By Catherine McConville

The Down Ladies team succumbed to a strong Meath side in the first of their three Championship qualifier games in Pairc an Easler on Sunday. While the scoreline didn’t truly reflect what was a highly competitive game, Meath’s strength in attack in the last quarter of the match gave them a hard earned and deserved win.

Playing without star forward Mary Sheridan, the Royals had the best of the opening quarter with Karen Bowe striking the opening point after sixty seconds of play. Their lead was swiftly doubled when Jane Dolan gathered breaking ball from team mate Jackie Shiels to hit between the uprights. Down started to get into the game when a drive up the left wing from Shamrocks player found Aileen Pyers. The Annaclone player did well to shirk off a number of tackles before finding Lisa Morgan who was subsequently fouled. Free taker Michaela Downey was unlucky to strike the left upright with Pyers’ follow up going wide. Meath’s Fiona Mahon hit a third point for her side which was followed quickly by the excellent Jane Dolan who pointed after an excellent parry by ‘keeper Emma Madine in the 10th minute.

Down finally got off the mark in the 11th minute with a point from Michaela Downey following an excellent solo run down the middle of the field. Down followed this up with a well taken score from Lisa Morgan (0-2) after a pass from team mate Kyla Trainor, who had sprinted twenty yards to dispossess a Meath player. Morgan doubled her tally a minute later after a neat interplay with Downey. Midfielder Grainne Nulty was pivotal to almost every attack as Meath kept a gap between the sides. Scores from Elaine Duffy and corner forward Katie O’Brien opened a three point gap, extended on the twenty minute mark by the score of the half, a long range belter from O’Brien. Down continued to press forward with Emma Madine’s excellent kickouts providing a platform for the attacks. They had the first real goal chance of the half as a Downey free found Aileen Pyers in the left corner. She offloaded to Kyla Trainor who aimed for the bottom right corner only to see it go cruelly to the right of the post. The mourne girls did find the back of the net before the half time break though as Michaela Downey drove down the right hand wing. Her pass found Aileen Pyers (1-0) who palmed the ball round the keeper, picked it up and duly planted it high into the back of the net. Meath almost responded immediately but an excellent shot by Elaine Duffy low to ‘keeper Madine’s right was palmed away. Some dogged defending by Down’s defence in the closing minutes kept them within two points of Meath as the sides headed for the changing rooms with the match hanging in the balance.

Down had a purple patch at the beginning of the second half in terms of possession with a point from Emma Mulhern (0-1). The Bredagh player captured a high ball from a Downey free and swivelled well to put just one point between the sides. Down followed this with another good attack as Lyndsey Cunningham found space but her shot went just wide of the left post. Meath came back with a free from Elaine Duffy to restore the two point lead in the 39th minute. Their next attack though would see what turned out to be the decisive point of the match. An attacking ball by number eight Grainne Nulty dropped in the square and amid the ensuing scrum, referee Eileen Jones deemed a foul to have been committed and awarded a penalty to Meath, which Elaine Duffy placed well in the left corner. The goal was followed by a second sucker punch as another high ball in from Nulty was punched high in the air. A freak contact saw it fly into the bottom left corner, giving the diving Madine no chance. With the gap now at eight points, Meath’s spirits were up and they proceeded to rack up the points, although Down never gave up with further scores from Kyla Trainor (0-1) and Michaela Downey. Down were unlucky not to be awarded a penalty of their own after Bryansford’s Grainne McClean was surrounded on the fourteen yard line. While it appeared that she had been fouled, a free out was harshly awarded for over carrying. In the closing moments, Michaela Downey (0-3) punched a point but the final word went to the excellent Jane Dolan who hit her side’s sixteenth point and secured the match for Meath. Final score Down 1-7 Meath 2-16.

The scoreline of the game will be disappointing for Down as it didn’t reflect the competitive nature of the game, with only a few points between the sides up until the last quarter. The penalty and fluke goal were to prove the turning points for Meath. Grainne Nulty was immense in the middle of the field with the shooting prowess of Dolan, Shiels and Duffy punishing Down on the counter attack. While the mourne girls will be disappointed, they must now regroup for the next game against Kildare next Sunday in Newcastle.

Down team: Down Team: Emma Madine, Aveen McAvoy Niamh McGowan Niamh Lennon Sinead Fegan, Aine Keary, Eilish McConville (capt), Lyndsey Cunningham, Cora McKibben Kyla Trainor, Grainne McClean, Michaela Downey, Aileen Pyers, Lisa Morgan, Emma Mulhern

Subs used: Geraldine Campbell, Orla Fegan, Polly Moane

Management: John McCarthy, Noel Haughey, Sean O’Hare, Gabriel McCaffrey