Maher magic sends U20s past Royal in Leinster knockouts

O’Neills.com Leinster U20 Hurling Championship Knockout Stages

Kildare 3-16

Meath 0-12

Kildare comfortably progressed past Meath in the first knockout stage of this year’s Leinster U20 Hurling Championship.

The Lilies were off to a slow start in their last win over Carlow, but this game could not have been further in the opposite direction as Kildare were on fire from minute one.

Top-scorer on the day Fionn Maher raised the first white flag of the afternoon four minutes in with a well-taken free.
Maher would raise the first green flag too following a mazy run from James Dolan who then slipped in the Naas forward. Kildare’s no.15 would find the net in emphatic style, drilling the ball into the far corner to make it 1-1 to no score after eight minutes.

Mark Leavy opened Meath’s account on the day and, as he did on seven more occasions, nailed a free between the posts.
Kildare would hit the net again at the 10-minute mark. A puck-out sent long from Cormac Doolan was brilliantly gathered by Cian O’Reilly who found Ciaran Kirwan in space. Kirwan took aim at the posts, but came up short and his effort was batted away by Meath ‘keeper Ben Mather. The rebound would be swept home by Fionn Maher who put Kildare firmly in the driving seat with his second goal.

The Lilies would also notch the next three points in this game as they moved nine points clear of the opposition. Points from Oisin Lynam and Fionn Maher from ‘65 range were followed by Maher getting another score from the rebound of his own set-piece.

Mark Leavy also would get Meath’s second score when the visitors smartly worked a long-range free to the talisman to make it 2-4 to 0-2.

Kildare would once again take over proceedings and hit the next three scores of the game. A superb Fionn Maher free was followed by a brilliant point from Ciaran Kirwan, who capitalised on great work from Bill Hennessy in earning a turnover.

Mark Leavy would again be the lone Meath player adding points to their side of the ledger before two Oisin Lynam points before the break put Kildare 10 clear.

The Lilies went in at the break with a 2-8 to 0-4 lead over Meath.

Kildare always looked the better team in this game and, despite a strong first half showing, the home side hit nine wides in the opening half and will have felt they have been even further ahead.

Meath, to their credit, would inject some pace into proceedings after the break in an attempt to ignite their chances once more.

The brief raising of the pace would be a short-lived endeavour as Kildare seized control of this tie once more.
Fionn Maher and Ciaran Kirwan would both add to their tallies after the break while Mark Leavy sent two over the bar at the opposite end.

Maher would round off his hat-trick with another outrageously good goal in the 41st minute.. Cian Boran found his Naas teammate in space and Maher hit the top corner like it was nothing to him to make it 3-12 to 0-6.

Kildare would add points through Alex Bell and Tim Ryan as the substitutes got in on the act as The Lilies ran out comfortable winners to progress in this game.

Speaking after the game, Kildare manager Eoin Stapleton said, “I am delighted for them. They were very nervous in the dressing room. Young fellas, in a knockout game and you are trying to tell them it is a knockout game and force them to pay attention to it. Great start, great work-rate, (I am) very happy with them and different fellas stood up at different times.

“Took a small bit of a holiday there for 10 minutes and we still have plenty to work on. But we didn’t get much pitch time over the last weeks with the weather, so hopefully now we get three or four sessions into the boys and we iron out a few of those things. The nerves in the dressing room beforehand, you are trying to calm them and settle them.”

The nerves may have been in the dressing room, but it was certainly not clear to see from the stands as Kildare hit 202 in the opening 10 minutes of this game. But the Lilies boss did say that their nerves contributed to Kildare's reduced shooting accuracy.

MAIN MAN
Fionn Maher
One of the easiest choices for a 'main man' in quite some time as Naas forward Fionn Maher shone brightly on the day with an exceptional 3-7 to his name. The finishes for each were all of outrageous quality too as Maher gave Meath 'keeper Ben Mather no chance with any of them.

TURNING POINT
The early goals were perfect for settling Kildare into this game. The Lilies had some rushed passages of play and wides early on, but settled their nerves with some well-worked goals to move clear of Meath.

TALKING POINT
How far can this team go? With exceptional players like Cian Boran, Oisin Lynam and Daniel O'Meara at the heart of this team, The Lilies have a great chance of going deep into this year's competition.

WHAT NOW?
Kildare will face Laois in the next round of the Leinster U20 Hurling Championship on Friday April 26 at 7:30pm in Manguard Park, Hawkfield.

Scorers: Kildare, Fionn Maher 3-7 (0-6 frees), Oisin Lynam 0-3, Tim Ryan 0-2, Ciaran Kirwan 0-2, Killian Harrington 0-1, Alex Bell 0-1.

Meath, Mark Leavy 0-9 (0-8 frees), Mark Horan 0-1, Noah Conroy 0-1, Darren O'Higgins 0-1.

KILDARE: Cormac Doolan; Evan O'Briain, Liam O'Reilly, Conor O'Grady; Finnán Ó Dúlaing, Daniel O'Meara, Bill Hennessy; Oisín Lynam, Cian Boran; Enda Keane, Cian O'Reilly, Ciaran Kirwan; James Dolan, Killian Harrington, Fionn Maher. Subs: Charlie Carroll for Cian O'Reilly (15 minutes), Tim Ryan for Killian Harrington (Half-time), Alex Bell for James Dolan (48 minutes), Theo Frisby for Oisin Lynam (51 minutes), Dylan Doherty for Bill Hennessy (57 minutes).

Meath: Ben Mather; Cian O'Sullivan, Cian Colhoun, Conor Dixon; Paul Hennessy, Daire Shine, Craig Gilsenan; Darragh Heffernan, Mark Horan; Lorcan Byrne, Domnhall Rogers, Patrick Jordan; Tom Shine, Paddy Barnwell, Mark Leavy. Subs: Tiernan Anderson for Cormac Byrne (5 minutes, Blood Sub), Cormac Byrne for Tiernan Anderson (9 minutes, Blood Sub), Tiernan Anderson for Patrick Jordan (36 minutes), Darren O'Higgins for Patrick Jordan (40 minutes), Noah Conroy for Paul Hennessy (43 minutes), Darragh Horan for Domhnall Rogers (43 minutes).

Referee: Gearoid McGrath (Wexford)