Meath lose to Wicklow and Dublin knocked out because of it

Niall McIntyre

Dublin demolished Westmeath on Tuesday night but it wouldn’t be enough for them to progress.

And then there were four. It seems strange for any kind of Leinster championship to be in its last four stages without a Dublin representation.

After a competitive group stage to the Leinster Minor Football Championship, that’s exactly the case with the Dubs finishing in third place in their side of the draw, missing out on qualification to the semi-finals by the narrowest of margins.

Group one went to the wire and it all boiled down to Tuesday evening’s last round of games to decide who would be progressing.

Meath went into Round Five knowing they already had qualification secure, which meant that Wicklow and Dublin would be fighting it out for the final spot.

Dublin demolished a lagging Westmeath side which meant that the Garden County needed to beat Meath to keep their hopes alive.

Wicklow, bouyed by their giant-killing of Dublin last week, continued their fine form to take Meath by two points.

Leinster Minor Championship Round 5 (Full Time) Meath 1-8 (11) @wicklowgaa 1-10 (13) #AnMhíAbú #COYBIG

— Meath GAA (@MeathGAA) July 3, 2018

We’d say Meath are hurting after that loss.

The hashtag #gaathisismajor couldn’t me more apt to describe what the Wicklow Minor Footballers and the @wicklowgaagca have achieved👌💙💛 Beat Dublin in Parnell Park and backed it up against unbeaten Meath tonight! Leinster Semi Here We Come💪💪 #UpTheGarden #GAA #WicklowGAA pic.twitter.com/s1qyifJDMV

— Bill Hill (@BillHillWicklow) July 3, 2018

The story of the championship has undoubtedly been those boys of Wicklow, however. Kevin O’Brien’s men have taken out both Meath and Dublin in the group stages now and they’ll be growing in confidence come the closing stages of this championship.

Here’s how the standings looked after five games played.

On the other side of the draw, Kildare and Laois will progress. The Lilywhites were untroubled in any of their games, and they now look hot favourites for this competition.