Kingdom ladies can court win away to Royals
LIDL LADIES NFL DIVISION 1
THEY have built up a damn good rivalry over the past couple of seasons and once more the Royals and the Kingdom go into battle next Sunday.
It is fair to say that Meath hold the upper hand when it really mattered, having defeated Kerry in the 2021 Division 2 decider by 2-16 to 1-9 before blowing a shell-shocked Kingdom away in the All-Ireland final a year later by 3-10 to 1-7.
There has been victories by Kerry of course, most notably the 1-18 to 0-9 annihilation in Brosna in last year’s league before Kerry followed it up with a ferocious 2-8 to 0-10 All Ireland quarter final win in the wind and rain of Austin Stack Park last
July. The tide had firmly turned in Kerry’s favour it seems.
Meath started off this years campaign like they really meant business but the wheels have fallen off their challenge somewhat and their chance of a top two finish will be effectively finished if Kerry come away with the three points next Sunday.
New manager Shane McCormack got off to a flier with victories over Mayo, Dublin and Waterford but ten and eight point defeats to Armagh and Galway respectively has left them under pressure to get results in their last two games.
In many ways Meath’s ability to be a contender at the top table once more is remarkable considering the amount of quality players that they have lost over the past couple of seasons.
All Ireland winners Vikki Wall, Stacey Grimes, Orlagh Lally, Emma Troy, Aoibheann Leahy and Kelsey Nesbitt have left the panel for varying reasons with Wall the most high profile having dabbled with Australian Rules and she is currently involved with the Ireland Rugby 7’s set up.
Shauna Ennis made a welcome return for the royals in their defeat to Armagh but Niamh O’Sullivan has yet to make an appearance and it is still unclear if she will line out this season.
On the plus side the likes of Emma Duggan is still playing as well as even and the mercurial forward will be buzzing after captaining her college DCU to O’Connor Cup glory last weekend.
The Kerry management have no injury worries to report ahead of the game with all players coming through the college finals weekend unscathed whilst they will also welcome back Lorraine Scanlon to the squad after her basketball exploits with St Paul’s.
The kingdom will travel to Ashbourne in confident form really and will know that they can build on their second half performance in the round 5 defeat to Armagh. Kerry left a number of goal chances behind them in that game and with a bit more composure closer to goal they would have come away with something out of the game.
The fact that Kerry were able to create the chances in the first place is a huge positive and there is no doubt that young players like Amy Harrington will learn from the experience.
It will be interesting to see what team Kerry will line out from the start against Meath. True to form, the management has given game time to the majority of the panel and there is no reason to suggest that they won’t shuffle the deck once more on St Patrick’s Day.
The most interesting call will be who gets the nod as netminder. Mary Ellen Bolger started Kerry’s first three games but in the last two Ciara Butler has been given her chance and has done quite well as well.
Otherwise, Ciara O’Brien could come back into defence as might Ciara Murphy whilst there is a very strong possibility of Louise Ní Mhuircheartaigh being on from the start.
Kerry’s backs will be to the wall in this one. A win and they go into the final game against Galway on March 24 knowing that they are just one step away from a final. If they lose then it opens up the door for Dublin to step above them in the table.
This is a tough ask away from home, but Kerry get a hesitant nod to come away from Ashbourne with the three points.