Leinster U20: Dublin surge past fancied Meath in Navan

Meath 0-10 Dublin 0-14

A strong second-half performance elevated Dublin to a significant win over neighbours Meath in Navan, securing Jim Lehane's side a Leinster U-20 FC final spot.

Meath were dominant when many of the same players met at the minor grade but past history counted for little at Pairc Tailteann where Dublin built on a two-point half-time lead to win by a deserved four.

It was their fourth win of the campaign having previously topped their group with wins over Wicklow, Louth and Offaly and they will play Kildare in the final next week.

Ross Keogh top scored with five points for Dublin though it was a strong overall team performance with Alex Gavin standing out in a defence that held a fancied Meath to just five points from play in near perfect conditions.

Next week's decider will be an opportunity for Dublin, chasing a 17th provincial title, to go one better than last year's final defeat.

As for the Royals, their campaign is over and they will be frustrated at their failure to build on a promising start with the goal they badly needed never arriving.

John McCarthy's home team fancied their chances with a team composed largely of Leinster minor title winners from 2020 and 2021.

With many of the same players lining out back then, the Royals beat Dublin convincingly in the 2021 provincial minor final and went on to win the All-Ireland that year.

They were the better side initially at the upper grade this time and should have been further than 0-06 to 0-05 ahead after 25 minutes.

Captain and free-taker Eoghan Frayne slotted three points while Shaun Leonard, who memorably kicked the winning point in the 2021 All-Ireland minor decider, added another.

Ciaran Caulfield, impressive for Meath in last week's quarter-final