DUBLIN1-17, MEATH 0-4
Dublin were well below their best and still cruised to their 58th Leinster title at a rain-soaked Croke Park.
The Royal County left their shooting boots at home and missed time and again in one of the worst attacking displays witnessed at the grand old stadium in recent years.
Jack McCaffrey (below) and Brian Fenton were the two outstanding players on show while Dean Rock made a scoring point in his late cameo.
It took 11 minutes for the first score of the game. Meath were bright in the opening stages but could not find a rewarding score. Ciaran Kilkenny was the first player on either side to raise the flag and the first half ended 0-5 to 0-1.
The biggest talking points of the first half were a Paul Mannion penalty miss – striking the post of Andrew Colgan – and Dubs defender James McCarthy limping off.
At the break, former Kerry star Pat Spillane accused Dublin of ‘fluting about’ and playing in second gear while Meath’s scoring return of 0-1 from 11 opportunities (9% success rate) was also noted.
(Photo by Ray McManus/Sportsfile)The bleak scoring scenario played out again in the second half as Dublin finally got going while Meath contrived to miss chance after chance.
Mickey Newman did get a point for the Royals but he was livid at himself for blazing over the bar with just Stephen Cluxton to beat.
Cormac Costello was withdrawn after a poor free was dragged wide and Rock, his replacement, gave Jim Gavin a reminder of his abilities with two quick points.
The exclamation point was delivered when Rock’s hand-pass teed up Con O’Callaghan to slam home a goal after 67 minutes.
OUR MAN OF THE MATCH: Jack McCaffrey (Dublin)
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