Magnificent start for Meath as Cork falter

Welcome to the big time. Before the start of this National Camogie League Div 2 encounter at Pairc Tailtenn on Sunday there was an understandable level of apprehension among those involved in running Meath camogie. Not only was a team from the Royal County playing in the relatively lofty heights of Div 2 for the first time, they were taking on a side from Cork. Okay it was Cork's intermediate selection yet this game still represented a huge leap in standards for Meath camogie. And it would be understandable if the more pessimistic among Meath's camogie fraternity felt that a big defeat would be the outcome of this first audacious attempt to try and mix it with the big girls. Not only were the red jerseys of the Rebel County an indication that Meath had, in a relative way, entered the realms of the big time, and as a consequence faced the real danger of a thumping, there was also the fact that the match was played at Pairc Tailteann. Only a smattering of supporters showed up, but if the team continues to replicate the kind of quality camogie they produced on Sunday the number of followers is likely to grow, especially as the next home game is against Kilkenny. When it is considered that just a few years ago Meath were defeated by nearly 50 points by Dublin's second team, the current standing of the Royal County in the world of camogie is indeed remarkable. And even more encouraging for the game in the county is that the players now clearly believe that they are good enough to compete with the stronger powerbrokers in the game. Meath displayed the kind of skill and dexterity with stick and ball on Sunday that would surely have impressed the likes of Jimmy Barry Murphy and other stars of the small-ball game in Cork. Some indication of the kind of scoring power that Meath whipped up could be derived from the fact that seven players got on the scoreboard. Aileen Donnelly showed the way with five points, which included two frees hit from distance. Sinead Hackett also made her presence felt on the edge of the square with four hard-earned, silky points, all from play. Jane Dolan, Edel Guy (pictured), Elizabeth Lynch, Elizabeth Oakes and Katie Hackett also split the posts as Meath, who trailed 0-7 to 1-5 at the interval, created a stream of opportunities particularly in the second-half. Dolan once again demonstrated her immense talent regularly drifting into the midfield area from her half-forward position and scooping up a lot of ball. She was the source of numerous attacking moves. Some of the points were of the highest order. Donnelly's fifth score shortly before the end was right out of the top drawer, the shot coming from the most acute of angles. Shortly afterwards Katie Hackett conjured up something similar arrowing the ball over despite the fact she was under extreme pressure and well out on the left. It was that kind of swashbuckling, never-say-die, confident spirit that fuelled Meath's performance all afternoon. Donnelly also slotted over a couple of sweetly-struck frees from distance. Not that this was all about the heroics of the forwards. Aoife Maguire and Oakes toiled away all afternoon in the engine room against tough, highly competitive opponents. And some measure of the force that went into some of the exchanges could be gauged from the fact that once or twice timber went flying through the air. Defensively Meath were sound with Aoife Thompson, Aine Keogh and Kristina Troy putting in huge performances. The one blemish on the defence's record was the only goal of the game which arrived after 21 minutes. Cork's Rebecca Murphy whipped in the ball from the right. It should have been cleared, the Meath defence hesitated and Colette Desmond slotted the ball home. That score put Cork, who had the breeze behind them in that opening half, into a 1-3 to 0-3 lead. Sinead O'Callaghan tagged on a point from a '45' immediately afterwards to put four between the sides but that was as wide as the gap got. From then on Meath started to cut the deficit. The Cork goal was a lesson for the home backline who shut up shop very effectively after that hardly giving Cork forwards a glimpse, one of the main factors why the visitors could only muster two points after the break. Meath didn't manage to breakthrough for a goal although this wasn't due to them not displaying the necessary guile and craft to create openings. Lynch and Sinead Hackett had goal chances, only to have their efforts blocked by backs. And in the second-half a sizzling 30-metre drive from Dolan looked destined for the top corner only for Cork goalkeeper Grace O'Callaghan to execute a brilliant save and turn the ball over the bar. Not that Meath needed to carve out goal chances to save their day. They had enough confidence in their own ability to create and score points to keep themselves in the hunt when they fell behind and, in the second-half, push on to claim victory. Teams like Down, Kilkenny and Tipperary lie in waiting for Meath. They're now in with some very good teams yet they showed on Sunday that they will not be cowed down by opponents who bring with them hefty reputations. Meath - Emily Mangan; Fiona O'Neill, Aoife Thompson, Cheyenne O'Brien; Aine Keogh, Kristina Troy, Lisa Foley; Aoife Maguire, Elizabeth Oakes (0-1); Edel Guy (0-2), Jane Dolan (0-3 two frees), Aileen Donnelly (0-5 two frees); Elizabeth Lynch (0-1), Sinead Hackett (0-4), Katie Hackett (0-1). Subs- Claire Coffey for Oakes 55 mins, Maggie Randle for Lynch 59m. Cork - G O'Callaghan; R Murphy, E Jordan, S O'Donovan; O Neville, A Dorgan, Y Murphy; S Harrington, T Buttimer (0-1); D Coomey (0-1), C Desmond (1-0), A O'Donovan; C Murphy, S Duggan, S O'Callaghan (0-5 two frees). Subs - M Scannell for O'Donovan 47mins, N O'Brien for Murphy 40m. Referee - Aidan O'Brien (Wexford).