Meath 1-17
Kildare 1-11

Seanie Johnston failed to feature for Kildare as Meath became the first team to book a place in this years Leinster SFC Final, following a six-point semi-final win over the Lillywhites at Croke Park this afternoon.

Seamus 'Banty' McEnaney's charges dug deep to book a place in their second decider in three years.

Fresh from his 45-second appearance for the Coill Dubh Senior Hurlers yesterday, it was expected that Cavan native Johnston would feature for Kildare today.

However, Kieran McGeeney opted not to spring the former Breffni County attacker, despite the Royals very much in the ascendancy late on.

Level with 13 minutes remaining, following a Graham Reilly score it was a 60th minute Peadar Byrne goal which really kicked Meath to life and from this they never looked back.

Kildare failed to score for the final 14 minutes of this game, with Meath adding 1-5 without reply, including Byrne's goal and points from Brian Farrell, Reilly, Stephen Bray and Jamie Queeney.

Meath had strugged to shake off the challenge from Carlow in the previous round, needing a replay to get over the Barrowsiders.

A facile 0-19 to 0-6 win over Offaly sent Kildare through to today's last four clash, but there was still plenty to learn for McGeeney's charges.

Kildare made two changes to their team named midweek, with Alan Smith and Daryl Flynn introduced instead of Eoin Doyle and Robert Kelly.

McEnaney opted for an unchanged Meath line-up, but it was Kildare who looked most settled early on.

James Kavanagh fired the first point inside 30 seconds of the throw-in, and although Meath had early chances Kildare continued to add scores.

Emmet Bolton pushed the Lilywhites 0-2 to 0-0 ahead after six minutes, before Meath's hard-work paid off, with Damien Carroll registering the Royals opener.

Mickey Conway and Cian Ward missed scoring chances for Kildare and Meath respectively inside the next six minutes, before Joe Sheridan delivered an equaliser after good support play by Mickey Burke.

Meath looked sharpest at this stage, with points from Alan Forde and Brian Farrell, but Forde's 14th minute effort could have so easily been a goal, after his effort was deflected over the cross-bar by O'Flaherty.

Conway delivered for Kildare from 45 metres, with a John Doyle score tieing the game for the second time.

Meath looked to have gained the upper hand before the break, with Farrell very much to the fore as they opened up a three-point lead.

Eoghan O'Flaherty ended an 11-minute barren spell for Kildare on the scoreboard to cut the gap to two points, and although Kildare continued to rally, a second Sheridan point for Meath ensured a 0-8 to 0-7 interval advantage.

Kildare looked strong in the second half, with scores from Tomas O'Connor and Alan Smith moving them 0-10 to 0-8 ahead inside 10 minutes of the restart.

Graham Reilly cut the deficit to the minimum, but once again Smith responded.

Farrell and Sheridan helped bring Meath back into contention and with 19 minutes remaining the sides were tied at 0-19 apiece.

Meath continued to up their game, a second yellow card for Daryl Flynn a major blow to Kildare.

However, the Lillywhites bounced back to deliver a much required three-pointer in the 56th minute, with a scrambled Conway goal shot pushed Kildare 1-11 to 0-12 in front.

The Royals worked their way into contention quite well with scores from Farrell and Reilly levelling the tie, before substitute Byrne's super finish to grant his side their only goal of the contest.

Meath now had victory firmly in their sights, with late points from Farrell, Rilly, Bray and Queeney ensuring a six-point win and with it a first victory over Kildare in Senior Championship football since 2007.

MEATH: D Gallagher, D Keoghan, B Menton, C Lenihan, D Tobin, S McAnarney, M Burke, C Gillespie, B Meade, A Forde (0-1), D Carroll (0-1), G Reilly (0-3), B Farrell (0-6, 4f), J Sheridan (0-3, 1 '45), C Ward. Subs: S Bray (0-1) for Ward, E Harrington for Lenihan, P Byrne (1-0) for Meade, K Reilly for Menton, J Queeney (0-2) for Forde.

KILDARE: S Connolly, H McGrillen, M Foley, P Kelly, A Smith (0-3), M O'Flaherty, O Lyons, E Bolton (0-1), D Flynn, J Kavanagh (0-1), M Conway (1-1), P O'Neill, J Doyle (0-1), T O'Connor (0-1), E O'Flaherty (0-3, 3f). Subs: P Fogarty for Doyle, R Kelly for Kavanagh, D Earley for O'Connor, E O'Callaghan for Conway, R Sweeney for O'Neill.

REF: Michael Collins (Cork). Tweet

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