Kildare girls make it three Leinster minor titles in-a-row
Darren Kendrick's side win yet another provincial title as they beat Meath
Leinster LGFA Minor A Championship Final
Kildare 1-11
Meath 2-5
Kildare survived a late Meath onslaught as they recorded their third Leinster LGFA Minor A Championship titles in a row at Bray Emmets GAA club on Sunday afternoon.
Kildare were cruising, leading by nine points, before a flurry of Meath scores in the final stages of the game set up a nervous finish.
Several outstanding stops throughout the contest from Kildare Captain Sophie Knightly proved critical as Kildare hung on for victory.
Kildare, having won the toss, opted to play with a strong wind in the opening half and Erin Healy got scoring under-way in the opening minute as the Sarsfields player recorded the first of four first half frees.
Poppy Byrne responded with a free and Meath took the lead when Orlaith Reilly found Byrne in space and the Blackhall Gaels player buried the ball in the Kildare net.
Kildare responded well and they drew level with two further Healy frees and a classy point from Aoife Murnane.
Kildare pushed forward with Player of the Match Aisling Irhue, Laura Dunlea and Erin Healy all central to launching Kildare’s attacks.
On the 20 minute mark, Kildare assumed a lead they were not to relinquish. A sweeping team move reached Ruth Dillon and spotting the Meath keeper was off her line, Dillon lobbed the ball past Ní Laoire and into the Meath net.
Kildare pushed further ahead with Eimear Behan, Healy and Dillon and Abi Whelan all adding scores as Meath struggled to get the ball out of their defence.
As half time drew near, Sophie Knightly made a terrific save to stop a certain Orlaith Reilly goal.
At the break, Kildare lead 1-9 to 1-2.
Meath had the wind advantage in the second half, although it was substitute Freya Healy that got Kildare’s first score of the second half before Knightly pulled off another terrific save from a Reilly shot. Caoimhe Egan split the posts on 40 minutes, Kildare’s final score.
A Lauren Woods point for Meath on 47 minutes reignited the Meath attack somewhat and the Royals were handed a lifeline when Poppy Byrne found a way past Knightly a few moments later.
The Lilies continued to attack against the wind which served little purpose other than running down the clock. Points from Anna Moyles and Byrne narrowed the gap but Darren Kendrick’s team held on for a deserved victory.
Speaking after the match, Kildare manager, Darren Kendrick was full of praise for his team: “I think the focus, the heart, the commitment, their discipline was excellent. They knew they had to keep going to the end. Even if Meath were after getting a couple of scores, they knew they had to keep going. I’m just thrilled.”
Scorers: Kildare: R. Dillon 1-1, E. Healy 0-4 (4f), C. Egan 0-2, A. Murnane, E. Behan, A. Whelan, F. Healy all 0-1 each.
Meath: P. Byrne 2-2 (1f), K. Cole, A. Moyles, L. Woods all 0-1 each.
KILDARE: S. Knightly (C), C. Noone, K. Harney, M. Molloy, J. Brannigan, L. Dunlea, H. Murphy, E. Healy, A. Irhue, A. Murnane, E. Behan, A. Whelan, R. Dillon, C. Egan, K. Kealy. Subs: F. Healy for Kealy (26 mins), A. Tyrell for Egan (54 mins).
MEATH: G. Ní Laoire, A. Gardiner, M. Canny, R. Kato, I. Thorp, E. Lynch, E. Comerford, K. Cole (C), N. McDermott, A. Moyles, E. Morgan, S. O’Gorman, L. Woods, O. Reilly, P. Byrne. Subs: N. McGuinness for Morgan (20 mins), R. Larkin for Kato (40 mins), G. Grehan for McDermott (46 mins), M. Nelson for Comerford (50 mins).
REFEREE: Sinéad McHugh (Dublin)