Royal ladies in rebuilding mode
November 27, 2010Ladies' football in the county received a massive boost last year when Eamonn Murray guided the under-16 girls to All-Ireland glory and it's these players who represent the future of the senior panel which this season still had a backbone of more experienced campaigners who will also play a vital role in the advancement of the newcomers.
Brendan Dardis from Summerhill was again at the helm of the senior side this year, 16 seasons after he guided the Royal County to All-Ireland Junior Championship honours, and a priority at the start of 2010 was surely to make a big effort to gain promotion back to Division 1 of the National League.
However, when Meath commenced their Division 2 campaign back in February against Kildare at Celbridge the signs weren't positive as a team containing four debutants at this level in the starting line-up and a number of others among the substitutes lost by 2-7 to 2-17.
It took a superb performance from goalkeeper Irene Munnelly to prevent a heavier loss, while Meath didn't manage to open their scoring account until the 11th minute when Bridgetta Lynch, who captained the under-16s to Leinster and All-Ireland success last year, found the net.
Kildare were well on the road to victory when leading by 1-10 to 1-1 at the interval and they steadily extended that advantage to 2-15 to 1-2. But Meath never stopped battling and produced improved form in the final quarter when Jenny Rispin got their second goal.
Kellie Allen, another member of last year's under-16 team, started at centre-back and she too looks like a very bright talent with the future in mind. Lynch notched 1-1 on her National League debut and the experienced Rispin top-scored with 1-5.
It was very early days and things looked a great deal better a week later when Meath bounced back from that loss to score a 2-10 to 3-6 victory over Sligo at Pairc Tailteann where Allen was moved to full-forward with telling effect. She contributed the two goals which made a world of difference in a tight match, while Lynch was another to impress.
Meath started slowly as Sligo made the early running, but Allen goaled twice in quick succession and the home team led by 2-3 to 1-4 at the break. They should have been further ahead because they missed goal chances in that half, but the lead was extended to 2-7 to 1-4 in the third quarter.
However, boosted by two goals Sligo were level with 10 minutes remaining, but Elaine Duffy and Rispin notched late points which secured a narrow victory and revived Meath's drive for promotion.
Meath's third round game against Donegal was postponed, but when they did resume league action they scored a shock victory over Armagh at Cullaville where they held a very useful 1-6 to 0-3 half-time lead after Duffy had scored a brilliant goal. However, it was all about gutsy defending in the second period when Armagh battled back and the visitors' only score was a Geraldine Doherty point.
Both Allen and Ashley Leavy were sin-binned in the second half, but Meath shaded the verdict by 1-7 to 0-8 to make it two wins from three outings ahead of their first meeting of the year against Tipperary which took place at New Inn and which brought another victory on a 5-4 to 2-11 score line.
Duffy, from a penalty, and Allen scored first half goals, but with Duffy also wide from a penalty Meath trailed by 2-3 to 2-4 at the change of ends. Tipperary pushed clear on the restart, but goals from yet another Duffy penalty and Shauna Bennett helped the Royal County move into a promising position.
Tipperary closed the deficit to two points, but Allen scored Meath's fifth goal and they then held out under pressure to achieve a win which gave their hopes of a semi-final place a big boost.
The rearranged fixture against Donegal took place at Pairc Tailteann, but Meath failed to book their ticket to the last four when losing by 1-11 to 3-11. They were weakened considerably by the absence of Aine Fagan, Allen and Duffy, but made the perfect start when Samantha Martin found the net after only 18 seconds.
Meath lost their way subsequently and the concession of sloppy goals proved to be their downfall. They battled well for the remainder of the opening half, but the visitors led by 2-6 to 1-8 at the interval.
Donegal assumed control and pushed six points clear early in the second half. With the pressure on, goalkeeper Monica McGuirk produced a fine save to deny Yvonne McMonagle early in the half, but when the same player scored her team's third goal the game was over as a meaningful contest. Doherty was in very good form for Meath and tallied seven points, six of them from play.
Meath had another opportunity to advance to the semi-finals when they played Down at Pairc Tailteann and they made the most of it when an impressive performance yielded a 3-16 to 2-9 victory. Duffy returned to the team in style by scoring 1-7 on a day when the decision to start Mary Sheridan at full-forward proved a shrewd one.
Goals from Duffy and Sheridan helped Meath to a 2-4 to 0-4 lead, but Down cut the deficit to three points (1-7 to 2-7) at the break after the brilliant Kyla Trainor had scored their goal. Tara Ryan stretched the Royal County advantage with a point on the restart, but the Mourne County side hit back and boosted by another Trainor goal they edged to the front.
However, with Sheridan and Duffy in great form Meath responded well and points from Sheridan, Shauna Bennett and Rispin had them ahead by 2-11 to 2-9. When Sheridan scored a brilliant goal 11 minutes from the end victory looked assured and Meath finished the game with points from Duffy (three), Bennett and Orla Sheridan to copper-fasten their position of supremacy.
There was disappointment next time out when Donegal inflicted a second defeat of the National League on Meath at Bawnboy, County Cavan, this time in the semi-final. Dardis' team was weakened by the absence of Rispin, who had sustained a broken hand in a club match, while Doherty started despite carrying a hamstring injury.
Donegal started brightly and scored the first three points in the opening seven minutes, but it could have been a great deal worse for Meath as goalkeeper Irene Munnelly produced a couple of outstanding saves, including one from a penalty. Duffy replied with two points, Donegal increased their lead and then Duffy punched a goal to leave her team level at 1-2 to 0-5.
A brace of points late in the first half earned Donegal a 0-7 to 1-2 lead at the break and they scored 1-4 in a highly productive five-minute spell to more or less kill off the Meath challenge. Allen got a second goal and there were also late points from Duffy, Mary Sheridan and Vivienne McCormack, but too much damage had already been done and Donegal won by 2-14 to 2-6.
It was a big disappointment, but it was a case of moving on and preparing for a tilt at the Leinster Senior Championship which had only four teams competing this year. One of them was Laois who had operated in Division 1 of the National League and reached the semi-finals where they lost to Galway.
When Meath played the O'Moore County in the semi-final at Stradbally they were aiming to reach the provincial decider for the first time in three years and included five championship debutants in Eileen Rahill, Orlaith Duff, Ashley Leavy, Deirdre Flynn and Bridgetta Lynch.
This was always going to be a tough task against a Laois team which later lost the Leinster final to Dublin by 0-9 to 2-13, but regrouped and worked their way through the All-Ireland qualifiers before losing a semi-final to the same opposition by only two points (0-9 to 1-8). Of course, Dublin went on to win the All-Ireland title in highly impressive fashion.
Meath were well in contention at half-time when adrift by only 0-4 to 0-5 after captain Philomena Sheridan, her sister Mary, Rispin and Flynn had scored the points. They might well have been in front, but they missed an early goal chance. They stayed well in contention for much of the second half when Mary and Orla Sheridan goaled, but the defence was under a lot of pressure.
Fagan was a real star among the backs and goalkeeper Munnelly made some fine saves, but the concession of three second half goals proved too much. Mary and Orla Sheridan both contributed 1-1 and Rispin, Flynn and Philomena Sheridan got a point each, but Laois were ahead by 3-9 to 2-5 at the final whistle.
That defeat meant Meath would have to take the back door route and that was short lived when Tipperary, who they had earlier beaten in the National League, won decisively at Banagher. Meath fielded a much changed team on this occasion and played poorly as they exited the All-Ireland series.
Duffy was Meath's leading scorer with seven points, five of them from frees, but they managed only four points from play in the 0-9 to 2-16 defeat. Duffy (two) and Rispin were on target with first half points, but Tipperary led by 1-8 to 0-3 at the interval after Patricia Hickey had scored their goal.
Meath improved in the second half and cut the gap to 0-7 to 1-9 thanks to four Duffy points, but Tipperary pushed away again and Hickey got a second goal. They had three players sin-binned late in the game, but the Royal County were too far behind to take advantage.
The Meath team against Tipperary was - I Munnelly; C Coffey, E Rahill, M Kealy; C Dempsey, A Murray, A Fagan; J Rispin (0-1), E Wardick; O Sheridan, S Bennett, B Lynch; E Duffy (0-7), P Sheridan, M Sheridan. Subs - O Duff for Fagan, D Flynn for Bennett, A Leavy for Lynch, R Considine for Duff, S Martin (0-1) for Murray.
Meath also fielded a team in the Aisling McGing Cup and opened up with a 2-7 to 0-12 victory over Kerry at Skryne, before they lost to Dublin by 1-8 to 2-17 at Ballyboden St Enda's. Cork inflicted a heavy defeat (6-21 to 0-4) at Fermoy and Galway were easy winners (3-14 to 0-7) at Ballinasloe.
The Royal County still advanced to the semi-finals where they lost to Dublin again, this time by 0-6 to 4-25 at Naomh Mearnog. Tweet
