Provincial crown for Meath Ladies
Royals stun Dublin in u-20 final
Meath hadn’t won a Leinster senior title in 24 years but the county’s under-20 side came up trumps at the first attempt and were crowned inaugural provincial champions following a 1-15 to 2-8 victory over Dublin at Kilcock GAA this Thursday evening, writes Sean Wall.
It was heart stopping stuff at times but Meath fully deserved their win as they gained revenge for an earlier defeat in the group stages.
Meath were by far the better of the two teams but made hard work of it and were unable to shake off a plucky Dublin throughout.
The Royals were never headed at any stage and dominated for large portions of the match and should have been ahead by more than 0-7 to 0-3 at half-time after leading 0-4 to 0-0 after 20 minutes.
Dublin got within a point in the third quarter before Meath eventually went five clear after 49 minutes. However Dublin battled back again to reduce the deficit to the minimum but Meath were not to be denied and finished strongly for an impressive victory.
A six point salvo from captain Roisin McManus deservedly earned her the player of the match but Meath had outstanding performers in every sector of the pitch.
The defence was particularly solid with Clodagh Millington restricting Dublin’s top scorer in the campaign Timea Kovacs to just two points from frees.
Elena Kennedy, Serena Gavin and Meadhbh Hickey also performed heroics while both Mia Brady and Sinead Murphy edged the midfield battle and also combined a tally of 1-3 between them. Nikki Ennis and Charlie Murray also accounted for crucial scores in a hard working attack.
It took 11 minutes for Mia Brady to produce the opening score and Charlie Murray and Nikki Ennis added further points as Roisin McManus rattled the Dublin crossbar.
Substitute Niamh McEntee pointed shortly after her introduction before Amber McCloskey opened Dublin’s account from a free on 23 minutes.
Brady, Jennifer Lynch and Ennis added to the Meath tally while Dublin’s only score from play for the half came from Sophie McIntyre on the stroke of half-time.
Murray increased the lead on the restart but Dublin, despite enjoying limited possession, were back in contention after McCloskey pointed her third free and Kate Watson scored the game’s opening goal on 38 minutes.
McManus opened her account by blasting a shot over the bar that could easily have gone under it. When midfielder Sinead Murphy pointed it left Meath leading 0-11 to 1-5 after 47 minutes.
Murphy again hit the target, this time with a goal, when collecting a McManus free and blasting to the net from an acute angle.
That left it 1-11 to 1-6 and should have ended the Dublin challenge but again they replied with another pointed free from McCloskey and a goal from substitute Neala Byrne to reduce the deficit to a single point.
It was at that stage that McManus showed her leadership qualities and she hit three successive points to stretch the lead back to four. Timea Kovacs converted a free before the Skryne star hit the insurance score deep into added time.
Meath – Meabh McCarrick; Alison McNulty, Serena Gavin, Clodagh Millington; Meadhbh Hickey, Sarah Maguire, Elena Kennedy; Mia Brady (0-2), Sinead Murphy (1-1); Tara Traynor, Roisin McManus (0-6, two frees), Sarah Jane Lyons; Charlie Murray (0-2), Jennifer Lynch (0-1), Nikki Ennis (0-2). Subs – Niamh McEntee (0-1) for Lyons 19m, Eabha Magee for Lynch 43m, Aideen Reilly for Ennis 60m.
Dublin – Kadie Martin; Saoirse Delaney, Rachel Callery, Hazel Grady; Lana Nolan, Christine Moran, Clodagh Fox; Heather Bolger, Abigail McKeating; Sophie McIntyre (0-1), Doireann Egan, Amber McCloskey (0-5 four frees); Cait Phelan, Timea Kovacs (0-2 frees), Kate Watson (1-0). Subs – Leah Pidgeon for Fox half-time, Emma Phillips for Nolan 36m, Rebecca O’Reilly for McKeating 42m, Neala Byrne (1-0) for Phelan 49m, Chloe Bryan for Watson 59m.
Referee – Ian Culbert (Wicklow)