Meath 0-11 Cavan 1-7

Kieran Devaney at Moylagh

Meath will take on Derry next weekend for a place in the Division 2A final against Kerry after overcoming a very tenacious and physical Cavan side on Saturday afternoon. 

What's rare is wonderful and meetings between Cavan and Meath are rare and what's even rarer was the venue for an inter county camogie match, Moylagh. The North Meath club were delighted to oblige and provide the venue when a suitable Cavan venue became unavailable due to the weather on Thursday afternoon. 

With three wins from four games for both Meath and Derry it effectively makes next Sunday's final round a league semi final in Ashbourne with the winner going on to face Kerry, who have defeated both teams, in that deciding game.

A late change on the Meath starting fifteen saw the in form, Grace Coleman, withdrawn due to illness. Coleman has been enjoying a rich vein of form in 2023 so her late withdrawal would have worried Meath manager Brendan Skehan. However the availability of dual star Aoife Minogue and a return to the panel of Amy Gaffney were encouraging signs for the Royals.

It was another one of Meath's in form players Leah Devine that opened the scoring when she pointed from play in the opening minute. Aoife Minogue was unlucky not to give Meath an early advantage when she cut through the Cavan defence with one of her trademark runs but couldn't beat Emma Mulvaney in the Cavan goal.  Cavan responded well and took a 3-1 lead with points from Clodagh Keenaghan, Emer Fitzpatrick and Hannah Fitzsimons. Cliodhna O'Riordan got Meath back on track in the twelfth minute when she pointed from play before Aoife Minogue leveled the game with a free on the fifteen minute mark. With the wind at her back, Minogue would add another three to her first half tally along with points from Nadine Doyle and Aoibhin Lally to give Meath a 8-3 lead at the break. Meath had played the better camogie but had been wasteful with six first half wides. 

Cavan on the other hand were not lacking in the physical department but only registered three first half points, the last of them in the eleventh minute. That was quickly rectified when Christina Reilly found the back of the Meath net inside the opening minute of the restart. Meath had gone from a relatively comfortable position to be only up by two points. Minogue responded with a pointed free to bring the Meath lead back to three. Roisin O'Keefe restored the two point deficit with a super point from play. Meath were forced to make a change when Nadine Doyle was forced off due to injury. Her replacement Amy Gaffney tried to give Meath some breathing space but her goal chance was stopped. Minogue pointed once more for the royals before Gaffney once again headed for goal, this time a point was her reward on the three quarter mark. 

In a tense last quarter Cavan brought the game back to minimum. Hannah Fitzsimons, Christina O'Reilly and Shanise Fitzsimons all scored for the visitors but Meath had enough to hold on for a one point win and claim the vital league points to set up next weekend's showdown with Derry in Round 5. 

Meath - Tara Murphy, Ellen Burke, Claire Coffey, Rachel O'Neill, Tracy King, Maeve Clince, Leah Devine (0-1) Cliodhna O'Riordan (0-1) Aoife Minogue (0-6 6F), Aoibhin Lally (0-1), Abbye Donnelly, Nadine Doyle (0-1), Sophia Payne, Caroline Quinn, Olivia O'Halloran Subs: Emma Hanifin, Susan Kealy, Amy Gaffney (0-1)

Cavan - Emma Mulvaney, Normonde Majola, Erinn Galligan, Lorraine O'Rourke, Aideen Coyle, Rosie Crowe McKeever, Sophie Slowey, Josephine Maguire, Hannah Fitzsimons (0-2), Clodagh Keenaghan (0-1) Emer Fitzpatrick (0-1), Sinead McKenna, Roisin O'Keefe (0-1) Shanise Fitzsimons (0-1) Christina O'Reilly (1-1)

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