Dublin capture league title..
Dublin Cruise to NationalLeague Title.
Dublin 3-15 Meath 2-9.
Dublin and Meath played out an exciting Bord Gais National LeagueDivision 2 final at Parnell Park on Saturday before an attendance of 3,000spectators. The Royals were quick off the mark with a point from GeraldineDoherty in the first minute. Dublin responded with a pointed free from SineadAherne in the third minute. Another one followed a minute later. Elaine Duffyequalised for Meath two minutes later before an Elaine Kelly point from play andtwo more frees from Aherne stretched the Dublin lead to three points. Meaths response to the Jackies quick inter-passing was tofoul when danger threatened and Aherne punished them whenever the opportunityarose. Corner forward, Vivienne McCormack, was deployed as an extra defender tocounteract the attacking prowess of the Dublin forwards.
Meath captain, Grainne Nulty, was the target for goalkeeper, IreneMunnellys kick outs and she used herconsiderable height to win valuable possession for the team. Mary Sheridan wasthe target of the high ball into the forward line but full back, Joanne OSullivan, succeeded in breaking some away and these in turn were snapped byDublins two lively corner backs,Sinead Goldrick and Ailish McKenna. Sinead and Ailish contributed immensely toDublins counter attacking gamethroughout. When Mary won possession Dublin defenders were on hand to putpressure on the Meath forwards. In the sixteenth minute their first goal chancematerialised from possession won by Sheridan but Cliodhna O Connor pulled off agreat diving save to deny the full forward. From the resultant forty-fiveGeraldine Doherty reduced the deficit to two points.
However, in the space of two minutes the game was turned on its head asDublin struck for two goals which made the Royals task all the more difficult.Quick thinking by Sinead Aherne from a free near the sideline set up the first.She spotted Amy Rings run away from themarker and Amy dispatched the ball past the helpless Munnelly. One minute laterAhernes shot was stopped by thekeeper but Olivia Leonard was on hand to knock in the rebound. Meath respondedand a thunderbolt from Katie O Brien looked to have beaten O Connor but hit thebar and went over for a point. At half time Dublin had a comfortableeight-point lead.
At the start of the second half Meath introduced Caitriona OShaughnessy for Elaine Duffy and made a few positionalswitches but Dublin continued to dominate. Lyndsey Peat was introduced as a subfor the injured Niamh McEvoy. Points from Noelle Healy and Elaine Kelly with areply from Vivienne McCormack had Dublin leading by nine points after fourminutes, 2-9 to 0-6. McCormack and Geraldine Doherty were two Meath forwardswhich looked threatening at this time. Doherty knocked over a point followed bya well-taken goal and suddenly it was game on with the lead down to fivepoints. Elaine Kelly lifted the siege with another well taken point, one offour on the day. Doherty tested O Connor again as Meath went looking for a secondgoal. She set up Katie O Brien for another effort which came back off the postand was scrambled to safety by the Dublin defence. Mary Nevin who came on as asub for Olivia Leonard was running at the Meath defence at every opportunity.Four Dublin points over the next nine minutes to Meaths one gave the Jackies some breathing space. This didnt last long as McCormack dispatched a penalty to theback of the Dublin net and now the lead was back to six points. An Aherne pointstretched the lead to seven but Meath werent done yet. OConnor was called upon again to make another great save, this time from cornerback, Katie Allen. Fiona Mahon put over a free to reduce the margin again, withtwo minutes left on the clock. Then Lyndsey Davey cut through the Meath defenceon a solo run and even though her initial effort was well saved by Munnelly shetucked the rebound home to put the icing on the cake for Dublin.
Both Dublin and Meath return to Division 1 of the Bord Gais NationalLeague for next year. The scene has been nicely set for the upcoming clash inthe Leinster championship. Dublin manager, Tommy Brown, will be happy withprogress to date. Quite a number of new players have made their way on to theteam and the squad during the league campaign and that is good to see. Thebattle for places will become more intense as the championship draws near.Nobody will be carried away with the nine point win over Meath. The gap betweenthe sides is somewhat closer than the scoreline on the day suggests. Cliodhna O Connor was at her brilliant bestagainst the Royals and her kick-out placement was spot on throughout. Cornerbacks, Goldrick and McKenna made massive contributions as did Gemma Fay andSiobhan McGrath in the half backs. Sinead Aherne and Elaine Kelly were thestand-out forwards on the day with Denise Masterson working tirelessly inmidfield. Lyndsey Peat and Mary Nevin made valuable contributions whenintroduced as subs. That leaves any one of a number of players in line forPlayer of the Match. On this occasion it goes to Ailish McKenna for her soliddefensive work and general tidying up plus her regular forays into attack.
Referee - M. J OKeeffe, Cork.
Dublin - C. O Connor, capt., S. Goldrick, J. O Sullivan, A. McKenna, G.Fay, S. Furlong, S. McGrath, D. Masterson, N. McEvoy, L. Davey, (1-0), E.Kelly, (0-4), N. Healy, (0-1), S. Aherne, (0-9, 6frees), O. Leonard, (1-0), A.Ring (1-0).
Subs - L. Peat (0-1) for N. McEvoy, M. Nevin for O. Leonard, S. Woodsfor A. Ring, A. Connolly for N. Healy and G. O Malley for A. McKenna.
Meath - I. Munnelly, K. Allen, E. Rahill, A. Murray, O. Sheridan, S.Bennett, B. Lynch, K. O Brien, (0-1), F. Mahon, (0-1, free), G. Nulty, capt.,G. Doherty(1-4), E. Duffy, (0-1, free), J. Rispin, M. Sheridan, V.McCormack,(1-2, 1-0 pen.).
Subs - C. OShaughnessy for E.Duffy, A. Carolan for J. Rispin and P. Sheridan for E. Rahill.
