Meath fend off Derry fightback to claim Christy Ring Cup

Just as they did in the Allianz Hurling League, Meath turned the disappointment of relegation in 2022 into promotion and silverware in 2023 in this evening's Christy Ring Cup final at Croke Park.

However they gave their supporters palpitations on the way, coughing up a 13-point advantage to lead by just the bare minimum going into stoppage time.

James Regan duly stepped up to win a free and knock over his 14th score of the afternoon, and that proved vital as Derry engineered one last chance, but since they trailed by two points at the time, Cormac O’Doherty could only attempt to float the sliotar into the danger area, and Meath were able to block off the danger one last time.

Royal County supporters will wonder how they possibly let it come to that, as even allowing for the breeze, they had more than enough done in the opening 45 minutes to cruise through the final third.

Éamon Ó Donnchadha was sensational, picking off three points from play, including one stunning strike from the Cusack Stand sideline, as they exploded out of the blocks to lead by 0-07 to 0-00 after ten minutes.

Derry finally got off the mark through an excellent Seán Kelly catch and strike two minutes later, though the Dungiven man was injured as he did so, and it wasn't until the fifth minute of the second half that the Oak Leaf men added a second point from play.

James Regan did the bulk of the scoring for Meath, but they used the breeze well and picked off some nice scores from distance, including points for midfielders Pa Ryan and Martin Healy, as well as a fine strike from Simon Ennis.

Cormac O’Doherty kept Derry partially in the game with frees, but the half-time score of 0-17 to 0-07 was a fair reflection of play up to that point, and once Nicky