Dublin 0-21
Meath 0-11
Daragh Ó Conchúir reports from Croke Park
THE MARGIN WAS very comfortable in the end but Dublin were given a nice little test by Meath, who showed signs at last that they are moving in the right direction in the opening 45 minutes, before the Leinster and All-Ireland champions’ superior power eased them clear.
In the end, Dublin just wore Meath down but their old rivals were excellent in the first half, defending with intensity and attacking intelligently, with Graham Reilly outstanding throughout.
The St Colmcille’s speedster kicked two early points as Meath went 0-3 to 0-1 ahead and it took a brilliant block by Cian O’Sullivan to deny Dalton McDonagh a goal.
Dean Rock had a splendid day from placed balls though, finishing with 10 points, nine of which came from frees.
He landed his first couple in response to the early Meath flurry and with Diarmuid Connolly, Brian Fenton, Paul Flynn and Bernard Brogan also on the mark, Dublin had moved 0-11 to 0-8 ahead at half time.
The effort started to tell on the Meath players as the second half wore on, though Mick O’Dowd’s crew didn’t help themselves by kicking four wides before Michael Newman finally slotted in the 45th minute.
While never really coughing up a goal chance, they conceded far too many frees though and Rock was unerring.
It was an extremely professional performance by the Blues and Jim Gavin called Bernard Brogan, Kevin McManamon, Cian O’Sullivan and Paul Flynn ashore as he emptied the bench.
Scorers for Dublin: D Rock 0-10(9fs); D Connolly 0-4; B Brogan 0-3; P Flynn 0-2, B Fenton, P Mannion 0-1 each.
Scorers for Meath: M Newman 0-4(3fs); G Reilly, C O’Sullivan (1f) 0-3 each; R Jones 0-1.
DUBLIN
1 Stephen Cluxton
2 Philly McMahon
3 Johnny Cooper
4 David Byrne
5 James McCarthy
6 Cian O’Sullivan
7 John Small
8 Brian Fenton
18 Denis Bastick
23 Paul Flynn
14 Diarmuid Connolly
12 Ciarán Kilkenny
10 Dean Rock
11 Kevin McManamon
15 Bernard Brogan
Subs:
9 Michael Darragh Macauley for Bastick (ht)
13 Paul Mannion for Brogan (53)
17 Paddy Andrews for McManamon (58)
24 Eric Lowndes for Small (60)
22 Michael Fitzsimons for O’Sullivan (63)
26 Con O’Callaghan for Flynn (67)
MEATH
1 Paddy O’Rourke
3 Donal Keogan
2 Donnacha Tobin
4 Mickey Burke
5 Darragh Smyth
6 Padraic Harnan
7 Alan Douglas
8 Harry Rooney
9 Cian O’Brien
10 Graham Reilly
11 Cillian O’Sullivan
12 Eamonn Wallace
13 Dalton McDonagh
14 Andrew Tormey
15 Michael Newman
Subs
25 Ronan Jones for Tormey (53)
26 Seamus Lavin for Eamonn Wallace (54)
22 Joey Wallace for Reilly (64)
18 Sean Tobin for McDonagh (60)
17 Bryan McMahon for O’Sullivan (68)
Referee: Rory Hickey (Clare).
5th Province very unlikely, Connacht struugle to get the supporters need to be viable, a development side, splitting support from one of the established provinces isnt really viable or wanted by the other 4. A team in England or France is unlikely as the IRFU would have to pay millions to have players released for training camps, only realistic options is either a partnership with someone like Dragons/zebre where young players paid by IRFU can go for gametime and player release in agreed, but would the WRU/FIR be happy that Irish players are developing instead of their own? Most realistic is a partnership with the SRU to relaunch a 3rd Scottish side, Boarders or Caledonian Reds, young Irish players and some senior Scottish ones could make a competitive team. Has existing supporter base.
@Kingshu: I’d be sending those post-Academy young players struggling to get game time to the Southern Hemisphere to get game time on loan. Player release isn’t an issue & they need to experience different environments for skill & personal development. Effectively get them doing what Oli Jager has done in NZ but with the option to bring him back after 2 years
@Graham Ross: But how many SH teams would want them in any numbers, for NZ/SA sides they would say why we giving gametime to young Irish players and not young NZ players, that will stay if they are good? Why invest in something they will not get the end result off. Most SR sides would be similar, maybe they would take 2/3 in total, but thats not really going to make a big difference. MLR team may be an option, somewhere with big Irish population, but that isn’t playing with the big boys.