Ladies: O'Shea stars as Kerry see off Meath for second win
February 08, 2026
Siofra O'Shea of Kerry celebrates
Kerry 4-10
Meath 2-12
by Deniese O’Flaherty
The old adage goals win games proved true as Kerry got back to winning ways when they defeated Meath in an entertaining contest in the Lidl NFL Division 1 game played at the Meath Hill GAA Grounds.
The Kingdom scored three goals in the first half and then added a fourth in the second half. Síofra O’Shea was superb in the forward line scoring 1-6 (four frees).
Kerry made a great start to the game with a goal in the second minute through Leah McMahon in her first start for Kerry. Meath got their first score in the sixth minute, a point from Emma Duggan. They followed that up with another to cut the gap to one in the seventh minute.
A nice ball in from Anna Galvin found McMahon and she made no mistake grabbing her second goal. Kerry followed up with points from Dannielle O’Leary and O’Shea to put six between the sides after 12 minutes.
Meath responded from that Kerry spell with a pointed free from Duggan and a neat goal from Orla Finnegan. Twice in seven minutes Meath came to within one point of Kerry.
The excellent O’Shea kicked two points (one free) to put three between the sides in the 28th minute but Duggan and Ciara Smyth fired over points in stoppage time to leave Meath trailing by one at the break at 2-5 to 1-7.
Three minutes into the second half Kerry got their third goal with a lovely finish from O’Shea. Duggan was on target yet again firing over a free minutes later. Every time Meath came to within a point of the Kingdom the reigning league champions were able to hit back with a score.
With two in the game Kerry got their fourth goal in the 53rd minute when Mary O’Connell fired a good shot to the net but Kerry were dealt a blow when Cáit Lynch had to go off injured in the 57th minute.
The lead was seven points in the 60th minute when O’Shea fired over another free. Meath got a second goal less than one minute later through midfielder Orlaith Sheehy. Duggan hit over another point before O’Shea finished the scoring with a point near the end.
Scorers - Kerry: S O’Shea 1-6 (f), L McMahon 2-0, M O’Connell 1-1, N Ní Chonchuir, N Carmody, R Dwyer 0-1 each.
Meath: E Duggan 0-7 (4f), C Smyth 0-4, O Finnegan, O Sheehy 1-0 each, M Byrne 0-1.
KERRY: C Butler; E Lynch, A Doherty, A Dillane; K Ryan, C Lynch, K Brosnan; M O’Connell, A Galvin; M O’Connor, N Ní Chonchúir, C Evans; S O’Shea, D O’Leary, L McMahon. Subs: K McGrath for Ryan and N Carmody for O’Connor (ht), E Ní Laighin for Dillane (42), R Dwyer for McMahon and N Quinn for Lynch (44).
MEATH: R Murray; Á Sheridan, M.K. Lynch, O Gore; C Lawlor, S Wall, K Bermingham; O Sheehy, N Gallogly; S Murphy, C Smyth, M Farrelly; E Duggan, O Finnegan, M Byrne. Subs: L O’Neill for Murphy (26), K Kealy for Gore (38) and R Casserly for Byrne (40), O Smith for Lawlor (46), A Reilly for Bermingham and M Thynne for Finnegan (49).
Referee: Maggie Farrelly (Cavan).
