Meath Ladies U/14 Leinster Championship - Round 1

Meath v Dublin
Ashbourne GAA Club
Saturday March 14th 2009
Throw in 1p.m.
Ref: Liam Duane – Kildare

Half time:
Meath 1 – 00 – Dublin 3 – 13
Full Time:
Meath 6 – 06 – Dublin 4 – 16

2008 Leinster U/14 champions Meath kicked off the defence of their title in a windswept Ashbourne on Saturday against old rivals Dublin. Meath playing against the wind in the first half were totally swept aside by a Dublin side who took full advantage of the strong breeze.
By the end of the first quarter Dublin were two goals and five points to the good with Meath hardly getting beyond the half way line.
Meaths one and only excursion into the Dublin defence resulted in their only score for the half.
So confident were Dublin that they had notched up a total of three goals and thirteen points by the end of the first half.

The second half of the game was much the same but with Meath having most of the play. Within fifteen minutes of the restart Áine Bennett (2), Niamh Foy and Laura Dempsey had notched up four goals between them. Things were starting to look good for the Royal girls. Dublin not to be outdone added a couple of points of their own. Once again Meath put in a huge effort and this resulted in a second goal for Laura Dempsey. Unfortunately time was running out for Meath and they just couldn’t manage to claw back the huge deficit of the first half.
Dublin eventually ran out four point winners. Áine Bennett, Laura Murray, Laura Dempsey and Sarah Powderly impressed for Meath.

Meath team and scorers:
Sarah Powderly, Shona Cleary, Lauren Duff, Ellen Hennelly, Caroline Brothwood, Stephanie Barr, Emma Troy, Laura Murray, Lauren Patterson(3pt), Ruth Moore, Laura Dempsey(2g 1pt), Gillian O’Hare, Lesley Buchanan, Niamh Foy(1g 1pt), Aine Bennett(3g).

Subs:
Taylor Little for Lauren Duff, Ciara Delaney for Emma Troy, Eleanor Lane for Ellen O’Hare, Maeve Scanlon(1pt) for Lesley Buchanan, Roseanna Irwin for Ruth Moore.
U/16 Leinster Championship – Round 1

Meath v Dublin
Ashbourne GAA Club
Saturday March 14th 2009
Throw in 2.45p.m.
Ref: Michael Duane

Half time:
Meath 3 – 14 – Dublin 0 – 03
Full time:
Meath 3 – 16 – Dublin 0 – 08
Once again the wind played havoc in this u/16 round one game at Ashbourne. Meath were lucky enough to win the toss and chose to play with the wind in the first half. This was to be a wise decision and before Dublin knew what hit them Rachel Andrews had coolly slotted the ball past the Dublin keeper for the first score of the game after three minutes.

Meath were in no mood to let Dublin away with anything and went on a seven point scoring spree before Dublin rallied with two points of their own. But, such was the determination of Meath they set off again and with Jacinta Maher, Sinead Coyle and Katie Callaghan picking off scores from all angles, the Meath girls went into the break with a comprehensive lead of three goals fourteen to three points.

The second half it was Dublin who had the bulk of the play. They were having trouble scoring due to the hard working Meath backs. Cliona Murray, Megan O’Brien, Lauren McCann and Kellie Allen kept things very tight at the back. Dublin eventually managed five points for the half to Meaths two points, but Meath were just too strong in all quarters.

Meath team and scorers:
Samantha Monaghan, Karen Blaney, Cliona Murray, Lauren McCann, Megan O’Brien, Kellie Allen, Niamh Collins, Maire O’Shaughnessy, Vivienne McCormack (1p), Katie Callaghan (5pts (3f)) Sinead Coyle (2g 6 pts), Stephanie Caffrey, Bridgetta Lynch (1 pt), Rachel Andrews (1 g), Jacinta Maher (3 pts)

Subs:
Shauna Hutton for Rachel Andrews.

Both teams will travel to Wicklow for Round 2 of the Championship on March 28th. Time tbc later.