26 January 2009 Meath 0-15 Waterford 1-0 Share this Article 0 0 0 Shares! 0 Shares! TG4 CHAMPIONSHIP RELEGATION PLAY-OFF Meath 0-15 Waterford 1-0 Meath under the leadership of Brendan Dardis retain their senior status and have set their stall out for 2009 with a convincing win over Waterford in Newtownmountkennedy (Wicklow) on Sunday last. Thanks must go to Dominic Leech and the Newtown Gaa club for the use of their excellent facilities, as conditions on the day were not ideal for ‘pretty’ football, and in fairness to both teams they were not put off by the inclement weather conditions as they served up sixty minutes of competitive football. Meath, who had a disappointing 2008 season, never took their foot off the gas throughout this encounter, while Waterford struggle to keep up to the high work rate of the Royals. In fairness to the Deise girls the score line does not reflect the amount of effort that they put in to keep the umpire in charge of the green flag at their goal posts redundant. Meaths under employed back line kept the Deise girls scoreless until the fifth minute of the second half, but it had little effect as the Royals continued to tap over points to finish the game with twelve points to spare. Brendan Dardis took over the reins earlier this year and concentrated on mainly ball work in their training sessions during the run in to this important relegation game, and it was a ploy that worked for the Royals on the day. His only concern was, would his team have enough fuel in the tank going into the final quarter, he had nothing to fear, as the Royal girls seemed disappointed to hear the final whistle, (I don’t think). At the end of the game both sides looked more like contestants after a bog snorkelling competition, great credit must go to both sides for playing in such poor conditions. Waterefords keeper, Aimee Jordan was called into action in the second minute of the first half to deny Grainne Nulty, the Royals number eight made no mistake two minutes later, tapping over from thirty metres to open Meaths account. Meaths midfield duo of Aoife O’Rourke and Grainne Nulty controlled the midfield area with excellent fielding and accurate pass’s into their hungry forward line of Eiden Murray, Philomena Sheridan, Ciara Dempsey, Shauna Bennett, Mary Sheridan,Gillian Bennett and Elaine Duffy, Duffy was the Royals top scorer on the day with a personal tally of six points. Seven minutes into the first quarter Meath put a string of pass’s together involving Philomena Sheridan, Gillian Bennett, Mary Sheridan and Shauna Bennett, Bennett clashed with the Deise keeper, with calls for a peno coming from the Royals bench, referee Tony Lennon ignored the advice and awarded a forty five metre free, which resulted in Elaine Duffy notching up her first score of the day. Duffy collected Jordans short puck out to set up Mary Sheridan for Meaths third point of the game. Throughout the game Waterford did put a number of good passing phases together but they were unable to penetrate the Meath backline to get themselves into the game. The Deise’s back line of Laurissa Hogan, Eibhlis Cooney, Anne Dunphy, Aoife McGovern, Louise Ryan and Nora Dunphy worked tirelessly to keep Jordans goal intact. Meath went in at the break with a ten point advantage (0-10 to 0-0). And while they only conceded a goal five minutes into the third quarter they only managed to raise the white flag on five occasions in the second period, but at the end of the day they had achieved their goal of retaining their TG4 senior championship status for 2009, while the girls from the sunny south east will compete in the TG4 Intermediate championship this season. With their championship grading decided both sides must now turn their attention to the NFL, Meath, competing in division 2B will play host to Longford on February 15th, while in division 2A Waterford are away to near neighbours Wexford on February 1st. In the second TG4 championship relegation decider played last Sunday, Westmeath romped home to a comfortable win (5-13 to 1-4) over a young Limerick side, the Lake county retain their Intermediate status while the Shannon siders drop into the Junior championship ranks this season. Meath: Irene Munnelly, Claire Coffey, Louise McKeever, Áine Fagan, Ciara Daly, Jane Burke (capt), Aoife O’Rourke, Grainne Nulty(3pts), Aedin Murray(1pt), Elaine Duffy(6pts), Philomena Sheridan, Ciara Dempsey(1pt), Shauna Bennett, Mary Sheridan(2pts), Gillian Bennett(1pt f).Subs:Fiona O’Neill for S. Bennett, Amy Bennett(1pt) for P. Sheridan, Sinead McCormack for Daly, Eve Wardick for C. Dempsey. Waterford :Aimee Jordan, Laurissa Hogan, Eibhlis Cooney, Anne Dunphy, Aoife McGovern (1g) Louise Ryan, Nora Dunphy, Michelle Ryan, Linda Wall, Sinead Ryan, Elaine Power, Mairead Wall, Deirdre Fahy, Aisling O’Donnell, Margaret Foley. Referee: Tony Lennon (Dublin) Share this Article 0 0