Colm Boyle column: Magic Meath day but Dublin lacked hunger, belief and class

Irish Daily Mirror

27-04-2025

Wow. I wrote here two weeks ago that the life seemed to be back in the Leinster Championship. My God, it's absolutely electric now.
What an incredible day for Meath football. They have received hammering after hammering by Dublin over the last 14 years but yesterday they decided enough was enough.
Their supporters didn't believe it was possible, based on the attendance, but crucially the Meath players believed this was possible and delivered a performance that will be remembered for years to come.
This wasn't a fluke. Meath were the better team from start to finish.
With a strong breeze behind them they set their stall out early. They crucified the Dublin kick-out with Brian Menton dominant and Meath players ravenous on the breaks.
Dublin were all at sea but their full-back line in particular were been taken to the cleaners by the brilliant James Conlon and Eoghan Frayne.
Conor Tyrrell was replaced before half-time but, to be fair to him, he had absolutely no protection. Even the return to the starting line- up of John Small led to no structure in the Dublin defence.
Conlon is a real livewire. He looks like a nightmare to mark and even though he had a quieter second half, he came up with a crucial play with a brilliant ball across to Aaron Lynch for a late score that proved vital.
Despite being 12 points up at half time, it was always going to come down to the wire against the breeze.
Meath had to dig deep and the seven points they got were absolutely crucial.
When Cormac Costello goaled to bring it back to a six-point game with 13 minutes left, it looked like the Dubs would reel Meath in.
Crucially, Shane Walsh rose brilliantly to win Billy Hogan's next kickout to relive some pressure and stem the tide.
Meath were brilliant on their own kick-out in the second half which meant Dublin never really got a chance to keep them pinned in.
Their defence was superb and huge turnovers by the likes of Sean Rafferty and Donal Keogan kept the energy in the Royal effort.
The Dubs are a pale shadow of their former selves. The amount of cheap turnovers and basic mistakes were so uncharacteristic of Dublin teams in years gone by. They didn't look like they had the hunger, the belief or the class to win this game.
There looks to be too many holes in this Dublin team for them to be considered All-Ireland contenders. The response to this defeat in the All-Ireland series will be fascinating all the same.
But the story is all about Meath.
It's a magic day for them and Robbie Brennan's next big job is getting his team back down to earth for a Leinster final against Meath in two weeks' time.
What a cracking game between Armagh and Tyrone on Saturday with a dramatic ending.
With Tyrone trailing by two points coming into the last 10 minutes, referee David Gough made a harsh call on steps against Armagh's Ross McQuillan. This was punished down the other end by Peter Harte who hit a brilliant two pointer to level the game.
Kieran McGeeney then lost his cool on the sideline and his team were punished by a Darren McCurry two point free as a result. In the space of two minutes Armagh had gone from two points up to two points down.
McGeeney's frustration was a build-up of what I thought was a number of soft frees that went Tyrone's way in the second half.
It gave them a platform to get back into a game they looked out of midway through the second half. In fairness to Gough, I felt he got the two big calls right coming down the stretch.
The first one was when Michael McKernan took on Stefan Campbell down the end line, in an attempt to win a free. McKernan lifted his arm up and tried to pull Campbell down on top of him. A free to Tyrone at that stage would a have put them three up with four to play but Gough correctly gave the free to Armagh which led to Jarly Og Burns cutting the gap to one down at the other end.
It was a brilliant play by Campbell who kicked the leveller a few minutes later. He is the modern day GAA's version of Ole Gunnar Solskaer. No player affects games more than him when coming off the bench.
He doesn't look like the type of fella that sulks and moans about not starting. He is the ultimate team player and the respect for him in that Armagh dressing room must be huge.
The biggest call of all was the Peter Harte tackle on Conor Turbitt after the hooter had gone. It was a stonewall free. I can't believe some people think it's not a foul.
Harte made absolute no attempt to tackle Turbitt, colliding into him with his two knees.
Armagh's composure in the last three to four minutes proves they are a team brimming with confidence after lifting Sam last year.
Louth needed to show all the grit they have built up over the last few years to see off Kildare in Tullamore yesterday.
For long stages, I though Kildare were the better team. They were brilliant in the first 15 minutes especially, and Louth looked usually flat.
The game nearly ebbed and flowed on the battle of Tommy Durnin and Kevin Feeley in the middle of the pitch, which was a throwback.
Feeley started the game on the front foot and Kildare raced into a six-point lead. When Durnin turned the screw midway through the first half, Louth got a grip on the game and Sam Mulroy and Craig Lennon hit six points between them to get them level.
When the game was in the melting pot and Louth leading by one, Durnin rose over Feeley and caught a massive kick-out. He ended up finishing the move with a monster of a two-pointer to put Louth in their third Leinster final in a row.
Kildare will be gutted but there was steel in that performance which give them something to build on in the Tailteann Cup.