After a 2006 campaign that achieved so much, this year was something of a disappointment for Meath's senior ladies' football team. But it has to be said that they were hit by injuries to key players which did nothing to aid their cause. By Paul Clarke. Last year Meath reached the National League Div. 1 final where they lost to Cork, advanced to the Leinster decider where Laois beat them and later went under to Galway in a replayed All-Ireland quarter-final. There were no trophies to show for providing numerous hours of fabulous entertainment, but there certainly were positive signs as they looked ahead. Seneschalstown's Geraldine Sheridan was still in the role of team manager for the 2007 campaign, but the absence of players due to injury at different stages, most notably Geraldine Doherty and Aisling Ennis, and Mary Sheridan's unavailability for part of the year, was clearly a hindrance to progress. Brian Barry, a PE teacher based in Trim and originally from Waterford, took on the role of trainer, aided by Jamie Minnock, with Martin Mannering (Donaghmore/Ashbourne), Joe Breen (Blackhall Gaels) and Ann Dungan (Simonstown Gaels) acting as selectors. Meath made the long trek to Bundoran for their first competitive outing of the year when they beat Donegal by 2-11 to 1-5 in Div. 1B of the National League in February. Elaine Duffy scored both goals, the first from a penalty which helped the Royal County to lead by 2-5 to 0-3 at the interval. A significantly shorter trip followed for their next league assignment against Kildare at Carbury and the winning start was maintained as they won by 1-12 to 0-6. Meath held a slender 0-5 to 0-3 advantage at the break, but pushed ahead in the second half, with a late goal from substitute Jane Dolan securing victory. However, the good run came to a halt in no uncertain terms when they lost to Cork on a 1-5 to 3-12 score line at Mountmellick. Things were looking quite promising for Meath at the interval when they trailed by only 0-4 to 1-3 after playing against the wind, but the Rebels pulled right away subsequently to be 13 points clear at the final whistle. A strong second half showing enabled Meath to bounce back with a third victory from four league outings when they played Monaghan at Corduff. They managed only a point from Elaine Duffy in the first half and trailed by 0-1 to 1-1 at the change of ends, but they assumed control in the second period when Grainne Nulty's goal helped them to a 1-10 to 2-2 victory. Meath and Galway were involved in another draw when the counties met in the last round of league group matches at Ratoath in late March as it finished 1-11 each. Blizzard-like conditions made things difficult for both sides, but a brilliant goal from Katie O'Brien helped Meath to lead by five points in the opening half. However, Galway recovered to be level (1-5 each) at the break, before Meath pushed two points ahead in the third quarter. The Connacht side upped the tempo and Meath were thankful to goalkeeper Irene Munnelly for some great saves, while Suzanne McCormack made a vital goal line clearance. Galway still managed to score four successive points which enabled them to edge in front, but Meath got back to parity again. As the excitement intensified Galway took the lead again, but Louise McKeever had the final say with an equaliser to secure a share of the points for the hosts. Meath were safely through to the quarter-finals, but their dream of going all the way and making amends for the previous year's final disappointment were crushed at Islandeady in April when Mayo inflicted a 4-18 to 0-9 defeat. The Royal County had beaten Mayo at the same stage of the competition in 2006, but the result was reversed in emphatic style this time when Cora Staunton inspired the westerners who led by 2-9 to 0-5 at the interval. That represented a very disappointing end to the league for Meath, but the big aim was the Leinster Championship which was due to commence in late June with a home semi-final meeting against Kildare at Pairc Tailteann. By that stage Meath were without the considerable talents of former All-Star Geraldine Doherty, who had sustained a serious leg injury during a challenge match against Cavan at Breffni Park, while Aisling Ennis had suffered a cruciate ligament injury and was also out. And how they were missed as Meath fell to a 0-10 to 2-10 defeat. It was a deserved victory for Kildare, who were later well beaten by Laois in the final, but it has to be stated that lack of discipline was a problem for Meath. An Aisling Jennings goal after six minutes boosted the Lilywhites to a 1-4 to 0-4 half-time lead and when Simone Gibabert fisted home their second goal early in the second period they were well on their way to a first provincial final appearance. Manager Sheridan made positional switches, with Fiona Mahon moving to centre half-forward and Vikki McGinn joining Grainne Nulty at midfield, while she also sent in three substitutes 10 minutes after the change of ends in a bid to revive her team's fortunes. However, it was all to little avail. McGinn was sin-binned at the three-quarter stage when Meath were trailing by seven points (0-6 to 2-7) and by the time she returned after her 10 minutes away the deficit still stood at seven (0-8 to 2-9). Katie O'Brien soon departed to a yellow card and by the time the last whistle sounded Kildare were safely in front with a six-point advantage. Mahon top-scored for Meath with five points. Their Leinster Championship ambitions were over, but there was still the All-Ireland qualifiers and they opened up against Dublin at Carlow with a 3-12 to 3-8 win after extra time. That victory earned them a place in a round-robin series also involving Down, Armagh and beaten provincial finalists Kildare. Jackie Shiels gave Meath a great start against Dublin with a goal from a cheeky flick, but the Metropolitans hit back impressively to lead by 2-2 to 1-0 and were ahead by 2-2 to 1-2 at the break. They added a third goal from a penalty early in the second half, but the Royal County were in no mood to surrender. Aided by a Karen Bowe goal they regained the lead, but in the end it took a point from Charlene McAuley to force the match to extra time (2-9 to 3-6). The decisive score in the additional spell was a Grainne Nulty goal at the end of the first period and they defended heroically after that to secure a four-point victory. Meath opened the round-robin series with a trip to Newry which brought a clearcut 2-16 to 1-7 win over Down. This was the first competitive meeting of the counties at senior level and Meath led by 0-4 to 0-0 after 10 minutes and by 0-8 to 1-3 at the interval. The home side reduced the arrears to the minimum with a point on the restart, but goals from Elaine Duffy (penalty) and Jackie Shiels put Meath firmly on the road to victory. Duffy was leading scorer with 1-3. Clones was the venue for Meath's second round-robin game against Armagh and they pushed the 2006 All-Ireland finalists all the way before going under by 0-10 to 0-12. The teams were level on 0-7 apiece at the break, but Meath controlled the early stages of the second half and pushed ahead at 0-10 to 0-7. Unfortunately, they failed to register a score subsequently as Aileen Matthews inspired Armagh to victory. Meath goalkeeper Irene Munnelly made a good save from a penalty late in the game with her side two points adrift and there was further drama as Katie O'Brien won possession and raced through the Armagh defence, before blasting a shot against the crossbar. It was a case of so near and yet so far. The reality after that loss was that Meath needed to beat Kildare in their final match in the round-robin series at Ratoath to reach the All-Ireland quarter-finals, but that clearly wasn't going to be easily achieved in light of the earlier six-point reversal against the same opposition in the Leinster Championship. However, it looked very promising when Meath led by 0-5 to 0-1 after 16 minutes and by 0-7 to 0-3 at the interval, before things went wrong subsequently and they failed to score in the last 20 minutes. They had played well in that opening period and might have added goals when Jackie Shiels and Louise McKeever went close. They had also lived dangerously after only four minutes when they conceded a penalty, but Irene Munnelly saved well from Elaine Dillon's kick, before Grainne Nulty blocked Hazel Mulligan's attempt from the rebound. Kildare had better luck four minutes into the second half when Simone Gilabert netted. Meath hit back with three points, but they didn't trouble the score board operator again and that proved to be a disastrous statistic as Kildare went on to win by 1-10 to 0-10. It was closer than the provincial meeting of the counties, but Meath were out of the title race. Next year they will hope for a cleaner bill of health on the injury front and who knows what might be achieved. Tweet

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