Battling Westmeath secure draw in derby clash

A total of 2-4 between Holly and Megan Dowdall helped Westmeath to a battling draw against Meath in cold conditions in St Loman’s Park, Trim last Saturday.

On a very good playing surface given the rain of previous days, both sides had their purple patches but the visiting side will be happy to take a share of the points back home.

Meath, without their star player of last season, Aoife Minogue, have unearthed another gem in Amy Gaffney, who hit five from play. Overall, Westmeath manager Pádraic Connaughton will be more than happy with the determination and defensive resolve displayed by his players.

Early scores from Emma Hannafin and Aoife Carey got Meath off to the perfect start before Holly Dowdall opened the maroon account with a well-taken score.

The green pressure continued with two further points before Julie McLoughlin put in a superb block to deny Ciara Foley. By the 22nd minute, Neil Cole’s side were four ahead as Amelia Shaw’s free was the only reply.

At 0-6 to 0-2 behind, Westmeath found their spark in the form of a Holly Dowdall goal as her effort flicked off the turf into the net. Despite levelling through Shaw’s point from play, Meath went in ahead 0-8 to 1-4 as Megan Dowdall’s free was cancelled out by Carey and Katie Connolly.

Clearly not happy with some aspects, Meath made a double half-time swap. Dowdall hit her third free of the game five minutes in as a response to Gaffney’s long-range effort. Megan almost hit the net when her shot was saved by Maggie Randle before the rebound went agonisingly wide. The Royals tagged on two more scores to lead 0-11 to 1-5 with 20 left before the main turning point of the contest came in the form of Megan Dowdall’s goal.

In contrast to her sister’s first-period strike, Dowdall cut along the endline, bypassing and forcing through tackles before batting to the net while on the floor for a sublime three-pointer.

Incredibly, for all their early domination in the first-half, Meath were behind with less than ten minutes to go when Megan chipped over her own hard-won free.

Hannah Core (starting for the injured Sheila McGrath) was a thorn in the side of Meath all game and were it not for a last-ditch hook the Raharney star may have found a score.

The maroon defence had to be in top form for the final minutes and all from Emily McCabe to Áine Newman put in blocks, hooks, and fought their way to possession.

Heading towards injury time, Meadbh McLoughlin (who had worked superbly with Aoife O’Malley in the middle) was clever as she opted to take her point bearing down on goal to put Westmeath 2-7 to 0-12 up.

With seconds remaining and an away win within touching distance, Amy Gaffney stepped up to calmly strike over from distance and despite the best efforts of goalkeeper Fiona Keating from a long-distance free among others, time expired and the valuable points were split between the neighbours.

One gained as opposed to one lost given the overall performance as perhaps on another day one of the Westmeath wides may have been a game-changer. An unbeaten start for Pádraic Connaughton and his management team in 2024 so far.

Scorers:

Meath: A Gaffney 0-5, A Carey 0-3, E Hannafin 0-2, K Connolly, G Coleman, C Foley 0-1 each

Westmeath: M Dowdall 1-3 (3 frees), H Dowdall 1-1, A Shaw 0-2 (2 frees), M McLoughlin 0-1

Teams:

Meath: Maggie Randle; Sophia Payne, Maeve Clince, Rachael O’Neill; Leah Devine, Ellen Burke, Grace Connolly; Katie Connolly, Amy Gaffney; Grace Coleman, Aoife Carey, Erin Leddy; Emma Hannifin, Ciara Foley, Jorja Keogh. Subs used: Aoibhinn Lally for Leddy (half-time), Olivia O’Halloran for Keogh (half-time), Emma O’Connell for Coleman (46)

Westmeath: Fiona Keating; Emily McCabe, Julie McLoughlin, Aisling Egerton; Maria Kelly, Muireann Scally, Áine Newman; Aoife O’Malley, Meadbh McLoughlin; Holly Dowdall, Megan Dowdall, Caoimhe McCrossan; Hannah Core, Amelia Shaw, Meadbh Scally. Subs used: Niamh Horan for McCrossan (55)

Referee: Enda Loughnane (Galway)