Meath ladies have ability to advance

It says a lot about the the character and new-found determination in Meath ladies football that despite the heartbreaking loss to Laois in the Leinster SFC final they still had the resolve to recover and now find themselves facing into an All-Ireland SFC quarter-final against Monaghan at Birr on Saturday evening. It helped considerably that the tonic needed to recover from the devastating defeat by Laois was a comfortable victory over Sligo in round two of the qualifiers, but Meath still had to be professional in their approach and proved that there is plenty of life left in their fight for All-Ireland glory. Not much was expected of new manager Paula Cunningham when she took over the reins from Brendan Dardis, but boosted by the return of several talented and highly experienced campaigners Meath went on to secure promotion from NFL Div 2, reach the provincial final with victory over All-Ireland champions Dublin and now face Monaghan in the last eight. The journey to this point has been a memorable one for Cunningham, but next Saturday's encounter with the Farney County will be bitter-sweet for the Monaghan native. Cunningham will be wholehearted and 100 per cent committed to securing victory for Meath, and her previous involvement with Monaghan is sure to be of benefit. She is a stickler for details and examining opposition and has a vast reserve of knowledge about the challenge Monaghan will pose. It will be needed. Monaghan are an excellent side and marched through Ulster with consummate ease. They opened their campaign with a 4-16 to 0-4 win over Armagh before booking their place in the Ulster final with a 5-12 to 1-5 semi-final win over Down. Tyrone provided the opposition in the decider, but they were swept aside by 3-18 to 0-10. Retaining their Ulster crown was a superb achievement and they will take a lot of stopping. Caoimhe Mohan bagged two goals in that Ulster final and she will pose a serious threat, but the Ulster champions have lots of talent with Niamh Kindlon, Ciara McAnespie, Therese McNally, Ellen McCarron and Amanda Casey sure to cause problems. However, Meath are in great form and aside from that Leinster final defeat they have been dominant. Players like Irene Munnelly, Aedin Murray, Eileen Rahill, Shauna Bennett, Katie O'Brien, Grainne Nulty, Mary Sheridan, Elaine Duffy, Jenny Rispin and Ger Doherty will strike fear into the Monaghan hearts and a place in the last four of the All-Ireland SFC is certainly within Meath's capabilities.