To say that the Meath ladies' football team endured a difficult time in 2008 would be putting it mildly, but it has to be appreciated that they were badly hit by injuries and the loss of key players seriously undermined their prospects of making an impression. They struggled in Div. 1B of the National League and suffered relegation following defeats against Galway, Monaghan, Cork and Dublin, as well as drawing with Kildare. That series of results meant their nine-year stint in Div. 1 had come to an end and they will now have to plan for life in the lower reaches of the competition. The championship action didn't bring much joy either as they exited the Leinster race when losing to Dublin by 1-6 to 0-19 in a semi-final at Portmarnock in late June. That was the day when St Ultan's player Geraldine Doherty returned to action after her recovery from the serious leg injury she sustained while playing in a challenge match against Cavan at Breffni Park last year. Seeing the former All-Star make her return as a substitute was a very welcome sight and she was also introduced during the All-Ireland first round qualifier against Down at Lakeview Park, Mullingar, in August when the Mourne County won by 2-12 to 0-13 to end the Royal County's hopes of gaining silverware. Much controversy followed over the relegation play-offs, with manager Gordon Weldon - who had only taken over in April - rightly incensed at the Ladies' Football Association decision to exclude Leitrim from the battle for survival in the senior ranks. They failed to field a team in the Connacht Championship, having earlier fulfilled all their fixtures in the National League, and were exempted from the relegation play-offs. That was supposed to mean that Meath, Waterford and Donegal would be involved and Weldon's team was due to meet Donegal at Emyvale, Co. Monaghan, on Sunday, 10th August, with the winners surviving and the losers having one more opportunity to avoid the drop to intermediate level by way of a relegation showdown against Waterford. However, after a protracted series of events, Meath still hadn't faced Donegal at the time of writing, by which stage Weldon had stepped down from the position of manager, such was his understandable annoyance over the whole relegation saga. The Nobber footballer, who played in the Connacht Championship with London a few years back, was also annoyed at the fact that the manager's post was advertised while he was still in the position. "I took over as manager in April of this year," Weldon said. "I wouldn't have taken the job except that some of the girls asked me. I was coaching Wolfe Tones' ladies at the time. I had coached UCD ladies in 2000/2001 when we won two All-Ireland titles. "Elaine Duffy was one of the main players on that team. It was through Elaine and Irene Munnelly that I took on the Meath job. Things weren't in a good state at that stage, with only six players training per night "When I took over I organised a meeting. I got my selectors together and 16 or 17 girls turned up for the meeting. We put forward what our proposals were. We had only a month and a half to prepare for the Dublin game in the championship. But we got the show on the road and we had 18 out for our first training session in Nobber. "We eventually got everybody on board and had a panel of 26. The atmosphere was great and I organised a trip to Kerry for a bonding weekend with former Kerry player Ronan O'Connor. A sports psychologist came in to talk to the girls which worked out great." With the crunch championship match against Dublin fast approaching it was time for action on the field and Weldon was pleased with the way a couple of challenge games he organised worked out. "We played two challenge matches against Down and Cavan and we won both of them comprehensively," he added. "But unfortunately injuries hit. Karen Bowe broke her leg in the game against Cavan. She had scored something like 3-4 against Down the previous week. "Vikki McGinn was travelling to the ice baths in Seneschalstown when she was involved in a car accident. That meant two of our best players were gone. Geraldine Doherty was on the way back at that stage after her awful injury. She worked so hard in the gym to get back. She is so dedicated." Those injuries seriously undermined Meath's chances of getting the better of Dublin, but the Royal County were very much in contention well into the game, before Dublin secured a comfortable win with an avalanche of points. "Unfortunately, we lost to Dublin who were managed by Gerry McGill who had coached UCD with me," Weldon said. "We had built everything up to such heights and bonded very well. The girls believed they could beat Dublin. We were four points down at half-time and Dublin didn't score for the first 20 minutes of the second half. "We defended brilliantly and didn't concede a goal which was something we had set out to achieve. But we missed good chances and once Dublin did score again they took off and got a succession of points. Grainne Nulty was magnificent in that game. She is some player." Meath's Leinster Championship dream was over, but they still had the qualifiers to concentrate on. However, they soon exited that race too as Down eliminated them. "We beat them so convincingly in the challenge match, but they were outstanding when they beat us in the championship," Weldon said. "They deserved to win. Sinead Dooley had injured her cruciate ligament in a club game in between the Dublin and Down games and was a huge loss. I was annoyed that club matches took place so close to such an important inter-county fixture." It was after that defeat that all the fun and games started over the relegation play-offs situation which was to rumble on for months. "We were informed that if we lost to Down we would be in a four-team relegation play-off situation," Weldon added. "Leitrim had fulfilled all their fixtures in the National League, but didn't play in the Connacht Championship. We took it that that meant they were relegated and the girls thought the year was over. "The four counties involved were left waiting for a definite decision from the Ladies' Association and then came the news that Leitrim would be exempt. That left ourselves, Donegal and Waterford in a three-way relegation situation. I couldn't believe it. The girls were very annoyed. I got a call from Donegal manager Dominic McGlinchey who said he would resign if it went ahead like that. "I left it to the girls to decide what they wanted to do, whether to object or go ahead with the play-off against Donegal. They felt that if Leitrim were excluded they didn't want to play the Donegal game. "We attended a Ladies County Board meeting to put our case forward. The board felt sorry for us, but they said they couldn't back us because they risked suspensions of teams across the board if we refused to play. They were aggrieved for us, but couldn't back us. "After that a new rule was passed which stated that any team promoted was exempt from relegation in their first year at the higher level. Leitrim had been promoted last year. There was a vote at a Ladies' Association meeting and it was carried that the play-offs would go ahead. It was passed by four votes, but 11 abstained from the vote." By that stage manager Weldon was becoming increasingly frustrated and there was more annoyance to come for the man who won a Junior Championship medal with Nobber back in 2002. "I was aggrieved when the Ladies County Board advertised our positions when we were still in them," he added. "That was very disappointing. I took the decision to resign after all this, but I would love to have stayed on. They were great girls to work with, so dedicated. There is so much talent there. "My coaching methods involve a lot of dynamic stretching and 90% of my drills involve the use of a football at high levels of intensity. "This group of girls are winners. They eat, sleep and drink gaelic football. The intensity at training seemed to unearth all the capabilities I always believe existed within this talented group of players. If you treat players with honesty and respect you will always bring out their best qualities". Weldon paid tribute to those who worked alongside him with the Meath team - selectors Michael Clarke and Anthony Monaghan from Castletown and selector/physio Valerie Newman from St Ultan's - for their great efforts. Tweet

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