Sam Mulroy's storybook second half sees Louth win Leinster for the first time since 1957
Liberation comes wreathed in red flare smoke, swirling down from the Hill and down through the decades. The
Louth
players skittered around Croke Park like bowling pins at the end, sent flying by 68 years of history. Leinster champions for the first time since De Valera was Taoiseach.
They beat
Meath
here thanks to a storybook second-half from Sam Mulroy, who missed his first four shots after the break and then didn't miss again. They hung in there with three first-half goals, haymakers that just about kept them in a fight that they had been losing to a jabbing, accurate Meath.
They are Leinster champions, the first non-Dublin ones since 2010 and all that. Mulroy shrugged afterwards when asked if the
noise and controversy from that game 15 years ago
had any affect here, shaking his head as if the very idea was ludicrous. He was a 12-year-old boy in tears in the Hogan Stand that day. Winning Leinster in 2025 has nothing to do with any of those old ghosts.
'I think it's just dedication and effort and buy-in from everyone bringing it to a new level and demanding more of themselves. People coming in, like Ger, and demanding more from us and seeing the bigger picture that we can do it.
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'As Ger always says, 'They have two legs and two arms, just like us.' No matter who we're playing. It was just a case of bringing everyone up to a level and up the ante and going after what we had to go after.'
Meath's Mathew Costello and Louth's Peter Lynch. Photograph: James Crombie/Inpho
They dug a fair hole for themselves here with a first half that threatened to get away from them a few times. Meath started better, bucking out to a 0-5 to 0-2 lead after 20 minutes. Ruairí Kinsella was everywhere, goalkeeper Billy Hogan came up and kicked a two-point free. On a day when Croke Park was in full bottle rocket mode, Robbie Brennan's side settled into it with minimal fuss.
Louth caught hold of a lifeline when Mulroy iced a penalty on 20 minutes, after Donal Keogan fouled Kieran McArdle as he went to shoot for goal. And when the excellent Craig Lennon burst through to put Ryan Burns in for Louth's second goal soon after, you would have forgiven Meath for shrinking into themselves. They were suddenly 2-3 to 0-6 behind, pretty much out of nowhere.
Meath didn't wilt though. Brennan has a mostly youthful team on his hands but they don't lack for courage. They came back at Louth and reeled off the next six scores in a row, one of them a two-pointer from the outstanding Kinsella. The young Meath centre-forward laid on scores from James Conlon and Seán Coffey into the bargain, leaving Meath 0-13 to 2-3 ahead a minute short of the break.
There's a reason Lennon was Louth's first All Star in 14 seasons last year. He scythed through the Meath cover with a roadrunner break on 35 minutes, burying his finish into Hogan's top corner to keep his side breathing. It meant they were just a point down at half-time and bounced into the dressingrooms much the happier bunch.
Meath's Donal Keogan dejected after the game. Photograph: Tom Maher/Inpho
You wouldn't say they changed very much after the break but they were definitely much more on the front foot. There wasn't much of a wind in Croke Park but what there was, they had at their back in the second half, meaning they could take more shots and attack more of Hogan's kick-outs. Mulroy wasn't going to die wondering anyway – he came out blazing for two-pointers and missed with his first four efforts.
But by bit, he found his radar. After missing an early 45, he finally nailed one on 50 minutes to bring Louth back to within a point. Meath had just seen Jordan Morris announce his return from injury with a point off the bench with his first involvement in the game. Little did the Meath fans celebrating at the time know that his point in the 47th minute would be their last of the day.
Louth kicked on. Mulroy landed a beauty on the loop and then another off his left. With 10 minutes to go, they were back in the lead – 3-11 to 0-18. But some over-elaborate messing on the halfway line gave Meath a chance of a break. Again, it was Kinsella who got them going, feeding Morris who put Matthew Costello away for their only goal. Eight minutes to go, Meath ahead by a point.
Louth's Bevan Duffy celebrates with his daughter Lydia after the game. Photograph: Tom Maher/Inpho
The place was in orbit now, every possession a heart attack. The killer decision came on 65 minutes, referee Martin McNally award Louth a soft enough free 47 metres out. Mulroy didn't need to be asked twice and he nosed Louth into the lead again.
For there on, they used all the experience from being in last year's final to see themselves home. Meath chased and chased but couldn't get the ball back.
History can take a number. It's Louth's turn now.
MEATH:
B Hogan (0-2-0, 2tpf); S Lavin, S Rafferty, B O'Halloran; D Keogan (0-0-1), S Coffey (0-0-1), C Caulfield; J Flynn, B Menton; C Duke, R Kinsella (0-1-2), K Curtis (0-0-1); M Costello (1-0-1), J Conlon (0-0-1), E Frayne (0-0-4, 2f).
Subs:
J Morris (0-0-1) for Curtis (45 mins); S Walsh for Duke (53); A Lynch for Kinsella (62); D McGowan for Conlon (68).
LOUTH:
N McDonnell; D Nally, D Campbell, D McKenny; C McKeever, P Lynch, C Lennon (1-0-1); T Durnin, A McDonnell; B Duffy (0-0-1), C Downey (0-0-1), C Grimes (0-0-1); K McArdle, S Mulroy (1-1-5, 1-0 pen, 1tpf, 2f, 1 45), R Burns (1-1-1).
Subs:
C Keenan for McArdle (45 mins); Pl Matthews for McDonnell (46); C Byrne for Burns (62); D McDonnell for Duffy (65); E Carolan for Nally (70).
Referee:
M McNally (Monaghan).
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