Opportunity knocks for Meath in Inniskeen

In the words of the late, great Páidí Ó Sé during a now famous and viral team-talk to the Westmeath senior footballers ahead of their 2004 Leinster SFC final replay against Laois, “a grain of rice will tip the scales”.

Meath camogie know all about fine margins this year and manager Stephen Sheil will most likely be detailing how little there is between all the teams left in the All-Ireland Intermediate Camogie series as Meath prepare for their quarter-final clash against Derry this Sunday in Iniskeen at 2.30pm.

At times, Sheil’s first year in charge of Meath has been frustrating for the Carlow native. The final scoreline in their opening game against Westmeath was an unfair reflection of the gap between the Royals and their neighbours and a narrow loss to Laois put the Royals in a precarious position of possibly not qualifying for the knockout stages.

Meath had shown so much promise in the league and speaking after that loss to Laois in O’Moore Park, Aoife Minogue, who had only joined back with the panel at the start of the All-Ireland campaign, told the Meath Chronicle “when it clicks for us, it will really click.”

Minogue’s prophecy came to fruition even earlier than the Dunderry star would have predicted as the Royals put in a stunning performance last time out to beat Carlow by 12 points which was just about enough, on score difference, to seal a spot in Sunday's quarter-final double header at a venue that Meath supporters are quite familiar with.

The Royals have already beaten their quarter-final opponents this year in the NCL Div 2 at Celtic Park back in March.

In what was an intriguing clash, the Royals trailed after 45 minutes by one point but got a great boost when Isabel O’Connor produced a wonder strike from the edge of the D into the top left corner of the Derry net and Meath secured an important four-point victory on their path to the league final.

In the championship, Derry were operating in the more competitive group A but they haven't been overly impressive. Last time out they were well held by Kerry and only managed to register two points from play.

Discipline will be vital for Meath this Sunday.

Derry’s free taker, Carla Collins does not tend to miss opportunities so the Meath defence will have to be precise with their tackles and play. However, going forward Meath seem to have a bigger attacking threat than their counterparts.

Sheil’s idea to move Abbye Donnelly up to the forwards was a stroke of genius and Meath’s most potent and impressive line is their full-forward area. The likes of Emma Regan, Ciara Foley, Ella O’Brien and Olivia O’Halloran can all cause the most solid of defences a lot of issues.

Meath have not qualified for the semi-finals of the All-Ireland Intermediate Camogie Championship since their incredible run to the decider in 2023. However, this is a fantastic opportunity for a rejuvenated Meath side and they have every chance of reaching the last four in Sheil’s first year in charge of the camogs.