Ní Mhuircheartaigh and Kerry dominate disappointing Meath

Meath fell to a third consecutive drumming in the league, this time at home against Kerry.

Ladies NFL Div 1 Rd 6

Kerry 1-15

Meath 0-05

Tom Gannon reports.

It is still very early in the year to be making too many assumptions about the current state of any team. However, the Meath ladies have a huge uphill battle ahead of them. Three defeats in a row can be seen as a blip but it has been the manner in which Meath has fallen at the hands of Armagh, Galway and this past weekend Kerry, which is very concerning. A 10-point defeat against Armagh, An eight-point defeat to Galway and now a 13-point defeat against Kerry! Meath still has eight of the starting 15 from the 2022 All-Ireland final amongst them. After being there and done that, you would have to imagine that at least those eight players would have had high expectations at the start of the year. A few of them are probably now already questioning whether or not it is possible to get next or near said expectations in 2024.

It is very hard to find any positive take-aways from Meath's performance against Kerry in Ashbourne on Sunday afternoon. For the first ten minutes, Meath looked good coming out with the ball. That's pretty much it. It was certainly a game that Shane McCormack and his players will not look back on with fondness.

With the wind at their backs, Kerry started the game quickly and got the ball rolling with a point straight from the throw-in courtesy of Louise Ní Mhuircheartaigh.

Ní Mhuircheartaigh immediately followed that point up with her second. Emma Duggan got Meath's tally underway with a pointed free and after five minutes Kerry led by one. Emma Dineen weaved through the Meath defence and finished a score nicely to extend Kerry's lead. Meath immediately responded when Duggan converted her second free.

After a patient build-up, Meath managed to win a third free thanks to Ciara Smyth. Duggan obliged by converting and the sides were level after 10 minutes. Lorraine Scanlon edged the Kingdom back in front. As expected Kerry, with the wind at their backs, had the lion's share of possession.

Ní Mhuircheartaigh's third point on the 20th-minute marker was the first score for an extended period. Immediately after though Hannah O’Donoghue got two points in quick succession to put four between the sides.

Ní Mhuircheartaigh was having one of those days where everything she hit went sailing over and she extended Kerry's lead to 5. Just as we entered injury time in the first-half, Niamh Carmody got her only point to give Kerry a 6-point advantage. Kerry had a decent spell in the second- quarter which gave them a commanding lead of 0-9 to 0-3 at halftime. Meath hadn't scored from play in the opening 30 minutes and had gone from the 10th minute to half-time without scoring at all.

Early in the second-half, Monica McGuirk was forced to pull off a great save from half-time sub, Danielle O'Leary. Just as she did in the first, Ní Mhuircheartaigh got the scoring underway in the second-half. O’Donoghue got her third to put eight between the sides before Dineen slotted over her second point. Niamh Gallogly secured Meath's first score in 30 minutes of play and the Royals' first score from play on the 40th minute when she sent the ball flying over the bar from a distance.

Ni Murtaigh cancelled out Gallogly's point with her fifth from play. An Emma Dineen goal on the 45th minute put the game beyond Meath as Kerry went up 13 points. A sin bin for Gallogly for a high tackle didn't help matters as Ni Murtaigh sent Kerry 14 up. A late point from Olivia Gore was nothing more than a consolation as Meath fell to a third consecutive heavy defeat.

SCORERS

Meath- Emma Duggan 0-3 three frees; Niamh Gallogly 0-1; Olivia Gore 0-1.

Kerry- Louise Ní Mhuirchaertaigh 0-8, two frees; Emma Dineen 1-2; Hannah O'Donoghue 0-3; Lorraine Scanlon 0-1; Niamh Carmody 0-1.

MEATH - Monica McGuirk; Katie Newe, Anne Sheridan, Nicole Troy; Niamh Gallogly, Mary Kate Lynch, Aoibhin Cleary; Marie O'Shaughnessy, Shelly Melia; Megan Thynne, Lisa Young, Ciara Smyth; Meadhbh Byrne, Marion Farrelly, Emma Duggan. Subs - Ella Moyles for Byrne 40 mins, Aisling McCabe for Melia 45 mins, Seona Lynch for Smyth 50 mins, Olivia Gore for Cleary 53 mins, Orlaitha Mallon for Thynne 55 mins, Amy O'Leary for Duggan 58 mins.

KERRY- Ciara Butler; Bríd O'Connor, Eilís Lynch, Ciara Murphy; Aisling O'Connell, Kayleigh Cronin, Ciara McCarthy; Mary O'Connell, Anna Galvin; Niamh Carmody, Amy Harrington, Lorraine Scanlon; Hannah O’Donoghue, Emma Dineen, Louise Ní Mhuirchaertaigh. Subs - Danielle O'Leary for Harrington HT, Cáit Lynch for O'Connor 37 mins, Katie Brosnan for O'Donoghue 50 mins, Siobhan Burns for Murphy 54 mins, Keri Ann Hanrahan for Dineen 55 mins, Roisin Smith for Mary O'Connell 55 mins, Eilis O'Connor for Cronin 57 mins, Jaydn Lucey for Ní Mhuirchaertaigh 59 mins, Jess Gill for O'Connell 60 mins, Kate O'Sullivan for McCarthy 60 mins.

Referee: Shane Curley