Kildare and Meath set to renew rivalry in Leinster Minor decider

On Friday night, Kildare minor footballers will go back to where it all started two months earlier as they head to Portlaoise to take on Meath in the sixth meeting of the counties in a Leinster Final at the grade.

Kildare kicked off their Leinster campaign with a fairly run-of-the-mill 1-12 to 0-9 win over Laois in the rain at the O’Moore Park venue, and they’ll be hoping for better conditions this time as they hope to clinch a tenth title at a grade which is almost a century old having been introduced in 1929.

Meath and Kildare were slow starters when it came to minor football. Remarkably they contested ten finals between them before either proved successful. Meath had lost four, including the previous three-in-a-row to Dublin, before they finally beat Offaly in 1957 Meanwhile generations of young Lilywhites were vanquished in six finals (1934, 1940, 1942, 1949, 1953, 1965) before Jack Graham of Raheens finally captained them to a win over Laois in 1973.

Meath have a slight upper hand in final clashes between the two having won the deciders of 1980, 1990 and 2018 while Kildare beat the Royals in the 1975 and 1983 affairs.

But there’s a distinctly white hue to the rivalry in recent times with the Lilywhites having won the last six championship clashes between the two including last year’s Paul McGirr Cup final in Tullamore as well as the Group clash in Skryne back this spring.

Indeed, Meath have only lowered Kildare colours once at this grade in nine meetings stretching back to 2009, though that was in the one final between the two in 2018. Alex Beirne was a start turn on that Kildare team with county hurler Muiris Curtin coming on as a sub in the final.

When the sides met that evening in Skryne in early April, Kildare turned in arguably their most impressive performance of the campaign, winning 1-16 to 1-11 on a night when both sides played exciting, attacking football. Supporters could be in for a treat if they can approach the final the same way.

Kildare followed that with a disappointing fade-out against Louth in their final group game but with Meath also losing to Louth, the Lilywhites finished second in the group and into the Quarter Final while Meath had to go through the Preliminary route.

Meath, under the guidance of All Ireland winning former star Trevor Giles, attacked the knock-out stages with gusto and put eleven goals past Wicklow and Offaly to reach the semi-finals while Kildare put five past Westmeath in the opening half of their quarter-final against Westmeath.

Last week’s semi-finals saw Kildare considered by many, including Louth manager Eamonn McEneaney, to emerge with a four-point victory on a night when the Wee County kicked an ocean of wides. McEneaney argued Louth were the better team but isn’t putting the ball over or under the bar one of the ways in which “better” is measured?

On the same night, Meath’s resurgence from a difficult start to the campaign continued as they overcame Dublin 2-14 to 2-8 with Milo Stafford top-scoring with 1-4. If that surname is familiar the Kilmainham man is a nephew of the great Brian Stafford and has similar traits in the scoring department.

Meath will provide stern opposition as Kildare go in search of a third Minor and Under-20/21 title, having previously achieved the feat in 1983 and 2013, but Kildare have shown a similar calm authority similar to the under-20’s. Charlie Doran has been the standout performer, anchoring the team as a centre-back or defensive midfielder while Jack Reilly (1-18) and Greg Kelly (0-13) led the scoring charts from early on, though their returns have tailed off a little.

Crucially, Aidan Tobin and Cian Keogh have stepped up to the scoring plate since their introduction in the last couple of matches and that breadth of options suggests they can go on and lift the trophy. Eoghan Lyons has been a consistent performer all through scoring 1-9.

Both teams are already assured of an All-Ireland Quarter Final place with all provincial finalists going through to the last eight.