Meath 1-14, Down 0-17

Saturday July 22nd, Meath welcomed Down to Trim in R5 of the Liberty Insurance All Ireland intermediate championship. After coming off 3 wins from 3, the women in green and gold would be keen to keep their winning streak alive.

Down were first off the mark with a point from Niamh Mallon. Sinead Hackett didn't let Meath trail for too long, as she opened the days proceedings for Meath. Aoife Minogue exchanged a point with Down's Sara Louise Carr to level the teams again. Wing-back Aine Keogh was the quick to notice a short Down puck-out, caught the ball and headed towards goal, sticking the ball over the blackspot to put Meath in front. The teams were level the whole way through the first half, there were scores from Hackett, Minogue and Megan Thynne before the half was out. Down's Paula Gribben and Carrie Fitzpatrick registered scores to level the game. A last minute score in the first half went to Hackett who sent Meath into the dressing room with a one point advantage. Half Time: Meath 0-08, Down 0-07.

The second half got underway and within seconds, Caroline Quinn had the ball in the back of the Down net, a flick from Tina Troy to Megan Thynne seen a well worked pass that resulted in the goal. Meath sub Aideen Slattery made a direct impact when she scored a superb point from play.

Meath will be disappointed with the amount of frees that they conceded in the game, given that half of Down's scores in the second half came from free's and the accuracy of Paula Gibben could not have been faulted. Niamh Mallon added another 4 points to her tally of the day. Meath's Amy Gaffney split the posts twice in a row, two very vital scores that took the pressure off for a couple of moments.

Down were not there just to make numbers, they were in Trim to leave with the points, a physical game from both sides, it was all to play for. The teams were levelled one to many times and the Meath ladies will be kicking themselves as they registered wides that should

Gribben thought she had sealed the deal for Down when a well defended goal was doubled on and tapped over the bar, the crowd surely thought the game was over. However, Meath got a last minute free over on the dug-out side of Trim. A long range free, that was well within reach for Minogue, who moments previously had tied the game prior to Gribben's final point went straight between the posts. There was plenty of "I cant watch" murmured around the pitch as she stood over the ball, what can only be described as nerves of steel the young Dunderry player ensured that both teams split the points. Full Time: Meath 1-14, Down 0-17.

Meath were very lucky to leave their final home game of 2017 with a draw. Although they still have yet to play Carlow, they have secured themselves a semi-final spot in the middle of August. A round of club championship comes before the Carlow game which will give the girls a chance to make improvements to their own game to bring to the table for the Carlow game.

Meath: E.Mangan, E.Coffey, E.Burke, C.Coffey, A.Keogh, A.Maguire, L.Donoghue, C.O'Brien, M.Keogh, M.Thynne, K.Troy, A.Gaffney, A.Minogue, S.Hackett, C.Quinn Subs: A.Slattery for M.Keogh, F.O'Brien for K.Troy, G.Coleman for C.O'Brien

Scorers: S.Hackett (0-02), A.Keogh (0-01), M.Tynne, (0-02), C.Quinn (1-00), A.Slattery (0-01), , A.Gaffney (0-02), A.Minogue (0-06).

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