamore on Sunday March 18 signalled the abrupt end to a promising campaign. There seemed to be a Leinster title in this team, laden with fine attacking options, a strong midfield axis and stickier-than-a-bun defensive operators. Following magnificent victories over the Lilywhites and the Dubs, Meath's U21 footballers appeared on course for provincial glory. Only Offaly stood between them and a Leinster final showdown with underage specialists Laois and, with all respect to the Faithfuls, supporters of the Royal County were bracing themselves for a showdown with the defending champions... Unfortunately, Offaly managed to throw a major spanner in the works at Tullamore the day after St Patrick's Day, putting a real dampener on national holiday festivities in Meath. There had been so much talk of the prospective provincial final, so much excitement bubbling in the county, so much belief that some overdue silverware could be on the way, so many hopes and dreams. But they perished on the rock that is Offaly in Tullamore. Dudley Farrell's team was undoubtedly good enough to go further. They had proved that with their stellar dismantling of potent Kildare and Dublin outfits, amassing a whopping 5-12 aggregate in those two games, but unfortunately they failed to hit the requisite highs on semi-final day. After the stunning wins that preceded the Offaly game, arguably against stronger opposition, it was somewhat inappropriate that Meath stumbled out of the 2007 Leinster U21 FC with barely a whimper. But such are the vagaries of championship fare and philosophers in the terrace will tell you that there can only be one winner of any given competition. It wasn't to be Meath even though the hard work appeared to have been done - but at least we have those two superb wins to commemorate, victories that ended two years firing blanks in the under 21 grade It was announced in mid-October 2006 that senior Meath selector Dudley Farrell and his selectors had moved up from the minor grade to take charge of the Meath U21 footballers for 2007. The Nobber man was ratified as coach at a Meath Minor Football Committee meeting in Pairc Tailteann, with Simonstown's Sean Barry and Sean Kelly of Dunderry named as selectors. Up first in the Leinster MFC were neighbours and competition favourites Dublin. The Royals could not have asked for a more difficult induction but they delivered a great display to down the Dubs by 2-9 to 1-8 in front of 2,000 spectators at Parnell Park. Jamie Queeney's brace of first-half three-pointers was instrumental in Meath's first victory in the 21 grade since 2004, dumping the stunned competition favourites out at the first hurled. Royal captain Rory Maguire pointed from the throw-in and Queeney registered the first of his goals after only six minutes to send the visitors on their way. But there would be plenty more developments in an action-packed first half. Dublin responded with a couple of points and moved ahead when Blaine Kelly goaled six minutes before the break. However, resilient Meath responded positively with a Cian Ward point to level matters and the winners then re-took the lead when Queeney bagged his second major on the stroke of the half-time whistle, handing Meath a 2-5 to 1-5 interval advantage. Unsurprisingly, the tempo and tenacity of the game slowed somewhat in the second half but fine points from Dunshaughlin's Cathal O'Dwyer helped keep Meath's noses in front until the end. Meath's lethal full forward trio had contributed 2-8 of their 2-9 tally over the hour. Meath: M Ahern; C O'Connor, R Hatton, S Sheppard; P Howard, C McGuinness, T Skelly; K O'Reilly, B Meade; A Nestor, P Smith, R Maguire (0-1); C O'Dwyer (0-3), J Queeney (2-1), C Ward (0-4). Subs: G Gallagher, C Kelly, K Mulvaney Kildare provided opposition in the second round (quarter-final) of the championship. The Lilywhites were dangerous opponents as they had beaten Meath by 2-13 to 1-8 in the first round of the U21 knockout competition in 2006 and were bidding for a fourth successive U21 championship victory over the Royals. However, Meath showed greater fitness and resolve in extra time to advance to the Leinster under 21 football semi-finals with a commendable 3-13 to 1-15 success at their own county grounds on Sunday March 4th. The Short Grass County started brightly and raced into a 1-9 to 1-2 lead by the 20th minutes. Midfielder Tomas O'Connor scored the visitors' goal in the 10th minute to cancel out David Bray's goal for Meath three minutes earlier. Meath still trailed ten minutes into the second half but full forward Queeney netted their second goal of the afternoon (and his third of the campaign) following tidy work by Rory Maguire. The irrepressible Cian Ward clipped over some great points from frees to edge the Royals ahead at a vital period in the game. Kildare looked to have stolen it with a brace of points right at the death but substitute Ciaran Kelly got the best score of the match when he pointed from an acute angle to send the game into extra time. Meath trailed by two after the early exchanges of the first period of extra time, before they stepped up a gear to register 1-5 to Kildare's two points, with Ward getting the all-important goal and his senior intercounty colleague Kevin Reilly scoring two points from play. Meath: M Aherne; C O'Connor, R Hatton, P Howard; S Sheppard, C McGuinness, T Skelly; B Meade, K Reilly (0-2); D Bray (1-2), R Maguire, A Nestor; C O'Dwyer, J Queeney (1-0), C Ward (1-7). Subs: S O'Rourke, C Kelly (0-2), G Gallagher, N McMahon, K Mulvaney The draw meant Meath were away to Offaly for their semi-final. Going into that game, they knew they would also have to travel away for the final against the winners of the Laois/Westmeath 'semi'. It was a daunting prospect and an unfair decision from Leinster Council but all Dudley's charges could do was try to take it one step at a time. The Royals had every right to be upset - their victory over Kildare was the county's first home draw in the competition since 2002. Something wrong somewhere. Offaly had contested two successive provincial minor deciders and had played in an All-Ireland MFC semi-final two years ago, so Tom Coffey's team was not to be taken lightly. Injury concerns surrounding centre back Cormac McGuinness and corner back Padraig Howard did not help Meath's preparations. The latter made it; the former did not. At Tullamore on Sunday March 18 2007, Conor Mahon's 35th-minute goal proved to be the difference between the teams as Offaly advanced to the final by virtue of a narrow 1-10 to 0-10 verdict. Centre back Paul McConway was outstanding for the winners and his performance more than anything led to Meath's downfall. Meath never really got going and they could well have lost by a much greater margin but for three top-drawer saves from goalkeeper Michael Ahern. However, even the inspired netminder was powerless to stop Mahon's scorching shot from 20 metres, a score that gave the Faithfuls a 1-8 to 0-6 advantage early in the second half. The gap was halved by the start of the fourth quarter and substitute Shane O'Rourke almost provided a lifeline in the form of a delightful chipped goal thereafter but Offaly keeper Dean Bracken - who also denied Cian Ward in each half - stood firm to record a third clean sheet of the campaign as the midlanders prevailed. Meath must have cursed their luck when Faithful dangerman Ken Casey had his six-month ban rescinded before the game and the same player supplied three of the scores as his side stole into a 0-8 to 0-5 interval lead. On the other hand, the visitors were handicapped by the loss of two-thirds of their half back line, with McGuinness absent with a broken finger while Stephen Sheppard picked up an injury in the pre-match warm-up. Meath's best spell came in the opening quarter, during which time they twice led by two points and pointed five times in all, with the effective Ward finding the range four times while Cathal O'Dwyer also got off the mark. The full forward line supplied 90% of Meath's scores and they really needed a few more players to take responsibility on such a stage. But they managed just one further score in the next 25 minutes of play (on the turn from Jamie Queeney). A three-point burst cut the deficit to two points heading into the final quarter but, frustratingly, Meath could not tap into the same dynamism, determination and belief that had seen off the might of Dublin and Kildare. Meath: M Ahern; C O'Connor, R Hatton, P Howard; N McMahon, J Kelleher, T Skelly; R Meade, K Reilly; C Kelly, P Smyth, R Maguire (0-1); C O'Dwyer (0-3), J Queeney (0-2), C Ward (0-4). Subs: S O'Rourke, A Nestor, G Gallagher Tweet

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