Newbridge no match for 14-man North Meath
Steven McElligott wins the lineout as Newbridge set up their opening try. Photo: Mark Comerford.
14-man North Meath lifted the 2026 Leinster Towns Seconds Plate on Friday night thanks to a brilliant performance against Newbridge in Rosetown.
The Kildare club crossed for an early try and saw North Meath reduced to 14 men midway through the half, but the visitors scored three tries in ten minutes to lead by 12 points at half time.
Despite having home advantage and the numerical advantage for over an hour, Newbridge were second best in the final, with a consolation try at the end meaning the scoreboard did not tell the full story of North Meath's dominance.
The quarter-finals saw Newbridge get past New Ross before beating Cill Dara by nine points in the all-Kildare semi-final. North Meath, meanwhile, overcame Clondalkin and Athy before running in six tries on their way to a comprehensive win over Longford in the semis.
Newbridge, in unfamiliar white and gold, got off to a dream start in the decider, with Michael Ugochukwu powering over for the opening try after just six minutes. The hosts won a penalty and kicked to the corner before mauling their way to the North Meath line. They were awarded another penalty, opting to tap this time, and there was no stopping the big prop as Ugochukwu crossed the line. Donal Cashman followed by curling over a lovely conversion to make it 7-0.
The visitors went in search of a response and pinned Newbridge back inside their own half for most of the next 15 minutes, only to be repelled time and again by the home side's hard-nosed defence.
The game took a sour turn midway through the half when North Meath were reduced to 14 men. A brawl broke out on the deck between Adam Smithers and Eoin Briody, but the main offender was Alex King, who came flying in with a diving knee to Smithers, leaving referee Tom O'Malley no option but the show a red card to the North Meath flanker.
Newbridge were betrayed by their handling throughout the first half and struggled to make use of the numbers advantage.
Instead it was the away team who scored next, going quick from a penalty as Jordan Hering caught Newbridge unaware, sending a cross-field kick towards Oisin McDermott who centered over in the corner.
North Meath showed tremendous grit moments later when they turned the ball over in midfield before Shea McManus found a gap and raced away under the posts for his side's second try. Nathan Kiernan made hard work of the conversion, but the ball got over to make it 12-7 after 33 minutes.
Remarkably, the 14 men pressed on after that. They somehow had an overlap out wide despite being a man down, and while they didn't get over in the corner they held on to the ball, went through the phases and sent Daniel Adekunle over for yet another try. Kiernan again added the extras to leave North Meath up 19-7 at the interval.
Newbridge badly needed a fast start, but the situation was worsened just five minutes after the restart when big prop Sean Gilsenan crashed over from close range for a fourth try for North Meath.
Newbridge mercifully took the next score, winning a five-metre scrum in front of the North Meath posts and popping the ball straight to Cashman who went over for the try. The fly half converted himself to make it 24-14 with less than half an hour left to play.
Newbridge found themselves camped in their own 22 after that, however, as North Meath continued to make a mockery of the man disadvantage.
The home side kept it at ten points and worked their way back onto the attack in the final quarter. But despite some big performances from Michael Ugochukwu, Connall Sharkey, Robert Waters and Gregor Gourlay, Newbridge were their own worst enemy with a huge amount of unforced errors costing them possession, territory and momentum.
A 50-22 from Waters gave the hosts a good attacking platform, but after being forced coast-to-coast, North Meath intercepted the ball and looked certain to put the game to bed, only for a miracle intervention from Gourlay to get back and put an end to the move.
Newbridge were out on their feet, however, and spent most of the closing stages defending. But they showed great to work their way up the field where North Meath defence was finally breached with a slick pass out to Adam Smithers, who finished well.
That was all she wrote as the men from Meath captured the Plate.
Adam Smithers (1 try); James Kennedy, Gregor Gourlay, Robert Waters, Josh Anidi; Donal Cashman (1 try, 2 cons), Fergal Doyle; Connall Sharkey, Adam Bingham, Michael Ugochukwu (1 try); Callum Reynolds-Sourke, Steven McElligott; Chris Leech, Scott McMullan, Patrick Corbett.
Joss Hulin, Eoin Collins, Jack Madden, Jamie Smith, Conor O'Brien, Nathan McDonald, Declan Tougher.
Jordan Hering; Shea McManus (1 try), Sean O'Reilly, Eoin Briody, Conor Rennicks; Oisin McDermott (1 try), Nathan Kiernan (2 cons); Graham Boland, Keith O'Neill, Sean Gilsenan (1 try); Harry Finnegan, Denis Cannon; Alex Duff, Alex Kenny, Peter Flanagan.
Daniel Adekunle (1 try), Padraic McGurl, Eoghan Cosgrove, Tommy Brady, Simon Deevy, Eanna Finn, Brian O'Connor.
Tom O'Malley.
