Royals face Offaly tough test to secure final spot

IF anyone is searching for a good example of how a team has raised itself from the doldrums to a higher level of achievement they could do worse than have a look at the Meath camogie side. A few years ago Meath camogie, on the inter-county front at least, looked to be in free-fall with a number of humiliating defeats shipped both on home soil and on their travels. Now they are on the cusp of making a significant breakthrough after an impressive win over Antrim and a draw with Laois in the championship. If they defeat Offaly in Saturday's All-Ireland Junior Camogie semi-final at Nowlan Park they will reach yet another milestone on the road to redemption. A great deal of the credit for Meath's return to respectability on the camogie front has to be due to the efforts of the players, selectors and work of coach John Davis. In his three years in charge the county team has steadily made progress. Yet even he is somewhat startled to find himself leading his team into an All-Ireland semi-final at this stage. As a successful former manager of the Meath men's senior hurling side Davis has proved himself to be a shrewd observer of teams and their tactics. He knows what is required to get players ready for the fray. The increase in the Meath camogie player's confidence has proved to be a big factor in helping to get to where they now find themselves. Yet he confesses to be somewhat bemused in the lead up to Saturday's game at the home of Kilkenny hurling. The cause of his confusion derives from the results achieved by other teams in the competition. To underscore just how big a challenge faces his team he points to the fact that Offaly were narrowly defeated in the All-Ireland final last year. "Offaly were defeated last year by a point by Clare in All-Ireland final in Croke Park. They seem to be hitting form just now, they beat Down by 5-20 to 0-6 last week, this game is a big step for Meath. You just don't know on the day how things will work out, that's been honest "Waterford beat Offaly although I think Offaly were going through a bad patch but they seemed to have got out of that. To me that was a big turn around because I looked at Waterford and Down in Ashbourne and there was only two or three points between the two teams and Down won Div 3 this year as well. Down had beaten Laois in Div 3 so when you look at all the results it is just hard to figure where we are going." To add to the mix the Meath manager points out that after Meath had drawn with Laois to earn their place in the last four the O'Moore County defeated Offaly. Then Offaly recovered to notch up that huge score against Down. "So where do you go from there," added David. Meath warmed up for Saturday's game with games against Kildare and Laois in the Leinster championship in recent weeks. Against Kildare the Royal County girls made the perfect start with a Debbie Wigglesworth goal. The sides were level 1-4 apiece at the break however, in the second-half Meath finally started to exert themselves and pulled away to win on an impressive 2-16 to 1-9 scoreline. In the All-Ireland championship encounter with Laois early last month which ended in a 1-7 draw Meath showed admirable resilience to get the result they required to make it to the last four and set up the tie with Offaly, with Dearbhla O'Carroll snatching a late goal to help secure a draw. There were a few occasions when Meath were very fortunate not to concede at least two or three more goals against Laois in that O'Moore Park clash with a last-gasp goal-line clearance added to a number of superb saves from Emily Mangan big factors in Meath's attempts to contain the home side. In the second-half and facing into a stiff breeze the Meath defence withstood a spell of sustained pressure with Aoife Thompson, Aileen Donnelly and Louise Donoghue making up a sturdy half-back formation. Thompson has been troubled by a hamstring injury in recent weeks and was rested for last Friday's Leinster championship clash with Laois. Davis and his selectors will also have to plan for the Offaly game without Lizzie Oakes, Maura Keogh and Zoe O'Connor who are out of the country. A big plus for Meath is the steady return to full fitness of Jane Dolan. As part of their preparations for the Offaly encounter Meath also took on Galway's intermediate side in a challenge and earned a respectable draw. The Meath management have proved quick in making changes when the need arises during games and some quick-thinking on the line may also be required on Saturday if Offaly are to be defeated and a place in the final secured.