LOGAN TENNYSON WON’T forget this dramatic Friday evening in Portlaoise any time soon.
Brought on early in the second half of a tense Leinster MFC decider, the St Kevin’s man broke Meath hearts by forcing extra time with a late 1-1.
After 20 extra minutes he then popped up with another equaliser, this time a pointed free, to shove the game to penalties.
And Tennyson was one of the five Kildare penalty takers to convert too. Goalkeeper Joe Crotty pulled off a crucial save from Meath captain Harry McGuirk to secure a 10th title at the grade and a first since 2019.
That was unfortunate for McGuirk after a powerful performance, but Meath are still alive and will face Munster champions Cork in an All-Ireland quarter-final.
Kildare, meanwhile, will face Munster runners-up Kerry and will hope for another tour de force from player of the match Greg Kelly who, like Tennyson, scored 1-2.
Kildare had five points to spare when the sides previously met in early April in Skryne, the home club of Meath manager Trevor Giles.
That was Meath’s second loss after a defeat to Louth, so they had to beat Laois in their last group game just to advance.
But they did so in style, slamming in five goals, and they added six more against Wicklow, five against Offaly and two in the semi-final win over Dublin.
The only blot on Kildare’s copybook was a group game loss to Louth, a result they avenged with a 1-11 to 0-10 semi-final win.
They got the brighter start this time too, sniping early points from Eoghan Lyons and Jack Reilly.
Wind-assisted Kildare were the better side for the first 25 minutes too but a fourth-minute Liam O’Donoghue goal kept Meath in it.
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And when the Royals finished out the half with points from Milo Stafford and Conn Brennan, they tied it up at 1-5 to 0-8.
That was more than acceptable from their perspective, considering the wind and a couple of decent point chances and a goal opportunity that Kildare wasted.
The third quarter was tense, and the sides split four points between them, Jack Reilly with a couple of Kildare points from frees, 1-7 to 0-10.
That’s when Meath came alive with their best passage of play, reeling off four more points without a response.
McGuirk pulled the strings as Stafford, Leo Kavanagh, Brennan and Cormac Walsh finished off sweet moves, leaving Meath 1-11 to 0-10 up deep into stoppage time.
But Kildare simply refused to relent, and when Fiachra Martin’s shot at goal was blocked, Tennyson swept up the crumbs and fired to the net.
Almost inevitably, Kildare then conjured the equaliser four minutes into stoppage time, Tennyson the hero again as he tied it up at 1-12 to 1-12.
They scored a point each in the first half of extra time, which suited Meath as they’d played into the wind.
The Royals thought they’d won it when they cancelled out Kelly’s 74th-minute goal with four points, including a two-pointer from Stafford.
But Tennyson intervened again, curling over the leveller from a free that was won by Kelly to set up the penalty shoot-out.
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Tennyson the thorn in Meath's side as Kildare triumph in Leinster minor final
Electric Ireland Leinster MFC final
Kildare 2-13
Meath 1-16
(After extra time – Kildare win 5-3 on penalties)
****
LOGAN TENNYSON WON’T forget this dramatic Friday evening in Portlaoise any time soon.
Brought on early in the second half of a tense Leinster MFC decider, the St Kevin’s man broke Meath hearts by forcing extra time with a late 1-1.
After 20 extra minutes he then popped up with another equaliser, this time a pointed free, to shove the game to penalties.
And Tennyson was one of the five Kildare penalty takers to convert too. Goalkeeper Joe Crotty pulled off a crucial save from Meath captain Harry McGuirk to secure a 10th title at the grade and a first since 2019.
That was unfortunate for McGuirk after a powerful performance, but Meath are still alive and will face Munster champions Cork in an All-Ireland quarter-final.
Kildare, meanwhile, will face Munster runners-up Kerry and will hope for another tour de force from player of the match Greg Kelly who, like Tennyson, scored 1-2.
Kildare had five points to spare when the sides previously met in early April in Skryne, the home club of Meath manager Trevor Giles.
That was Meath’s second loss after a defeat to Louth, so they had to beat Laois in their last group game just to advance.
But they did so in style, slamming in five goals, and they added six more against Wicklow, five against Offaly and two in the semi-final win over Dublin.
The only blot on Kildare’s copybook was a group game loss to Louth, a result they avenged with a 1-11 to 0-10 semi-final win.
They got the brighter start this time too, sniping early points from Eoghan Lyons and Jack Reilly.
Wind-assisted Kildare were the better side for the first 25 minutes too but a fourth-minute Liam O’Donoghue goal kept Meath in it.
And when the Royals finished out the half with points from Milo Stafford and Conn Brennan, they tied it up at 1-5 to 0-8.
That was more than acceptable from their perspective, considering the wind and a couple of decent point chances and a goal opportunity that Kildare wasted.
The third quarter was tense, and the sides split four points between them, Jack Reilly with a couple of Kildare points from frees, 1-7 to 0-10.
That’s when Meath came alive with their best passage of play, reeling off four more points without a response.
McGuirk pulled the strings as Stafford, Leo Kavanagh, Brennan and Cormac Walsh finished off sweet moves, leaving Meath 1-11 to 0-10 up deep into stoppage time.
But Kildare simply refused to relent, and when Fiachra Martin’s shot at goal was blocked, Tennyson swept up the crumbs and fired to the net.
Almost inevitably, Kildare then conjured the equaliser four minutes into stoppage time, Tennyson the hero again as he tied it up at 1-12 to 1-12.
They scored a point each in the first half of extra time, which suited Meath as they’d played into the wind.
The Royals thought they’d won it when they cancelled out Kelly’s 74th-minute goal with four points, including a two-pointer from Stafford.
But Tennyson intervened again, curling over the leveller from a free that was won by Kelly to set up the penalty shoot-out.
Kildare scorers: Greg Kelly, Logan Tennyson (1f) 1-2 each, Jack Reilly 0-5 (0-4f), Eoghan Lyons 0-2 (0-1f), Fionn Lawlor, Páidí Ryan 0-1 each.
Meath scorers: Milo Stafford 0-6 (0-3f, 1 tp), Liam O’Donoghue 1-0, Conn Brennan, Harry McGuirk 0-3 each, Cormac Fitzsimons (1f), Leo Kavanagh, Cormac Walsh, Tomás Dillon 0-1 each.
Kildare
1. Joe Crotty (St Kevin’s)
7. Luke Shanahan (Sallins), 3. Ryan Crawford (Kilcock), 2. Eoin Markey (Kill)
5. Fionn Lawlor (St Laurence’s), 6. Jack Doran (Clane), 4. Liam Mescal (Eadestown)
8. Charlie Doran (Clane – Captain), 9. Páidí Ryan (Round Towers)
10. Jamie Flood (Maynooth), 14. Greg Kelly (Castledermot), 12. Eoghan Lyons (Clane)
13. Jack Reilly (Kill), 11. Aidan Tobin (Allenwood), 15. Cian Kehoe (Castledermot)
Subs:
Meath
1. Cormac Fitzsimons (Navan O’Mahonys)
2. Ben Browne (Simonstown Gaels), 3. Tomás Clarke (Dunshaughlin), 4. Niall Rogan (St Michaels)
5. Liam O’Donoghue (St Colmcilles), 8. John Killoran (Na Fianna), 7. Niall Smyth (Skryne)
10. Cormac McKenna (Wolfe Tones), 11. Conn Brennan (St Ultan’s)
6. Harry McGuirk (Navan O’Mahonys – Captain), 9. Tomás Proudfoot (St Ultan’s)
12. Alex Keane (Dunshaughlin)
13. Cormac Walsh (Trim), 14. Milo Stafford (Kilmainhamwood), 15. Dara Loughran (Cortown)
Subs:
Referee: Enda Kelly (Westmeath).
****
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GAA Gaelic Football Kildare GAA Leinster Minor Football Final Meath GAA