Lady footballers salvage draw against Kildare

Meath saw their chances of securing a place in the last four of Ladies NFL Div 2 become a distant ambition as they had to recover from an eight-point interval deficit to force a draw with Kildare at Ashbourne on Sunday. After finishing within three points of the each of the leading counties, Cork, Monaghan and Dublin, in their three previous outings, Meath were fancied to overcome Kildare and secure their place in fourth spot. However, manager Paula Cunningham opted to give a few players their opportunity and that plan backfired as Kildare started impressively. Kildare hit the ground running with Maria Moolick pointing three times in the opening eight minutes. The Meath defence was slack and misplaced passes aided Kildare's opening dominance. Meath opened their account in the ninth minute with a more determined attack from Katie O'Brien who was outstanding throughout and contributed nine of Meath's 13-point haul. A foul on Vivienne McCormack a minute later saw Meath awarded a penalty, but the Clann na nGael player scuffed her effort wide and Kildare were let off the hook. Grace Clifford, Moolick and Siobhan Hurley stretched the visitors lead before O'Brien kept Meath in touch with a point early in the second-quarter. Kildare were totally dominant and laid the platform for victory when Roisin Byrne beat Duleek/Bellewstown goalkeeper Monica McGuirk and when Moolick added a point, Meath looked in serious trouble. O'Brien and centre-back Hazel Dennedy traded points with Moolick and Clifford to leave Meath 0-4 to 1-9 adrift at the break. A couple of changes in personnel and positional swaps saw Meath resume for the second-half with renewed vigour. Points from Kellie Allen and O'Brien closed the deficit before Moolick finished Kildare's scoring 22 minutes from time. Three more points from O'Brien continued to eat into Kildare's advantage and Seneschalstown's Mary Sheridan also got in on the act. Substitute goalkeeper Irene Munnelly maintained Meath's hopes with a point blank save and two Kildare sin-bins in eight minutes put the hosts in the driving seat. Another O'Brien free following a foul on McCormack and a score from Fiona Mahon had the deficit down to two points with less than 10 minutes remaining. O'Brien made it 0-12 to 1-10 before Meath were handed a great chance to win the game when Brigetta Lynch was fouled and the referee awarded the penalty. However, after McCormack's earlier spot kick miss, O'Brien opted to take her point and complete Meath's comeback to rescue a draw. Shauna Bennett, Aedin Murray, Kellie Allen and Katie O'Brien were best for Meath who will have to travel to Laois next Sunday and Donegal on Sunday 1st April to complete their programme. Meath - M McGuirk; O Byrne, A Murray, O Sheridan; A Leavy, H Dennedy (0-1), K Allen (0-1); S Bennett, F Mahon (0-1); M Sheridan (0-1), K O'Brien (0-9), S Byrne; E Rahill, V McCormack, C Jordan. Subs - E Troy for Leavy, J Rispin for Jordan, I Munnelly for McGuirk, K Byrne for S Byrne, B Lynch for Dennedy. Kildare - M Holgraine; K Lowry, A Savage, N Quinn; K Leahy, D Berry, D Tierney; A Herbert, A Holton; R Byrne (1-0), M Moolick (0-7), G Clifford (0-2); E Burke, S Hurley (0-1), M Carey. Sub - D Kelly for Clifford. Referee: Pat Kehoe (Carlow)