Battling Meath just fall short in Thurles showdown
It was a painful, disappointing case of so near yet so far for Meath after they lost out to 2-19 to 3-19 to a lively, strong Tipperary side in the Ladies All-Ireland IFC semi-final at Semple Stadium, Thurles but manager Eamonn Murray believes women's football in Meath is on the way back .
The Royal County were in trouble at the interval when they trailed 1-7 to 2-11. They were well off the pace in that opening half and they were clearly drifting until short before the interval when Marion Farrelly fired the ball to the net to give her teams hope.
The Meath management made changes at the interval. Not that they worked immediately. Meath shipped a couple of early points after the break as well as a third Tipperary goal from Aishling Moloney just five minutes into the second-half.
At one stage the Premier County side led by 3-17 to 1-10 and appeared to be cruising but Meath made a spirited comeback with a series of points. In the closing minutes Meath were awarded a spot-kick and Stacey Grimes swept the ball to the net. Meath kept fighting with Grimes adding two further points to leave just a goal dividing the sides. However Meath just couldn't get the equaliser they worked so hard to get.
In the exciting finish Tipperary held on to their lead but Meath, who only narrlowly avoid relegation from Div 3 of the league restored a lot of pride with this win. "I'm so proud of the my players the way the came back," said manager Murray.
See full match report, analysis and interviews with the manager Eamonn Murray and captain Niamh O'Sullivan in this week's Meath Chronicle.