Meath's Matthew Costello happy to see return of excitment to Leinster championship
Meath forward Matthew Costello says he is happy to see the return of excitement to the provincial championships, despite Meath's defeat to Louth in the Leinster final.
In the shock of the season so far, Meath ended Dublin's long-standing dominance in the province with a historic win over their rivals in the semi-final in Portlaoise.
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It was the first time Dublin had failed to win Leinster since 2010, when they were also knocked out by Meath.
In a thrilling encounter on Sunday, the Royal County came up short against Louth, who claimed their first Leinster title since 1957. Still, Costello took the positives from a day that featured an incredible atmosphere at Croke Park.
'It was an amazing experience. If the result had gone our way, it would probably have been the best sporting day of your life,' said Costello.
'It just wasn't to be. Even the parade before the game was like nothing I had ever experienced, and I'm not sure if I'll get to experience something like that again.
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'Both sets of fans really gave their all, and it was brilliant to be a part of.
'This year, getting our semi-final into Portlaoise was a great thing. You're basically able to pack out a stadium – the atmosphere that day was brilliant.
'It depends on what the future holds, but maybe we can get 60,000 people in for the Leinster quarter and semi-finals in the future.'
Dublin's dominance in recent years had often been used as a stick to beat the provincial championships with, as they routinely ran out comprehensive winners in front of sparse crowds.
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Meath's win over Dublin is one of several games that has brought renewed spark to the provinces – something Costello is pleased to see.
'It's a great thing. The game maybe needed a bit of a spark to get the provincial championships going again.
'When they're so one-sided for so long, people do lose interest. Looking ahead, we just want the provincial championships to be as competitive as possible and in front of as many fans as possible.'
In an entertaining and closely fought game, Meath led for spells and were ahead with seven minutes remaining, thanks to Costello's goal.
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However, Louth finished the stronger side, scoring the decisive points and keeping possession in the final moments.
For Costello, Sunday's experience was one Meath can learn from.
'I think it was important for us to witness a crowd like that and experience that sort of occasion. If you're going to go anywhere in the sport, you've got to be able to deal with 60,000 or 70,000 people in Croke Park, and that should stand to us in the future.
'It's vital that we get these experiences. You learn more from a loss than from a win, which is hard to say now and hard to take – but we've got to believe it will stand to us.
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'There are going to be tough days and tough times, but we keep moving forward.'
Meath won't have much time to feel sorry for themselves as they face Cork on May 24th in a group that also includes Kerry and Roscommon.
'To be honest, I know it's difficult now because of the magnitude of Sunday, but we're well used to this.
'It's a very tough group – there's no easy draw at this stage of the competition. Everyone feels like they can beat each other.
'Full focus is on Cork for now, but we know we've got tough battles ahead in the group as well.'
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