Mad to think 15 years since the famous day and that finally a final without the Dubs.I think it will be very close.Louth have some fine players Lennon,Durin,Mulroy would get on most teams.They will be mad to beat us and end their wait for championship silverware but we also have a great chance to get some sliver ourselves.I would love for Keoghan and Menton to finally get a medal for all the years they put in.Im hoping the open space in croke park will suit us more and the running power of Costello,caulfield and Conlon inside might give us joy.Jones with another 2 weeks under his belt as well.Anyone know if Jack flynn injury is bad?Got my tickets and cant wait.I know at least 40 people (most had fallen away) who didn't go to Portlaoise are now going to the final and have got tickets.Its great and hopefully thousands more do because the lads need and deserve the countys support.So get on board all and let's make it a sea of green.

Proudroyal (Meath) - Posts: 339 - 29/04/2025 17:09:05    2605468

This is a 50/50 game but think Meath with maybe the exception of Monaghan have embraced the new rules more than any other county in the country. Free flowing direct football is back and this suits Meath more than Louth who are more measured and were comfortable with defensive old rules. Both teams have changed alot since last League match so hard to know how that applies to form book. Louth are stronger than Dublin at midfield and in Sam Mulroy have a huge two pointer threat. Craig Lennon needs an awful lot of watching. It'll be all about getting performance right on the day.

winatallcost (Meath) - Posts: 634 - 29/04/2025 17:45:00    2605483

Booked my flights, hotel and got my tickets for The Hill today. Was swithering as to whether I could afford it but after 15 years I don't think I could afford to miss it! Not a gimme by any stretch of the imagination, Louth are a good side, but it would be phenomenal to see a Meath Leinster win in the flesh. So excited!

GlasgowRoyal (Meath) - Posts: 295 - 29/04/2025 18:44:52    2605503

Went on ticketmaster this morning and theres nearly nothing left on Davin, Cusack or Hogan bottom tier.
Looks like top tier isn't open yet

LettuceBFrank (Meath) - Posts: 21 - 30/04/2025 09:50:05    2605587

Assuming Ronan Jones is going to start. Who's coming out?

Coylesrighthand (Meath) - Posts: 17 - 30/04/2025 12:51:32    2605656

So if we win its Monaghan,Down and most likely Clare and if we lose Cork,Roscommon and likely Kerry.

Proudroyal (Meath) - Posts: 339 - 30/04/2025 14:13:39    2605689

If there is anything we've learned from the past is we can't get carried away after a big win like this e.g Kerry 2001 when we lost AI final and Dublin in 2010 when we underperformed in the Leinster Final. So RBs task is to keep the players feet on the ground for the next couple weeks as the hype is building massively. I think if we perform close to what we did against Dublin which will be tough, we'll be in with a great shout. Would be great to have a few lads back even on the bench like Jones the last day, as that could be massive. We look to have an advantage there. Louth have a great 1-15 but if we've the likes of Jones, Walsh and Lynch coming off the bench in a tight game to get us over the line you'd have to be confident.

NYRoyal (USA) - Posts: 40 - 30/04/2025 15:30:49    2605738

nobull456 (Meath) - Posts: 1277 - 01/05/2025 08:52:35    2605919

Anything but a Meath win simply isn't acceptable. Meath beating Dublin should of finally woken the team up to what they are capable off, so should be going up a few levels in standard, with renewed confidence, belief and fight.

Louth are very good, but we're simply better playing to our potential. If beating Dublin isn't the spark that will push this team on, and to greater heights, we may as well forget about it as a footballing county. A must win game, with no excuses! Time for Meath to finally step up again, one of gaelic footballs heavyweights. We have to start producing the results again!

32_4_1 (Meath) - Posts: 4139 - 01/05/2025 23:28:56    2606169

southmeathgael (Meath) - Posts: 975 - 02/05/2025 07:32:02    2606179

Think Louth are slight favourites. They've been beaten us well in the most recent two meetings. They've been in past two Leinster finals. They're far stronger in midfield than the Dubs. Their strong runners really seem to hurt us. They're been operating a higher level than us recently, and showed in the league match that they're a bit savvier. The under 20s win will give the whole county a big boost. You can't discount the 15 years of seething over the 2010 final. Or the energy they'll take from a shot at making history (68 years of hurt trumps 15 years of hurt).
But, but, but. When we've looked good this year (Roscommon, Ofally second half, Dublin match) we've looked very good. Croker should suit this team. Jones should be back from the start next week. The injuries we suffered earlier in the year means the bench is now looking stronger and more experienced. There's a little more pressure on Louth IMO.
Very hard to call, but it will be a great occasion.
But the commenter suggesting it's win or bust for Meath is way off. Though I'm sure if we do lose then the same posters who have been very quiet this week will be back on to declare the death of Meath football.

MeathAbroad (Meath) - Posts: 158 - 02/05/2025 10:21:01    2606216

Proudroyal (Meath) - Posts: 339 - 02/05/2025 11:40:59    2606240

Naturally 2010 Leinster final will be highlighted especially in Louth circles, one of my first days supporting Meath was 50 years ago 1975 national league final, we shocked the dubs that day, like last week it was unbelievable, a couple of weeks later we headed back to croker for 1st round of the Leinster championship to face Louth, full of confidence ,1st step on the way to having another crack at Dublin in the Leinster semi final…. Result ; Louth vs Dublin in Leinster semi final in navan. Absolutely stunned , I'm more hopeful than confident this time

royler (Meath) - Posts: 293 - 02/05/2025 12:06:47    2606252

I really don't think it's worth reading into the recent League game too much. Meath beat themselves that day.

We won the toss and played against the wind. Ran the ball down blind channels and took the wrong option every time. Kicked aimless wides and dropped several into keepers hands.

We coughed up half a dozen turn overs for counter scores including 3 or 4 two point kicks in a row that went unchallenged. I think they scored 4 or 5 in that first half. The goal was also from a Hogan poor misplaced kickout.

It meant we were 11 or 12 points down at half time and having to chase game.

At midfield Menton and Flynn were under most ball but broke it down to a Louth player. Bad fielding.

We had no Jones or Coffey available that and Mathew Costello only came back as a substitute in second half.

Frayne kicked a hat full of wides as did Hogan.

It was a shocker of a performance by Meath but credit to Louth who were clinical and much more economical with the ball when they had.

My concern would be how much mental weight those victories would have with Louth knowing they have beaten Meath in the last 2 meetings.

They will need to do it in Croke Park though and not Inniskeen. If Meath can back up the performance of last Sunday they'll be hard to stop.

Royalio11 (Meath) - Posts: 789 - 02/05/2025 14:12:55    2606299

southmeathgael (Meath) - Posts: 975 - 02/05/2025 18:59:10    2606345

i think win or lose next week, the timing of this team in beating dublin great, they have beaten them while still young, the good meath team from 2006 to 2011 didnt beat dublin until 2010, they really should have beaten them in 2005, 2007 and 2009, dublin were there for them to beat, had meath beat dublin in 2005 they could have went close to leinster although laois were good then, but in 2007 it was meaths leinster to win. they may have kicked on to get to an all ireland final around 2009 or 2010 then. this meath team with underage thats coming wil beat dublin numerous times in championship. other leinster counties like louth and kildare need to beat them as well for there own sake over next few years. very few really superstar young dublin players out there coming through

dickie10 (UK) - Posts: 824 - 02/05/2025 22:59:38    2606363

32_4_1 (Meath) - Posts: 4139 - 03/05/2025 00:59:11    2606373

Fionn (Dublin) - Posts: 4219 - 03/05/2025 08:41:50    2606385

Really looking forward to this game. win against the dubs have gave us great confidence however we all know Louth are no mugs, their 3rd leinster final in a row, to be honest one could argue they are probably a little more structured/settled and experienced than us at present as we have been doing plenty of chopping and changing the last number of years on the pitch.
Hopefully we have a full bill of health next Sunday, Having Coffey and jones back is really positive and Flynn should also be ready.
Need Costello to have as big game again, he was the best player on the field last weekend, Dubs could not handle him at all, even tried doubling up on him but to no avail, so strong, skilful and direct.

Again our tactics should be no different, don't concede a goal or goals we win.

Best of luck to all the players and management and of course the one and only paddy doyle, another great servant to Meath football.

thelutch (Meath) - Posts: 1094 - 03/05/2025 12:32:17    2606409

There is pressure on both teams. This is not like 2010 where Meath went in as unbackable favourites and it was Louth's first final in 50 years. This will be Louth's third Leinster final in a row. They were hockeyed by Dublin in the first, were relatively competitive against Dublin last year (despite never really looking like they were going to win). This year, it won't be against Dublin so there will definitely be more expectation than the last two years and particularly compared to 2010. Also, having beaten Meath in the championship and the league the last two meetings, there is pressure for them to follow up with another victory when there's silverware on the line.

However, there's also pressure on us, let's not kid ourselves. First Leinster team to beat Dublin in 15 years was incredible, but will count for naught if we don't beat Louth. In 2010, we failed to perform in the final having deservedly beaten Dublin. Louth are a much better team than 2010 so if we're not at a similar level as last Sunday, Louth will be out of sight by the end. However, I'm fairly confident that the management have already taken steps to reign in any celebrations. Even with the pitch invasion, the trainers were warming down players amongst the crowd.

It's impossible to call. Jones in midfield should give us the edge in that area but Louth's forward line is probably operating at a higher level than hours and they seem to be more economical with their chances (one of the main reasons they beat Kildare) so we'll definitely need to improve in that area if we're to win.

Cannot bloody wait. My kids have never seen the men win a thing so there is huge excitement for them.

Ratoath Royal (Meath) - Posts: 1383 - 03/05/2025 13:07:03    2606412