30 July 2007 Meath V Laois Junior Report FIXME Share this Article 0 0 0 Shares! 0 Shares! Meath and Laois draw in Junior Championship MEATH LADIES Aisling McGinn Cup Round Seven Meath v Laois Pairc Ratheniska, Co. Laois Sunday, 29th July 2007 Throw In 2pm Half Time: Meath 0-04 Laois 0-03 Full Time: Meath 0-06 Laois 0-06 The general consensus that low scoring gaelic matches aren’t very exciting ones, was certainly proved wrong as Meath travelled to the little village of Ratheniska to take on Laois in the final round of the Aisling McGinn Cup on Sunday. Julie Ann Scanlon put the ball in the opening minute of the game and the Royal Ladies battled hard to win back possession. Caroline Griffin’s 45’ in the 2nd minute of the game almost put Eimear Ross through on goal but she was heavily defended and the bal eventually went out through a Laois defender for another 45’. Sinead O Sullivan opened the scoring on three minutes but this was immediately eradicated as a free in at the other end gave Laois their opening score. Their tally was doubled a minute later and a further point was added in the 6th minute after Debbie Dillon fouled to concede a free kick for the Laois girls. Good defending by Maria Kealy still in the opening ten minutes seemed to settle the Royals somewhat and they really lifted the game. Leona Nestor blocked a ball superbly which was aiming for the net and the rest of the defense tightened up to keep the pressure on the Laois girls. Although shooting several wides, Meath registered only their second point of the match in the 21st minute courtesy of a well timed run by centre half back Ciara Daly who ran the pitch in support of the forwards who were struggling to find space to kick into. This seemed to waken the Meath forwards as Tara Ryan pointed from play in the 23rd minute to level the match at three points each. A possible own goal by the Laois goalkeeper was not given by the referee and to the credit of the Meath girls they did not protest. Good link up play between Tara Ryan and Caroline Griffin witnessed a shot scrape the wrong side of the post and it went wide. The Laois players were certainly under pressure from Meath but neither team panicked. Meath went ahead just before the break thanks to the quick feet and cool kicking of Royal Gaels’ (Dunshaughlin) Tara Ryan on 27 minutes. The best move of the half came just before the half time whistle when Sinead O Sullivan, Roisin Nulty, and Tara Ryan all combined again to see the shot go wide. Meath led at the break by a point, four points to three. Meath opened the second half as they had finished the first, confident, and powerful. Tara Ryan saw a shot go less than a foot the wrong side of the post in the 31st minute. A second possible goal let in by Laois was ignored by the referee even though the umpire had raised the green flag to indicate a goal. This decision was met with horror by the Meath supporters who had made the journey to Laois to support the team. Laois leveled matters on 38 minutes and went ahead five minutes later. Meath had by the last third of the game stepped up a gear however they hit wide after wide with their opposition thankfully doing exactly the same the other end. The 53rd minute saw Laois pull two points clear and Meath were facing an uphill struggle for the last few minutes. It wasn’t until the 57th minute that they registered their fifth score of the game through substitute Jenny Cusack who, failing to see the net, aimed the shot high and more importantly over the bar. This raised Meath hearts and Meath found energy from somewhere to keep it going. At this point, Meath supporters were praying for a miracle, as indeed were the team and management! Finally prayers were answered when, deep into injury time the referee awarded a free to Meath straight in front of the posts on the 14’. Substitute Emma Harris coolly stepped up and placed it neatly over the bar to level the match at 6 points each. Thankfully, the full time whistle blew and Meath supporters could relax knowing they were through to the semi finals. The Meath Juniors were well served by Maria Kealy, Ciara Daly, Roisin Nulty, Blaithin Brennan, Catherine McCormack, and Tara Ryan. The amount of wides may trouble the Junior management and their next opposition aren’t as likely to be as forgiving. Meath now finish in fourth place in their group and go on to the semi finals where they will play group winners, Cork. The fixture is set for September 15th. Meath Team and Scorers: Orla Tuite, Debbie Dillon, Maria Kealy, Louise Donoghue, Leona Nestor, Ciara Day (0-01), Roisin Nulty, Catherine McCormack, Julie-Ann Scanlon, Niamh Mooney, Blaithin Brennan, Sinead O Sullivan (0-01), Tara Ryan (0-02), Caroline Griffin, Eimear Ross. Subs: Ann Currane for Roisin Nulty (36mins) Jenny Cusack (0-01) for Eimear Ross (41mins) Andrea Pearle for Niamh Mooney (44mins) Emma Harris (0-01) for Sinead O Sullivan (54mins) Mary Ellen Sheridan for Caroline Griffin (57mins) Not used: Shauna Rowe, Ally Fitzpatrick. Meath Junior Ladies that were in action against Laois on Sunday; Back Row left to right; Ronan Carley (manager), Eimear Ross, Julie-Ann Scanlon, Roisin Nulty, Caroline Griffin, Blaithin Brennan, Sinead O Sullivan, Orla Tuite, Andrea Pearle, Ciara Daly, Emma Harris, Joe McCormack (assistant manager/team trainer), Louise Byrne. Front Row left to right; Louise Donoghue, Leona Nestor, Shauna Rowe, Ann Currane, Debbie Dillon, Mary-Ellen Sheridan, Jenny Cusack, Maria Kealy, Catherine McCormack, Tara Ryan. Liam Dillon (team mascot). Missing from photo: Niamh Mooney, Ally Fitzpatrick. Share this Article 0 0