Daunting Derry defeat for Royals
NATIONAL CAMOGIE LEAGUE Tough task to make final
Whatever about the journey to Derry from Meath being a long one, the road home for the Royals on Saturday evening must have felt particularly long following a comprehensive National Camogie League Div 2A loss to the hosts in Castledawson.
Derry maintained their perfect record, while for Meath, it was a steep learning curve and the long journey home would have given the young Royals plenty of time to work out what they need from their two remaining games against Carlow and Offaly.
Intermediate player of the year Aine Barton (McAllister) led the charge for the Derry side with 1-2 as the All Ireland champions put Meath to the sword.
Barton’s goal came from a penalty on the cusp of half time. The goal was a sucker punch to Meath who had battled back into the game after a slow start.
On a day where Meath just failed to spark, it could have been so different for the travelling side who missed a great goal chance inside the first minute when Ciara Foley pulled on a loose ball which whizzed past the left hand post. Had that gone in it would have provided a dream start for Meath.
However it was the home side that started brighter with a point from Olivia Rafferty in the fifth minute. Derry were three points to the good and were it not for a great save from Maggie Randle in the Meath goal they might have been further ahead before Meath got any sort of foothold in the game.
When Meath did settle, they produced their best period of the game as they brought the game level at 0-3 each through Amy Gaffney (two) and Aoife Carey.
Derry hit three more unanswered points to stretch their lead, Aimee Lennon and Olivia Rafferty were providing well for Derry upfront. As the clock ticked past the 32 minute mark, Derry were awarded a penalty for a clumsy tackle inside the box. Barton made no mistake from the penalty spot, rifling her shot to the top corner and giving Derry a six-point cushion at half-time.
Dervla O’Kane made it a seven-point game just after the resumption. In another purple patch for Meath, Aoife Carey replied with a pointed 45. She then went close with a goal chance on the 35 minute mark which could have kicked Meath into life but it hit the side netting.
Half time substitute Olivia O’Halloran then pointed for the Royals followed by Carey again to make 0-6 to 1-7 with just under 20 minutes to go.
That’s as good as it got for the Meath challenge as Derry shifted up a gear and closed out the game with five points in a row to kill off any Meath challenge.
The 2023 All Ireland Champions proved their credentials with Barton, Lennon, Rafferty and O’Kane all added to their tallies. Aoife Carey hit the last point of the game, her fourth, in the 62 minute.
Derry- N Gribben; C McEldowney, L Lennon, A Ni Chaiside; R Downey, N Quinn, L McKenna; A McGill, M Kerr; A Barton (1-2 1-0 penalty, two frees0, D O’Kane (0-3), B Rogers; O Rafferty (0-3), A Lennon (0-3), A Shaw (0-1).
Meath – M Randle; R O’Neill, C Coffey, S Payne; L Devine, E Burke, M Clince; A Gaffney (0-2), E Leddy; G Connolly, A Carey (0-4 one free, one '45'), K Connolly; E Hannafin, G Coleman, C Foley. Subs – O Halloran (0-1) for Hannafin, A Lally for Coleman, R Heaney for Clince, T King for Payne, C O’Riordan for G Connolly, E O’Brien for K Connolly.