Dublin too strong for Meath ladies at Ashbourne

Dublin gained some form of compensation for last year's Leinster SFC defeat when they took the Ladies NFL Div 1 points home from Ashbourne following an energy-sapping encounter with Meath. The Dubliners could even afford the luxury of 10 wides compared to one for the hosts as they made life difficult for themselves with some woeful finishing, especially in the second-half. Both teams went into this second round game after victories last week. Meath defeated Tyrone by 1-12 to 1-7 while Dublin negotiated Kildare with a facile 5-18 to 0-6 margin of success. Despite Dublin's inability to hit the target consistently, Meath contributed significantly to their own demise. The passing was poor, the marking was slack and too many shots fell short into the hands of a grateful Dublin goalkeeper Cliodhna O'Connor. There was also the sight of Geraldine Doherty limping gingerly to the dressing room midway through the second-half with an injury that was later diagnosed as a broken leg. The conditions were difficult with a generous amount of handling errors as players spilled possession frequently. Meath played in fits and starts, but there could be no faulting the contribution of Oldcastle's Kellie Allen who covered an enormous amount of ground, but was too often on the wrong foot and was unable to take a score. Jenny Rispin was deployed as an extra defender and while the tactic worked to a certain extent, the pay-back was in attack where Meath were easily contained on the odd occasion that the ball was played in directly. Mary Sheridan, who started at midfield with the hard-working Fiona Mahon, by her standards turned in a disappointing 60 minutes and may have been better deployed on the edge of the square. Dunboyne's Aoife Thompson opened Meath's account in the second minute when she blazed a goal chance over the bar, but it was a costly miss. Katie O'Brien (pictured) was a pivotal performer and linked well between defence and attack. She completed Meath's first-half tally with three pointed frees as the Royals trailed by 0-4 to 0-5 at the interval. Dublin had the usual 'Dublin look' about them and Allstar Sinead Aherne claimed four (three frees) of their five first-half points with Sinead Goldrick completing the tally. It was more of the same in the second-half from Meath with O'Brien claiming three more points, two frees as the hosts laboured in the finishing department although they had a late goal chance which would have earned a draw. Dublin showed good battling qualities and in substitute Ciara Murphy they had a very useful player. She scored two good points and Coleen Barrett also sent over as the Metropolitan girls took a 0-8 to 0-5 lead heading into the final quarter. That closing period produced a dour struggle for supremacy and Meath custodian Irene Munnelly demonstrated her Allstar status with some fine saves and even better handling as Dublin raised the tempo. The sides shared four points with Aherne and Orlaith Egan countering a brace from O'Brien. Meath showed enough in defeat to suggest that they could make an impact in Div 1 and they will have an opportunity to enhance their status when they travel to Monaghan next Sunday. Dublin - C O'Connor; G O'Malley, S Treacy, S McGrath; A McKenna, S Finnegan, F Hudson; S Goldrick (0-1), C Barrett (0-1); K Flood, N Hyland, A McGuinness; O Leonard, N McEvoy, S Aherne (0-5 three frees). Subs - S Woods (0-2) for Barrett 16 mins, A Clarke for McGuinness 28m, Barrett for Flood half-time, O Egan (0-1) for McEvoy 47m, S O'Mahony for Treacy 57m, C Murphy for Leonard 58m, N Owens for Woods 59m. Meath - Irene Munnelly (St Ultan's); Marie Masterson (Moylagh), Aedin Murray (Navan O'Mahonys), Orla Sheridan (Seneschalstown); Emma Troy (Boardsmill), Eileen Rahill (Oldcastle), Kellie Allen (Oldcastle); Mary Sheridan (Seneschalstown), Fiona Mahon (Seneschlastown); Katie O'Brien (St Ultan's 0-6 five frees), Shauna Bennett (St Ultan's), Vivienne McCormack (Clann na nGael); Jenny Rispin (Summerhill), Aoife Thompson (Dunboyne 0-1), Geraldine Doherty (St Ultan's). Subs - Aideen Guy (Boardsmill) for Masterson 24 mins, Laura Dempsey (Boardsmill) for Doherty 42m, Colleen Jordan (Skryne) for McCormack 47m, Stephanie Byrne (Seneschalstown) for Thompson 52m. Referee - Eugene O'Hare (Down).