The Meath senior ladies' football team concluded their 2009 campaign with a heavy defeat to Kerry in an All-Ireland qualifier and while such an outcome was a disappointment there were also positives to take from the year which offered hope that better times might well be around the corner.

Last year was a difficult one for the panel. They were relegated to Division 2 of the National League and ended up in a fight for survival in the top flight of the championship where the county had played since their victory in the All-Ireland JFC back in 1994. They lost an initial play-off to Donegal last November, but secured their status when beating Waterford by 0-15 to 1-0 in a second play-off in late January of this year.
Brendan Dardis from Summerhill, the man who guided the Royal County to that junior triumph 15 years ago, was back at the helm for 2009 and inherited a panel which contained a number of experienced players, but which was also laced with the youngsters who can hopefully help Meath back to their standing of old.
Meath's second competitive game of the year was in the National League against Longford at Trim where they gained a 1-11 to 1-9 victory. Gillian Bennett made her return to the county colours and contributed nine points. The home team led by 0-5 to 0-4 at the interval, but conceded a goal on the restart which helped the midlanders push ahead and lead by 1-8 to 0-7 early in the last quarter.
But when Jenny Rispin goaled in the 53rd minute Meath had recovered sufficiently to lead by 1-9 to 1-8. Longford levelled, but points from Bennett's long range free and Rispin gave the Royal County a narrow win. One of their top players was 16 year-old left corner-back Aine Fagan, while Aimee Bennett returned to inter-county action after an absence of 12 years. She was a member of the victorious junior team in 1994.
Brookborough was the venue for a second round meeting with Fermanagh and a changed team won comfortably by 4-16 to 2-6. Wind-assisted Meath held a commanding 2-11 to 0-3 advantage at the break after Grainne Nulty and Gillian Bennett had goaled and with Nulty and Aedin Murray finding the net in the second period there was never any danger of a successful home rally.
Meath's only defeat of the divisional stages of the league came against Down who won by 1-9 to 1-4 at Saval. Only Nulty scored in the opening half for Meath who trailed by 0-1 to 1-5 at the interval, but points from Duffy and Gillian Bennett early in the second half reduced the gap. When Duffy netted from the rebound after her penalty had been saved the visitors trailed by 1-3 to 1-8, but they had left themselves with too much to do.
Two late goals from Duffy did the trick when Meath defeated Cavan by 3-6 to 0-12 in the fourth round at Pairc Tailteann. The switch of Mary Sheridan to full-forward was vitally important as she set up Duffy for those late goals which enabled her to complete her hat-trick. Cavan had led by 0-7 to 1-3 at the interval and pushed further ahead, but they were stunned by the home team's strong finish.
Meath were through to the quarter-finals and with home advantage against Waterford at Pairc Tailteann they must have entertained serious hopes of making further progress. They had also beaten the Munster county easily in that relegation play-off earlier in the year, so there was every reason for optimism.
They started well and led by 0-4 to 0-0 after 12 minutes, but Waterford scored 1-1 to draw level. Meath pushed on again to hold a 0-8 to 1-1 interval advantage and were looking good when ahead by 0-10 to 1-2 during the second period. However, things started to go wrong after that as the visitors fought back.
Meath were still three points to the good entering injury time, but they were stunned when Linda Wall scored a brilliant goal to leave Waterford level (2-6 to 0-12) at the end of normal time. Aine Fagan had been sin-binned and Brid Guy suffered a similar fate during the first period of extra-time.
Waterford led by 2-10 to 0-13 at the interval in extra-time and were four clear (2-13 to 0-15) at the final whistle. It was a hugely disappointing defeat for Meath who had earlier appeared to be in a position to win comfortably.
With their league campaign over it was a case of preparing for the championship and a crunch showdown with Dublin. In the run-up to the Pairc Tailteann clash, which was a curtain-raiser to the Meath men's All-Ireland qualifier clash against Waterford, the Royal County performed well in challenge games against Louth, Westmeath, Galway and Sligo, but a meeting with the Dubs was always going to represent a huge obstacle to overcome.
Meath had lost to Dublin in the championship in 2008 and there was further disappointment this year when the concession of 'soft' goals proved disastrous for Dardis' team as they lost by 1-8 to 5-6. They also missed chances, but when you concede five goals the odds are stacked against you winning any match.
Dublin weren't at their best and looked vulnerable, but with the Meath defence in such a benevolent mood they had a comfortable passage through to the final. Katie O'Brien played brilliantly in attack for the home county, but there were too many other areas of the field where they were in trouble.
Approximately one third of the Meath players were making their championship debuts at this level, so inexperience was unquestionably a factor against a battle-hardened Dublin outfit. The absence of regular goalkeeper Irene Munnelly was also a factor and one of the team's top players Louise McKeever took her place between the posts.
She was picking the ball out of the net inside the first minute after Sinead Aherne scored Dublin's first goal, but McKeever prevented further disaster when she saved well from Kim Flood. Grainne Nulty opened Meath's account from a pointed free on nine minutes, but the visitors punished more weak defending when Lyndsey Peat netted.
Meath were in big trouble, but they responded well when Jenny Rispin found Elaine Duffy who scored their only goal in superb fashion. Dublin went on to lead by 3-3 to 1-4 at the interval, with Niamh Hurley getting a brilliant third goal, while Duffy (free), O'Brien and Aedin Murray notched Meath's other first half points.
Aherne and Geraldine Doherty exchanged points early in the second half and after a lengthy scoreless spell Hurley goaled again to leave Dublin ahead by 4-4 to 1-5. Mary Nevin got a fifth goal for the winners and Meath's remaining points came from O'Brien, substitute Fiona O'Neill and Nulty.
It was a hugely disappointing performance from Meath who scored more points than Dublin, but the concession of so many goals proved their undoing. It was a case of getting on with things and preparing for the All-Ireland qualifiers which offered them a chance to make amends.
The draw appeared to do Meath no favours when they were pitted against a very talented Armagh team, but a much improved performance yielded a 1-13 to 0-10 victory at Breffni Park, Cavan. It was significant that the Royal County didn't concede any goals in this match which must have left all concerned wondering what might have been against Dublin.
Meath made changes for this game, both positional and in personnel, and it was also significant that Munnelly returned to the goalkeeping duties which freed McKeever to play at full-back. She was hugely influential in the second half when Armagh attempted to mount a revival bid with the aid of the strong wind.
With the wind in their favour Meath opened up a 0-13 to 0-4 interval lead. Duffy had them in front inside 30 seconds and Doherty, Aimee Bennett and O'Brien also split the uprights as they pushed four ahead. Doherty (two), Rispin and Duffy added to the points tally and with a 0-8 to 0-1 advantage things were looking good.
Armagh recovered to score the next three points, but with Nulty providing plenty of inspiration Meath pushed on again and points from Duffy and Rispin (two each) and Nulty helped them open up a nine-point lead at the change of ends. It was a healthy advantage, but with the Orchard County having the use of the wind in the second period they were still in with a shout.
However, with Meath defending heroically they rarely looked capable of making a successful recovery and they were limited to just six further points. Meath led by 0-13 to 0-7 at the three-quarter stage, but they suffered a blow when Aine Fagan was harshly sin-binned 11 minutes from the end.
Playing with tremendous determination, Meath had the perfect response to that setback in the shape of the game's only goal three minutes later. Duffy's penalty was parried by Armagh 'keeper Catherine McAlinden, but Nulty was on hand to fist to the net. The Ulster county needed goals, but Munnelly made sure they didn't get any and Meath had achieved a memorable victory.
But from the highs of that success came the low that was the team's performance next time out against Kerry at Nenagh where the Kingdom took control in the second half to win by 2-19 to 0-10. This was the same Kerry team which had been hammered by Cork in the Munster final.
Meath were well in contention at the break when they trailed by 0-8 to 2-6, but they went 24 minutes without scoring during the second half and that put paid to their hopes of victory. Just like against Dublin in the Leinster Championship the Royal County leaked an early goal when Deborah Murphy netted after approximately 20 seconds and Kerry were soon five points clear.
But, to their credit, Meath responded well and cut the deficit to 0-6 to 1-5. Duffy and Nulty (three each), O'Brien and Doherty all scored first half points, but Meath also gave away another goal two minutes before the interval when Murphy inflicted the damage again.
Sarah Houlihan was an undoubted star of the show for Kerry, contributing eight points, and she was very impressive as they reeled off 11 points on the trot to push well clear. Munnelly came to Meath's rescue on a couple of occasions, but there was nothing she could do to halt the Kingdom's point-scoring machine.
It was another big disappointment for Meath on a day when Nulty top scored with five points, Duffy notched three and O'Brien and Doherty got one each.
On the positive side, this year was a learning experience for the younger members of the Meath panel and with the county winning the All-Ireland Under-16 Championship title the same day as the Kerry match it's clear that the talent is being produced which will secure a brighter future at adult level. The development of those players into the senior footballers of the future will be monitored with interest. Tweet

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