Meath earned their place in the Kehoe Cup final with a nine point victory over Derry in ideal conditions at Lomans Park Trim.

Meath 0-21
Derry 0-12

The winners gained the upper hand in the opening ten minutes. A brace of points from Ballingarry (Tipperary) clubman Tom McGrath along with scores from Willie McGrath, Peter Durnin and Gary Kelly gave the winners a five point cushion early on. Full foward Ruairi Convery kept Derry in touch with two pointed frees before the game took a turn for the worse for the Ulster men. Convery received a red card for an of the ball incident with Meath captain Sean Heavey and from there on it was an uphill battle for Ger Rogans men. Despite their dominace Meath only held a four point advantage at the break 0-10 to 0-6. All of Derry's first half tally came from frees.

Points from the McGrath's Tom and Willie and Darren Reilly extended the Meath lead early in the second half. Cillian Farrells charges were 0-16 to 0-8 ahead midway through the half but Derry hit back with three unanswered points from Jonathan O'Dwyer, Alan Grant and Paddy McCloskey. But Meath closed out the game with the next four scores courtesy of Tom McGrath, Darren Reilly, Peter Farrell and Durnin.

Meath play Kildare in the decider. Its a repeat of last years final won by the Lillywhites at Trim.

Meath: Charlie Bird, Cormac Reilly, Neil McLoughlin, David Donoghue, Sean Heavy, Peter Farrell 0-1, Stephen Morris, Darren Reilly 0-2, James Toher 0-1, Tom McGrath 0-5, Gary Kelly 0-1, Willie McGrath 0-4, Derek Doran 0-3, Peter Durnin 0-4, Adam Gannon.
Subs: Shane Whitty, Paddy Conneely, Shane Brennan, Sean Geraghty, Anthony Healy.

Derry: Darryl McDermott, Ruairi McCloskey, Sean McCullagh, Eugene McGuckin, Dermott O'Neill, Cathal McQuillan, Kevin Hinphey, Malachi O'Hagan, Tiernan McCloskey, Chrissey Convery, Stefan McCloskey 0-1, Alan Grant 0-5, Jonathan O'Dwyer 0-1, Ruairi Convery 0-2, Paul Cleary 0-2.
Subs: Turlough Henry, Tommy McCloy, Paddy McCloskey 0-1, Diarmuid Shields.

Referee Donal Harrington Dublin



Meath 0-21 Derry 0-12

The ability to score from play was the main difference between the teams at Trim this afternoon as Meath qualified for the Kehoe Cup final in which they will meet Kildare for the second successive year, venue and time should become known tomorrow.

In the first half five Meath forwards scored points from play while Derry's first half total was made up by six pointed frees. Willie McGrath, Peter Durnin and Tom McGrath scored a brace apiece while the Kildalkey duo of Gary Kelly and Derek Doran raised a flag each. Meath's first half tally was completed by frees from Tom McGrath and James Toher. Derry's five pointed frees came from Ruairi Convery (2) before his dismissal on a straight red card in the 18th minute Alan Grant (3) and Paul Cleary (1) completed their first half tally. Many present considered the red card to be of the harsh variety. On the other hand their full back was lucky to escape a second yellow in the closing minutes of the half. The Meath management followed a policy of replacing players who received yellow cards.

In the second half Derry enjoyed more possession but only succeeded in scoring 4 points from play while again Meath registered 9 points from play through Willie McGrath, Derek Doran, Tom McGrath and Peter Durnin with two points and one from defender Peter Farrell. Darren Reilly pointed two frees in this half. Their accuracy improved considerably in this half registering three wides as opposed to six in the first half.

Meath: Charlie Bird, Cormac Reilly, Neil McLoughlin, David Donoghue, Sean Heavy, Peter Farrell 0-1, Stephen Morris, Darren Reilly 0-2, James Toher 0-1, Tom McGrath 0-5, Gary Kelly 0-1, Willie McGrath 0-4, Derek Doran 0-3, Peter Durnin 0-4, Adam Gannon.
Subs: Shane Whitty, Paddy Conneely, Shane Brennan, Sean Geraghty, Anthony Healy.

Derry: Darryl McDermott, Ruairi McCloskey, Sean McCullagh, Eugene McGuckin, Dermott O'Neill, Cathal McQuillan, Kevin Hinphey, Malachi O'Hagan, Tiernan McCloskey, Chrissey Convery, Stefan McCloskey 0-1, Alan Grant 0-5, Jonathan O'Dwyer 0-1, Ruairi Convery 0-2, Paul Cleary 0-2.
Subs: Turlough Henry, Tommy McCloy, Paddy McCloskey 0-1, Diarmuid Shields.

REPORT BY MEATH PRO RAY KIRBY Tweet

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