Meath ladies send Dublin through the back door

With awesome amalgamation of spirit, skill, true grit and ferocious work ethic Meath did what few had expected to do when they sensationally defeated Dublin in Sunday's Leinster Ladies SFC semi-final. Seldom can any Meath football team have gone into a game as such rank outsiders yet against all the predictions they turned the tables on the All-Ireland champions at Naomh Mearnog's ground in Portmarnock. And what a day it was for Geraldine Doherty (pictured). She had started the game on the bench. Then with 47 minutes played the St Ultan's player came on and left her indelible imprint on an unforgettable afternoon for women's football in Meath. Doherty has experienced her share of setbacks and disappointments in the past including a leg break. Undaunted she fought her way back to fitness and on Sunday she popped over Meath's last three points which included the dramatic injury-time winner. Doherty's match-clinching point was the finishing touch to one of Meath's finest moves of a hot afternoon. It all started deep in their own half and involved Eileen Rahill, Katie O'Brien, Grainne Nulty, Vivienne McCormack, Shauna Bennett and ended with Doherty bisecting the posts with a shot from about 25 metres much to the joy of the Meath supporters. It was as move reminiscent of that which ended with Kevin Foley scoring his famous goal against Dublin back in 1991, the ball swiftly processed forward from deep with the team from the Royal County ending up with a score that broke the hearts of their rivals from the capital. The winning point was one of the many incidents that occurred in a tense closing quarter with both sides presented with chances that could have decided the outcome. While Doherty emerged as the heroine this was one of those occasions when it can be truly said that every player contributed. Against the backdrop of two heavy defeats against Dublin in the NFL Meath could have been forgiven if they went into this contest with no more ambition than to limit the damage and take their chances in the qualifiers. Right from the throw-in it was clear the players had their sights on a loftier target. They closed down their opponents denying Dublin's pacy forwards time and space. Without one of their Allstar players, Amy McGuiness, Dublin just couldn't find the fluency they needed to assert themselves. By half-time Meath had used the benefit of a slight breeze to build up a 0-5 to 0-4 advantage with the excellent Elaine Duffy firing over three points, two from frees, while O'Brien and McCormack also split the posts. Dublin had led in the opening half, but only briefly and by a single score. The sides were level four times in the first moiety indicating the closeness of the action. A point looked a slim advantage facing the breeze and the inevitable Dublin onslaught in the second-half, but when Duffy and Grainne Nulty extended Meath's advantage soon after the break the impossible looked, suddenly, possible. The numbers on the backs of the Meath players bore little resemblance to where the lined out as personnel were shifted around to find the winning formula. Rahill and Mary Sheridan made up the midfield combination and their toil in that sector was a big factor in swinging the game in their team's favour. Yet in every sector of the pitch Meath found players who displayed an unquenchable hunger for possession - forwards covered back when Dublin had the ball, the backs worked tigerishly to close down opponents often forcing them to cough up possession or be penalised for over-carrying. It was a pressure, high-tempo stuff and Dublin couldn't find an answer. While it may be unfair to highlight individual displays some did stand out such as McCormack and Fiona Mahon for their ceaseless running, O'Brien and Sheridan for their work around midfield, Kellie Allen for her 'man-marking' abilities. And goalkeeper Irene Munnelly also played her part making a splendid save from Lyndsey Peat in the closing stages. The Dublin player had the goals at her mercy and while the point was the safer option she could hardly be blamed for seeking to put her name up in lights. The chance was there. With players like Peat, Elaine Kelly and Sinead Aherne around Dublin were always a threat. Just after Doherty came on the field Dublin levelled matters at 0-7 apiece with Aherne pointing from play. At that stage the Sky Blues looked all set to push on and win. Doherty & Co had other ideas. The St Ultan's player reeled off two points in quick succession. Extra-time loomed until Meath launched a late attack and Doherty did the rest. Meath - I Munnelly; O Sheridan, A Murray, L McKeever; F Mahon, C O'Shaughnessy, K Allen; E Rahill, M Sheridan; E Duffy (0-4, three frees), K O'Brien (0-2, frees), V McCormack; J Rispin, G Nulty (0-1), S Bennett. Sub - G Doherty (0-3) for Duffy 47 mins. Dublin - C O'Connor; S Goldrick, J O'Sullivan, A McKenna; C Barrett, S Furlong, G Fay; D Masterson, N McEvoy; A Connolly, L Peat (0-2), N Healy; E Kelly (0-2), S Aherne (0-4), A Ring (0-1). Subs - S Woods for Healy 50mins; M Nevin for Connolly 53m. Referee - Des McEnery (Westmeath).