Late flourish leaves Meath ladies smiling

Midway through the second-half of this Ladies NFL Div 2 clash at Trim on Sunday Meath were trailing in the rear view mirror as Longford threatened to pull away in the distance. With 13 minutes remaining the home side trailed by 0-7 to 1-8 and clearly struggled to get a foothold in the game. A few adjustments were made and from a position when they were slipping to defeat the Royal County girls sparked a spirited revival to go on and win. Meath football has a tradition of rescuing lost causes and the ladies showed on this occasion that they are well capable of contributing to the pantheon of comebacks. Not surprisingly, one of the players who was a central key in Meath"s late surge was Gillian Bennett. All afternoon she had teased and tormented the Longford defence with her cultured left foot a powerful weapon that ultimately devastated Longford"s ambitions. The nine points Bennett scored in this entertaining encounter before a handful of spectators gives a good indication of her uncanny ability to find scores from a variety of angles and distances. Her radar was switched on to full alert on this occasion and just about every time she got the ball within a 40-metre range of the Longford posts the umpire needed to reach for the white flag. Ahead by 0-5 to 0-4 at the interval Meath conceded a goal just after the resumption and that, added to a succession of Longford points set them back. Then with 13 minutes remaining Meath found their bearings again and staged their late run along the rails. Central to Meath"s revival was the goal they created on 53 minutes. The origins of the score owed a lot to the sharpness of left-corner-back Aine Fagan who did well to win possession deep inside her own half. Fagan passed to Niamh O"Sullivan who delivered a long ball behind the Longford defence and there waiting was Jenny Rispin who calmly slotted home to give Meath a 1-9 to 1-8 lead. Rispin wore the number six jersey however, she ended up in the forwards and took her chance well. She also tagged on a point with a late, overhead kick. Shauna Bennett was another who also nailed a point. It was no surprise that Fagan was involved in the move that led to Meath"s goal. Just 16, she is the youngest member of the team yet she displayed an awareness and vision that belied her age. She was one of Meath"s top performers and is surely a player to watch in the future. One courageous block she made in the first-half denied Longford"s Michelle Rosso a certain goal. At times when Longford got their passing game going the Meath defence looked in trouble. They were rescued by some fine defending from the likes of Fagan and full-back Brid Guy who had to spent 10 minutes in the sin bin in the second-half and her absence allowed Longford to exerted a brief ascendancy. Meath goalkeeper Irene Munnelly didn"t have a great deal to do as the her defence worked hard. What she had to perform she did well which included a penalty save midway through the first-half. Longford"s main threat Denise Murray was fouled going through and the referee pointed to the penalty spot. Murray stepped up to take the kick and just as she pulled the trigger she slipped. The ball still flew goalwards and Munnelly had to be sharp to make a save low to her right. Mary Sheridan and Eve Wardick put in a lot of work around midfield however, it was never an area where the home side dominated and Longford created plenty of chances. Fortunately for Meath some of the opposition forwards had left their scoring boots at home. Once they got the ball forward, Meath always looked like they could conjure up a score particularly when Gillian Bennett came into the frame. She finished off one superb move late in the first-half with Fagan, Philomena Sheridan, Shauna Bennett and Wardick involved in processing the ball downfield. They passed to Gillian Bennett and all she needed was a yard of two of space and Longford suffered the consequences. With just four minutes to go in the game the sides were level at 1-9 apiece. Gillian Bennett calmly slotted over a long-range free and in the final minute Rispin dramatically pointed with an overhead kick to ensure victory for the home side and complete a rousing revival. Meath - I Munnelly; C Coffey, B Guy, A Fagan; C Daly, J Rispin (1-1), A O"Rourke; C Dempsey, E Wardick; F Nevin, M Sheridan, A Bennett; G Bennett (0-9), M Sheridan, S Bennett (0-1). Subs - S McCormack for Rispin, A Guy for Nevin, N O"Sullivan for O"Rourke, J Rispin for S Bennett, M Kealy for Dempsey, L McKeever for Daly. Longford - M Kilberry; A Barry, E Power, M Moore; M Bray, D Leavy, A Melia; E Bray (0-1), M Rosso; M Hannify (0-1), E Dooley, F Farrell; A McDonnell, D Murray (0-6), E Quinn (1-1). Refereee - Tony Lennon (Dublin).