Meath crashed out of the Leinster U-16 Championship against a fancied Laois side at Stradbally on Wednesday evening last. Laois 3-09 Meath 0-06 Laois had already beaten the Royals in the group stages and were determined to make the Leinster Final scheduled for May 17th. Meath however were determined to prove that they had the talent to progress on to the Leinster Final, just missing one of their central players for the fixture through injury. The game began brightly for Meath having much of the early possession and shots. Vivienne McCormack was fouled on two minutes but Aisling O'Reilly couldn't convert the free. Two minutes later however O'Reilly made amends and put Meath onto the scoreboard with a fine point. Meath's dominance continued with good defending from Aine Fagan and Rebecca Considine. However, Laois began to get on top and despite some excellent saves from Samantha Monaghan and great covering by Helen Lawless, Meath's full back. Laois cut through the Meath defence and began kicking their scores. Their first was a goal by corner forward Rachel Conroy, a low fast shot that was lucky to beat keeper Monaghan. This gave the Laois team a boost and the game flowed in Laois' favour for the following ten minutes. On 14 minutes Meath were unlucky to concede a penalty but lucky as Laois full forward Aisling Keogh blasted it over the bar. A minute later Laois were another point to the good also through Keogh. This left Meath trailing 1-02 to 0-01. Meath clawed another point back through O'Reilly but this was cancelled out by a further point by Laois on twenty minutes. Meath were awarded a penalty on 29 minutes when McCormack was fouled. The keeper dived to McCormack's strong shot, saved it and kicked it away to safety. Into injury time Laois finished the stronger adding a further two points. At half time Meath trailed by six points, Laois 1-05 to Meath's 0-02. Laois opened the scoring in the second half with a point from centre half-forward Alice Malone. However, substitutions on the Meath team injected some pace and strength into the forward line. These substitutions were immediately rewarded with two points from O'Reilly and substitute Kristina Troy added a third on 41 minutes with a fine long range shot which was probably the score of the match. The teams traded scores on 44 and 47 minutes, with Stephanie Thompson pointing for Meath. Meath dropped the heads allowing Laois in to take control and they added a further two goals and two points before the end. The match ended with Laois easy winners 3-09 to 0-06. Although the defeat in Laois puts Meath out of the 2008 Leinster U-16 Championship, many of the players are eligible for selection next year too, Kelly Allen, Bridgetta Lynch and Samantha Monaghan to name but a few. Manager Carley thanked all the players for their commitment to the team and to Aisling Clery for her help. He also thanked the parents especially to Kevin McCormack who helped out at training sessions. On the day Meath were unlucky. Player of the match must go to Helen Lawless who had an excellent match at full back. Rebecca Considine, Kelly Allen, Vivienne McCormack, Orlaith Duff and Blathnaid Keogh also wore the Royal jersey well. Laois will now face Dublin in the Leinster Final on 17th May. Meath - S. Monaghan, R. Considine, H. Lawless, A. Smith, A. Fagan, B. O'Sullivan, K.Allen, S. Sheridan, M. O'Shaughnessy, B. Keogh, V. McCormack, L. Gilsenan, A. McHugh, A. O'Reilly (0-04), B. Lynch. Subs: O. Duff for Smith, K. Troy (0-01) for McHugh, S. Thompson (0-01) for Gilsenan, A.McLoughlin for O'Reilly, N. Collins for O'Sullivan, L. Young, S. Caffrey, G. Galligan, L. O'Donnell. Referee: Pat Kehoe (Carlow) Tweet

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