Leinster Minor Semi-Final 2009.

  • May 08,2009

Dublin 1-14  Meath 1-7.

Jackies In Control.


Defending All-Ireland Minor champions, Dublin, made a successful opening defence to their title with a convincing win over the Royals at a windswept Clann Mhuire pitch on Bank Holiday Monday last. Playing with the aid of a very strong wind in the first half the Jackies opened up a 1-9 to 0-0 lead by the half time interval and went on to consolidate that lead in the second half. Throw in the fact that they kicked twelve wides also in the first thirty minutes of play and you will get a feel for how dominant they were. Only on a couple of occasions did Meath get inside the 21 metre line without ever looking threatening. In fact corner forward Fiona O’Neill spent most of the half back helping her defence. Were it not for some solid defending from Áine Fagan and Aoife O’Reilly the scoreline could have been much worse at the interval. The wind was so strong that Meath goalkeeper, Monica McGuirk, was finding it difficult to get any decent purchase with her kick-outs and quite often the ball was coming straight back at her from the Dublin forwards. Dublin goalkeeper, Alice Gillen , had a similar difficulty in the second half but the excellent half-backline of Ciara O’Riordan, Rachel Nugent and Aoife O’Reilly gave her plenty of options with the kick-outs.

Dublin opened the scoring in the second minute when fullback, O’Rourke, dropped the ball in her own goalmouth and corner forward, Vicky Browne, pounced and crashed the ball to the back of the net. That settled the Jackies and most likely unsettled Meath. The Jackies proceeded to add on four points over the next ten minutes to lead by 1-4 to no score after twelve. Midfielders, Amy Connolly and Caroline Brogan were driving Dublin forward with great assistance from left halfback, Aoife O’Reilly. Connolly scored the first from a free after four minutes and this was followed by points from Anna O’Grady who started in place of Michelle O’Reilly, Orlagh Egan and Aoife O’Reilly. Meath’s first attack didn’t materialise until the tenth minute of play when some nice combination play saw Hayley Lawton set up Aisling O’Reilly but her effort came to nought due to the wind. Five further Dublin points followed before the interval with the pick of them coming in the twenty-fifth minute when after a series of eight passes Orlagh Egan kicked the second of her four points on the day. Further points followed from Browne, an Egan free, Connolly and right halfback Ciara O’Riordan. Dublin went in at the interval with a twelve point cushion but the management team must have been wondering if that was sufficient considering the strength of the wind.

Meath needed a high tempo start to the second half if they were to make inroads into the Jackies lead. They went on the attack from the throw-in but only recorded one point from a free after five minutes by Laura Gilsenan. Dublin’s response was emphatic with Brogan and Connolly scoring two excellent points in to the wind to stretch Dublin’s lead. Meath’s countered and a quick break saw Alisha Jordan cut through the heart of the Dublin defence and unleash a powerful shot that had goal written all over it but a splendid reflex save from Gillen kept it out. Not only that but she had to react again as the ball bounced near the goal line to fingertip it away from the inrushing forwards at the expense of a forty-five. A goal at that juncture might have put a different complexion on matters. Dublin lifted the siege, however, and a superb solo run by full forward, Sinead Cullen, resulted in another Dublin point. The strong wind was proving to be of no great benefit to the Royals as the Dublin midfielders and halfback line were cleaning up most of the possession and working the ball effectively towards the Meath goal. Dublin had as many wides against the wind as Meath had with it in the second half, namely, five. Most of Monica McGuirk’s kick-outs were snapped up by the Famous Five.

Finally Meath made the breakthrough in the twentieth minute when a high ball over the top of the Dublin defence sent Aisling O’Reilly in for a well-taken goal. The Royals came with a late surge and added on three more points but it was a case of too little, too late. The work rate of Connolly, Brogan, O’Riordan, Nugent and O’Reilly snuffed out any chance that Meath were going to make a second-half comeback. Connolly and O’Reilly had outstanding games. All of the halfbacks got on the score sheet as did the midfielders. Four of the six forwards did likewise with Orlagh Egan being the most impressive. Áine Fagan did some tigerish defending throughout and was ably helped by O’Rourke. Up front Alisha Jordan and Aisling O’Reilly battled bravely and Fiona O’Neill worked her socks off but it wasn’t enough to prevent the Dublin onslaught. No doubt that Meath are a much better team than what was witnessed on the day but credit goes to Dublin for not allowing them get into their stride. The Jackies will defend their Leinster title against Laois on Sunday 17th May at a Kildare venue.
Player of the Match - Amy Connolly.    

Match Programme can be downloaded by clicking here 

More photographs from the game can be viewed by clicking here

Teams -
Dublin - A. Gillen, R. Byrne, N. Collins, P. Green, C. O’Riordan, (0-1), R. Nugent, (0-1), A. O’Reilly, (0-1), C. Brogan, (0-1), A. Connolly, (0-3, 1 free), A. O’Grady, (0-1), J. Moore, O. Egan, (0-4, 1 free), V. Browne, (1-1), S. Cullen, (0-1), R. Davey.
Subs - K. McArdle for A. O’Grady and N. McNally for V. Browne.

Meath - M. McGuirk, Á. Fagan, A. O’Rourke, G. Field, B. Keogh, O. Byrne, H. Lawton, R. Considine, S. Sheridan, A. Jordan, (0-2, 1 free), S. McDonagh, L. Gilsenan, (0-1free), A. O’Reilly, (1-1), L. Kelly, (0-1), F. O’Neill, (0-1).
Subs - V. McCormack (0-1) for S. McDonagh and M. O’Shaughnessy for G. Field