Meath shine in shambles
MEATH WEXFORD
UNFORTUNATELY, there’s no way to describe what happened in this Leinster Minor ladies’ football championship quarter-final in Rathnew on Wednesday as anything other than a complete and utter shambles.
The writing was on the wall in the warm-up, as it looked like Wexford were out for a leisurely stroll, going through their drills in a daydream. Meath got ready with the intensity of an accomplished inter-county Minor side and played like it.
Nobody could be surprised by how the game started, and continued, and then ended in humiliation for Wexford.
Let’s not beat around the bush, this was embarrassing, there was way too much talent in that Wexford team to limp along and go through the motions.
Meath scored one dead-ball, a 48th-minute penalty. They didn’t score a free, they didn’t have any of note, as Wexford didn’t put a finger on them all night.
It wasn’t even complicated inter-changing prising them open, it was one simple handpass, occasionally two, then goal.
Our reporter, Brian Carty, said after the last game that ‘it’s doubtful that anyone part of this Wexford Minor ladies’ football panel will be involved in such a one-sided game again’. He had every right to expect that to be the case.
He couldn’t possibly have foreseen that very same side capitulating in such an alarming way less than three weeks later, nobody could, eventually losing by 40 points, three more than they beat Carlow by.
As hard as it might be to believe, if Meath had scored 20 goals it wouldn’t have flattered them. They just did things properly, from the back to the front. They worked hard, they played good football, and most importantly they played as a team, not as 15 individuals.
It was 3-7 to 0-1 at the end of the first quarter, and then Rachel Bennett added a bit of class with an excellent goal for the Slaneysiders.
After seven minutes without conceding, the withdrawal of arguably Wexford’s best defender, Niamh Dunne, made no sense in the 22nd minute.
Soon Meath got their mojo back and the outstanding Leah Devine started to do everything uncontested. Down by 5-11 to 1-3, Wexford chose to stay out a half-time and it was probably ill-advised because chuckling and giggling when getting pulverised isn’t great optics.
In fairness, maybe they loosened up a bit and they scored a couple of quick points through Ciara Bridges and Jane Rossiter. However, normality was quickly resumed with almost everything going through Devine.
She scored three of her four goals in the second-half and Doireann Cullen made a miraculous save to prevent another one. Meath often took the easy point too when goals were on, had they needed them.
Frustration was seeping over when corner-forward Emily Coakley was taken off, with one player audibly unhappy and pondering ‘what are they doing?’, loud enough for the sideline to hear. She wasn’t exactly unjustified in her concern.
Eve Hession and Amy Wilson added late relief to the horror movie they had been unwittingly involved in with a couple of points but it didn’t matter too much to Meath, as they clearly have bigger fish to fry.
Meanwhile, Wexford reverted back to the ‘B’ championship and faced Offaly in St Patrick’s Park yesterday (Monday).
Wexford: Doireann Cullen; Lauren Roche, Orla Fortune, Aisling Halligan; Ciara O’Connor, Niamh Dunne, Róisín McGuckin; Sarah Harding-Kenny, Shereene Hamilton (capt., 0-1); Ciara Banville, Rachel Bennett (1-3), Ciara Bridges (0-1); Emily Coakley, Amy Wilson (0-1), Jane Rossiter (0-1). Subs. - Michelle Carty for Dunne (22), Eve Hession (0-1) for Coakley (39), Mairéad Crean for Roche (43), Julia Dempsey for Banville (44), Geri Rose O’Connor for O’Connor (49), also Sally Walker, Mollie Bates, Grace Cloney, Cliodhna O’Connor, Eimear O’Hagan, Lara O’Shea, Emily Rochford.
Meath: Judy Bobbitt (capt.); Katie Newe, Mary-Kate Lynch, Béibhinn Hickey; Rachael Troy, Orla Smith, Aédín Slattery; Orlagh Lally (0-5), Laoise McDermott; Marina Kelly, Leah Devine (4-6), Shona Lynch (0-2); Lauryn Grier (2-1, 1-0 pen.), Tara Bergin (31), Susie O’Roarke (1-2). Subs. - Petra Reilly (0-2) for Kelly (31), Sophie Payne for Hickey (40), Orla McLoughlin (0-1) for S. Lynch (44), Caitlin Hamilton for M.K. Lynch (52), Mollie Byrne (0-1) for Grier (55).
Referee: Jonathan Murphy (Carlow).