Multiple final frustration
November 30, 2003
No championship titles came Meath's way on the ladies' football front in 2003, but the year can, nevertheless, be viewed as one that augured well for the future of the game in the county at all levels.
The seniors were eliminated by a very strong Dublin team at the semi-final stage of the Leinster Senior Championship on a day when they just didn't perform to their best and, in view of how the Metropolitans subsequently went so close to winning the All-Ireland title, it clearly suggests that Meath weren't that far off the required standard and that they can look forward to the 2004 championship campaign with considerable enthusiasm and optimism.
Meath's minors reached the Leinster final and were beaten after extra-time by Laois on a day when a variety of unfortunate circumstances contrived to play against them.
The under-16 and under-14 teams also advanced to their provincial finals, but both were defeated by Dublin.
The seniors were drawn in a Leinster Championship round-robin section that also included National League champions Laois and Wexford and made a highly encouraging start to their campaign when they travelled to O'Moore Park, Portlaoise, and came away with a share of the spoils thanks to a draw (2-10 each) with Laois.
The Royal County, without Mary Sheridan, looked to be out of contention when trailing by 0-5 to 2-8 at half-time, but they demonstrated tremendous battling qualities which are typical of Meath football to fight back and lead by a point (2-9 to 2-8) with two minutes remaining. Laois drew level, but Meath edged in front again in injury time, before the home side forced a draw with a late, late leveller on a day when Gillian Bennett top-scored for Meath with 1-6.
A subsequent victory over Wexford meant that Meath finished joint top of the round-robin section with Laois and a toss of a coin was used to decide who would be declared group winners. The toss went against Meath and they were paired against reigning champions Dublin in the provincial semi-final at Dunsany.
Dublin won comfortably by 2-14 to 0-10, but the score line certainly doesn't give an accurate indication of Meath's brave bid for a final place. They led by 0-7 to 1-3 at the interval, with Dublin's goal coming three minutes into first-half injury time when Elaine Kelly found the net.
Meath came very close to scoring a goal of their own in that half as Elaine Duffy's shot went over off the crossbar just a minute before Dublin had netted.
Meath resumed well and matched Dublin in the scoring department for 12 minutes, but they trailed by the minimum (0-10 to 1-8) by the three-quarter stage and failed to hit the target subsequently as the winners notched 1-6 without reply to record a very flattering 10-point victory.
Dublin were later extremely unlucky not to win the All-Ireland final against Mayo, so the Meath management team of Martin Connolly, Oliver Carolan and Jane Mangan can certainly look forward to the 2004 campaign with renewed hope.
Significantly, not so many players will have double commitments with the county minor and senior panels, which puts pressure on the management teams, but particularly on the players. The fact that Meath club teams are faring so well in Leinster clearly indicates that there is no shortage of talent in Meath and the
excellent work being done for the promotion of ladies' football in the county will surely reap further reward in the very near future.
It is also encouraging to note that Meath intend to field a team in the Leinster Junior Championship in 2004.
The Meath minors recorded some huge scoring tallies in their Leinster Championship campaign, including 9-11 against Wicklow at Skryne and 8-18 against Westmeath at Simonstown, but when it came to the final against Laois at Newbridge very little went their way and they were just edged out after extra-time.
They had a 'goal' disallowed for an alleged square ball offence, which proved a big blow, but that was only one of a number of happenings that went against Meath on the day. The highly influential Mary Sheridan was forced to retire at half-time due to an ankle injury, Kate O'Brien missed the decider and Grainne Nulty played despite being ill.
Michelle Doyle missed the entire year with a cruciate ligament injury, so it's easy to see that luck certainly wasn't with the Royal County.
Meath's under-16s, who were managed by Leo Hurson, with Barry Brennan and Martina Brady acting as selectors, defeated Wexford by 5-15 to 2-5 and Laois by 4-18 to 3-4 to advance to the semi-final stages of the Leinster Championship where they faced provincial 'B' champions Offaly at Boardsmill.
A first-half goal from Aoife Thompson helped Meath to a 1-9 to 0-2 interval advantage and the same player scored a decisive second goal soon after the change of ends to firmly kill off the Offaly challenge. Thompson and Shauna Bennett finished as Meath's joint top scorers with 2-3 each.
The final against Dublin at Westmanstown proved to be a real thriller, but unfortunately for Meath they failed to take sufficient advantage of the strong wind in the first-half and needed a Thompson goal to enable them to retire on level terms (1-2 to 0-5) at the interval.
Dublin upped the tempo after the break to push clear, before Debra Wigglesworth netted to bring the Royal County back into contention briefly. Shauna Bennett blasted a goal chance over the bar for Meath and Dublin held on for a two-point (2-10 to 2-8) victory.
The under-16 panel was - Ann Marie Ball, Paula Doherty, Orla O'Connor, Karla O'Brien, Katie McMahon, Claire Griffin, Tara Smith, Aishling McGeown, Ciara Dempsey, Kirsty Gough, Shauna Bennett, Alice Davis, Laura Dunne, Aoife Thompson, Kelly Farrell,
Emer Murray, Zoe O'Connor, Saedbh Macken, Anna Curtis, Lyndsey Conway, Teresa Fox, Lisa Hutchinson, Catriona Brennan, Breda McTigue, Debra Wigglesworth, Lucy Donoghue, Stephanie Horan, Deirdre Blaney, Philomena Sheridan and Amanda O'Reilly.
The Meath under-14 panel was coached by Paddy Brady, David Carry was the manager and Geraldine Cuttle and Dessie Whelan acted as selectors.
A lot of work was put in with this panel over the winter months with a view to the summer campaign. Training took place primarily in Bective, with the old St. Martha's hall outside Navan also being used in times of bad weather.
Meath beat Laois and Wexford and lost narrowly to Dublin in the round-robin stages of the Leinster Championship and emerged to defeat Laois comfortably at the semi-final stage to reach the final against Dublin at Westmanstown.
Unfortunately for Meath, they had lost both midfielder, Donaghmore-Ashbourne's Cathriona O'Shaughnessy and Jennifer Moran, due to injuries sustained in a club match and that represented a huge double blow on the big day. To add to their woes, corner-back Shirley Flood was forced to retire early in the match due to injury and with all the chopping and changing those problems created, Meath were at a severe disadvantage and Dublin won comfortably.
The under-14 panel was - Christina Leonard, Alva Henson, Jane Hodginson, Shirley Flood, Rachel Brady, Lisa Browne, Aideen Murray, Linda Tully, Anna Mullen, Alison Clarke, Jacqueline Reed, Aishling Whelan, Elaine Booth, Samantha Martin, Marcella Kelly, Sinead Brady, Nicola Leddy, Ali Daly, Amanda Davis, Karla Macken, Stephanie Byrne, Ann-Marie Gallagher, Ciara Daly, Andrea Perle, Hayley Stracken, Jennifer Moran, Cathriona O'Shaughnessy, Ciara Reilly, Karen O'Connell and Paula Murray.
Unfortunately, it wasn't a year that brought any championship silverware to the Royal County, but there can be no denying that the signs are very good for the future of ladies' football in the county.
The seniors will approach the new campaign with a fair degree of optimism, particularly considering how close Dublin were to achieving All-Ireland glory in 2003, while the under-age set-up in the county is clearly in good shape and that certainly bodes extremely well for the future.
With good work being done at under-12 level also it looks certain that a steady supply of talented and well-coached young players will continue to come through.
Most Read Stories