It was a busy weekend for the Meath Under 16 panel in the Gerry Reilly Cup and the Ted Webb Cup.

The Gerry Reilly squad were edged out by the minimum in a very competitive game. Meath 4-13 Offaly 3-17 It was a patchy performance from Meath, and they will no doubt be disappointed to lose, especially given how well they had been going and with home advantage on the day. That said, Offaly were deserved winners and there can be no complaints with the result.

There were still some strong individual performances in green and gold (well blue actually jersey's) Callum McKeown of Ballivor was excellent in goals, while Danny Gorman from Moynalty caused problems as a left-footed corner forward. Sean Kirwan of Ratoath also stood out, and while Conor Hassett finished with an impressive return of 1-6 None of the minor players featured, with Ben, Harry and Dara on an enforced rest.

Meath now move on to face Tyrone in the Gerry Reilly semi-final on 18 July in Millbrook.

The Ted Webb squad, meanwhile, produced a phenomenal effort away to Laois, earning a hard-fought draw in very warm conditions. Laois 2-09 Meath 2-09 The odds were stacked against the lads, travelling to Laois to face Laois's only U16 team, but if ever a game showed the importance of work rate, this was it.

Meath emptied the tank, with players dropping with cramp in the closing stages after a huge collective effort. There were excellent performances throughout. Sam Walsh of St Colmcille’s, a recent addition to the squad, made a big impact. Cillian Burke of Gael Colmcille was an absolute workhorse, while Charlie Reuter was sharp in the corner and finished the first half with 1-2. Rian Carolan of Simonstown was excellent as well, and Syddans Ben Gaughran stepped up with the equalising score. Jamie Quirke of Dunshaughlin was also very unlucky late on, kicking what looked like a winning two-pointer at the death. It was awarded by the referee, only for a Laois mentor to appear and signal it wide, which the referee then accepted.

Despite that late drama, the result was enough to see Meath progress to the Ted Webb semi-final against Dublin, while Laois drop into the Shield competition. It was a phenomenal effort against the odds and a well-earned, valuable point for the group. There is plenty to be proud of across both squads, but also no doubt that big improvements will be needed if the lads want to go further.

Tyrone and Dublin will both provide serious tests in the semi-finals.

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