Dublin Demolish Meath To Reach Leinster Decider
Dublin 0-21
Meath 0-11
Derek Ryan at Croke Park
Dublin have eased into yet another Leinster football final- their sixth in-a-row- after a comfortable victory over Meath at Croke Park this evening.
A dominant second half performance saw the Boys in Blue home by 10 points, without ever needing to get out of third gear.
Dublin made two late changes before the game from the team that started against Laois last day out, with Denis Bastick and Paul Flynn coming in ahead of Michael Darragh Macauley and Paul Mannion.
Meath started the brighter of the two sides and led by 0-3 to 0-1 after 9 minutes, thanks to a brace from Graham Reilly and another score from Cillian O'Sullivan.
Indeed, they could, and probably should, have been further ahead, after Dalton McDonagh raced through after just 3 minutes.
However, Stephen Cluxton and David Byrne kept out his shot and rebound.
Dublin then clicked into gear, hitting six of the next seven points to move clear of the Royals.
A pair of Dean Rock frees drew the Boys in Blue level, while further scores from Brian Fenton, Rock, Flynn and Bernard Brogan putting them in charge.
That Brogan score, which left Dublin 0-7 to 0-4 ahead, could easily have been a goal, but he blazed his shot too high.
Meath came back into it, while Diarmuid Connolly hit two wonder points, as the sides traded scores in the last 15 minutes of the half.
The Boys in Blue went in at the break with a 0-11 to 0-8 lead, with the Royals still firmly in the tie.
©INPHO/Morgan Treacy
That completely changed in the second half, however, as Meath struggled to get back into the game following the break.
Two Dean Rock scores put Dublin five points clear and, while Michael Newman replied for the Royals, a further two scores from Rock and another from Brogan ended the game as a contest before the 50 minute mark.
Meath never got going at all in the second half and struggled to get into the Dublin half.
The Royals hit only three points in the second period- their third coming deep into injury time, while Dublin's 10 second half points- from the boots of Rock (0-6), Connolly (0-2), Brogan (0-1) and sub Paul Mannion (0-1)- saw the Boys in Blue home comfortably.
Rock hit 0-10 altogether (0-9f), while Brogan, Connolly and Flynn all impressed, too.
Next up for Dublin is a Leinster football final clash with Westmeath on July 17th.