Kildare U20s reach Leinster final with thrilling win over Meath
Kildare beat Meath 1-20 to 2-15 in a cracking semi-final of the 2026 Dalata Hotels Leinster U20 Football Championship
Kildare came out as 1-20 to 2-15 victors against Meath in a cracking Dalata Hotels Leinster U20 Football Championship semi-final. The Lilies will face Louth in the 2026 decider next Wednesday, May 6.
The Lilies opened the scoring through their star man in the fixture, Jimmy Lynch, who got a belt after he slotted over off his preferred left foot.
Meath equalised through Ben Corkery before a five-minute lapse in scoring, which arrived prior to this semi-final really kicking into gear.
John Harkin slotted a two-point free for the visitors before turning provider for Cormac O’Donoghue who pushed The Royals three clear at the 10-minute mark.
Late change to the starting XV Liam Kenny then fired back for The Lilies.
Meath found the net a couple minutes later when Paul Hennessy took aim at the posts but saw his high effort drop short. The Kildare ‘keeper had a dropping ball and the sun to contend with and got his leap for possession all wrong which allowed Colin Scanlon to easily find the net for The Royals.
Kildare responded brilliantly to the setback with three scores and four points on the spin. A gorgeous two-pointer from Jimmy Lynch was followed by singles from Dan Colbert and a free from Lynch. The game sat 1-4 to 0-5 at the mid-point of the opening half.
John Harkin nailed another free for Meath before Lynch was back again to slot a ‘45 and claw The Lilies back to within one.
The gap remained the same with two more points registered at each end as the game entered the final five minutes before the interval.
It was Kildare who finished the half strongest; levelling through Liam Kenny, taking the lead through Colbert and doubling it thanks to Lynch.
The half-time score read 0-12 to 1-7 in Kildare’s favour.
Meath struck first after the restart through Cian Commons but it was Kildare who took control with back-to-back scores from firstly Lynch and then Colm Moran.
However, a minute later the sides were level, when Ben Ryan put Calum Keaveny under pressure with a pass out of the back. The Athy man was turned over and Kildare were wide open. Meath made no mistake and Cormac O’Donoghue took his chance superbly, firing into the top right corner with his left foot. All square at 2-8 to 0-14.
Parity lasted no more than two minutes as Kildare made amends immediately. It was redemption for Keaveny who burst forward and cut inside before letting fly at goal with his effort being blocked and rightly called for a foot-block by the referee. After the official stretched his wingspan, Jimmy Lynch stood over the kick and confidently side-footed into the left-hand side of the net.
Kildare went five clear thanks to points from Ruaidhrí Lawlor and a wonderful team score which finished off the boot of Liam Kenny.
That lead was maintained when goalkeeper Charlie Carroll got a redemptive moment of his own; producing a world-class save to tip Stephen Cahill’s effort, which looked destined for the corner of the net, around the post.
Meath did close the gap through John Harkin who slotted a two-point free to leave this game at 1-16 to 2-10 with 10 minutes to go.
Cormac Smith pointed for Meath to close the gap to two but The Lilies fired back through Ronan Kelly with his first and Colm Moran with his second.
Meath full-forward Cian Commons set up a grandstand finish all on his own when he struck a gorgeous two-pointer and added another point less than a minute later to get his side back to within a single point.
It was the Athy man Moran who again stepped up for Kildare late on to make their advantage a marginally more comfortable two points in the 58th minute.
Meath poured forward but it was Kildare who hit on the counter to go three clear with Jimmy Lynch’s eighth point of the evening.
The Royals again flooded forward and won a free just outside the box which prompted The Lilies to leave eight men and goalkeeper Charlie Carroll on the line.
John Harkin placed the ball on the ground with a sea of white in front of him and opted to put it between the posts, following assurance from the official that some time remained beyond the 64th minute, despite only three being added.
Meath would not get another chance as Kildare impressively closed out for a 1-20 to 2-15 victory.
Kildare: Jimmy Lynch 1-8 (1-0 penalty, 0-1 frees, 1 x 2pt, 1 x '45), Colm Moran 0-3, Liam Kenny 0-3, Daniel Colbert 0-2, Liam Kelly 0-1, Evan Boyle 0-1, Ruaidhrí Lawlor 0-1, Ronan Kelly 0-1 (0-1 frees).
Meath: John Harkin 0-6 (0-6 frees, 2 x 2ptf), Colin Scanlon 1-1, Cormac O'Donoghue 1-1, Cian Commons 0-4 (1 x 2pt), Ben Corkery 0-1, Stephen Carroll 0-1, Cormac Smith 0-1.
KILDARE: Charlie Carroll; Cian McKevitt, Liam Kelly, Senan Gallagher; Calum Keaveny, Finn Dowling, Ben Ryan; Evan Boyle, Ruaidhrí Lawlor; Daniel Colbert, Colm Moran, Jimmy Lynch; Liam Kenny, Euan Cowzer, Ronan Kelly. Subs: Harry Redmond for Calum Keaveny (46 minutes), Luke Murray for Euan Cowzer (46 minutes), Rob Murray for Liam Kenny (51 minutes), Cian Keaveny for Jimmy Lynch (62 minutes).
MEATH: Finn Moore; Cillian Yore, Sam Jordan, Shane Callaghan; Cormac Smith, Colin Scanlon, Kyle O'Brien; Michael McIvor, Paul Hennessy; Eoin McCrudden, John Harkin, Stephen Cahill; Ben Corkery, Cian Commons, Cormac O'Donoghue. Subs: Adam Ducie for Michael McIvor (36 minutes), Seán Delaney for Eoin McCrudden (41 minutes), Ciarán O'Hare for Kyle O'Brien (46 minutes), Pat Crawley for Ben Corkery (5 minutes).
Referee: James Foley (Carlow)