Ennis and Ennis lead the way as Royals retain Lehane Cup
May 06, 2023
Meath's Fionn McHale with Kyle Nolan Carlow during the Peadar lehane Cup final at Pairc Tailteann
Meath 1-22 Carlow 1-9
Meath produced an outstanding second half performance to retain the Peadar Lehane Cup with 13 points to spare over Carlow played in ideal conditions on a splendid Pairc Tailteannn sod.
Jake Nolan put the visitors on the scoreboard first. Eoin Kelleher and Conor Murphy replied for the home side and on the 15th minutes the sides were tied at three points each before Carlow were reduced to 14 players, referee Rory Hanly showing a red card to Ruairi Murphy.
Despite been a man down Carlow were the better team for the remainder of the half and took a 0-7 to 0-6 lead to the dressing room.
The half time talk from manager Ger O’Neill worked and the young Royals came out a totally different team. Substitutes Tiernan Anderson and Luke Ennis were introduced to the action. Ennis went on to give a masterclass and finished with a goal and five, one of his points coming from a sideline cut.
Team captain Kyle Ennis also upped his game in the second half and finished with an impressive tally of ten points.
Meath started the second half with four unanswered points and by the 10th minute had opened up a four point lead before Joey Dalton got the games first goal for Carlow. That’s as good as it got for the visitors as Meath totally dominated the remainder to retain the Peadar Lehane Cup.
Meath scorers: Kyle Ennis 0-10, Luke Ennis 1-5, Mark Leavy and Conor Murphy 0-2 each, Eoin Kelleher, Davin Jones and Daniel Murray 0-1 each.
Carlow scorers: Jake Nolan 0-5, Joey Dalton 1-1, Colm Kavanagh 0-2, Martin Carroll 0-1
Meath: Darren O’Higgins, Odhran Daly, Fionn McHale, Conor McNally, Conor Dixon, Anthony Healy, Adam O’Neill, Fergal Flynn, Mark Leavy, Conor Murphy, Tom Condon, Eoin Kelleher, Malachy Fisher, Kyle Ennis, Patrick Jordan
Subs: Tiernan Anderson, Luke Ennis, Rian Fay, Finn Conroy, Conor Godkin, Daniel Murray, Davin Jones, Christopher Greene
Carlow: Joe Bermingham, Mark Dundon, Gavin Murphy, Eoin Doyle, Dylan McGrath, Martin Carroll, Eoin Doyle, Jake Nolan, Conor Delaney, Colm Kavanagh, Andy Jordan, Ruairi Murphy, Kyle Nolan, Joey Dalton, Jack Foley.
Subs: Robbie Ward, Patrick Kelly, Jack Kelly
Referee: Rory Hanly
