Tight finishes, big wins and a few scares in Leinster club quarter-finals

Detailed summary

Meath champions end long provincial absence, The Downs recover from a difficult start and Portarlington survive a late Rathvilly surge ...

It’s almost a quarter of a century since a Meath team won the Leinster club SFC, and 22 years since they last contested a final.

In fact, prior to Wolfe Tones returning to the province against An Tóchar in Ashbourne, Meath representatives had won just six of their 20 games in the province across the previous 15 seasons.

So when Cian O’Neill struck a goal for the Kilberry outfit early in the second half, shortly after he’d conjured a two-pointer, helping them to lead by 14 points, it seemed like some sort of corner had been turned.

By full-time, however, Shane McCoy’s crew were somehow clinging on to win by 1-20 to 2-13, a result that propelled them through to a semi-final, back in Ashbourne on November 28th, against 2022 finalists The Downs of Westmeath.

Wolfe Tones didn’t exactly steal victory. Tailteann Cup winner JP Nolan scored his goal for An Tóchar in the 63rd minute, straight from a free, and this was quickly followed by a Luca Nolan two-pointer.

Even after that late, late 1-2 blitz, they still trailed by four points.

But it was a warning all the same for Tones, who were exceptional for 40 minutes, inspired by Kyle Moran, who kicked six points from play before promptly shutting off.

For the first two-thirds of the game, they overwhelmed An Tóchar with their power play around the middle, hard running and clever overlaps, allowing Moran and Sarán Ó Fionnagain pop singles over at ease.

[ Andy McEntee steps down as Longford football manager citing player ‘availability and commitment’ concernsOpens in new window ]

Opening of the article, excerpted from The Irish Times. To read the rest, open the article on the publisher's site.