Sport

Tyrone ladies hit six goals in All-Ireland intermediate final win over Meath

Niamh O'Neill of Tyrone celebrates scoring her side's fourth goal as Meath goalkeeper Monica McGuirk looks on during the TG4 All-Ireland Ladies Football Intermediate Championship final Picture by Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile
Niamh O'Neill of Tyrone celebrates scoring her side's fourth goal as Meath goalkeeper Monica McGuirk looks on during the TG4 All-Ireland Ladies Football Intermediate Championship final Picture by Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile Niamh O'Neill of Tyrone celebrates scoring her side's fourth goal as Meath goalkeeper Monica McGuirk looks on during the TG4 All-Ireland Ladies Football Intermediate Championship final Picture by Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile

TG4 All-Ireland Intermediate Ladies’ Football Championship final: Tyrone 6-8 Meath 1-14

TYRONE put their heartache of 12 months ago firmly behind with a nine-point victory over Meath to clinch the All-Ireland Intermediate Championship title in Croke Park yesterday.

The scenes at the final whistle were in huge contrast to a year ago when they lost to Tipperary but that experience undoubtedly stood to them as they undid that hurt and secured their return to the top table of senior championship football for 2019 after a three-year absence.

Nothing was going to deny Gerry Moane and his charges glory yesterday and they thoroughly deserved this victory and in such emphatic style.

Meath carried the challenge to them right to the end but goals win games and Tyrone finished with six.

Four first half goals gave the Ulster champions a 4-3 to 0-7 half-time lead, although the eight-point margin perhaps flattered the Red Hands who, after a great first quarter, let Meath back into game to lead by just four in first half injury-time.

Yet a 35th minute goal from substitute Niamh O’Neill, who replaced the injured Aine Canavan after just 16 minutes gave them that cushion and in the second half there was only going to be one winner.

Key to this victory was the Tyrone start and two early goals set them on their way.

Tyrone captain and player of the match Neamh Woods got her side up and running in the fifth minute with a well-taken team goal as she got on the end of a final pass from Grainne Rafferty to palm to the back of the net and cancel out Meath’s opening score, also from their captain, a Niamh O’Sullivan point.

A Chloe McCaffrey point in the seventh minute was followed by a clinical finish to the net from Niamh Hughes two minutes later after some good work from Canavan to open up a 2-1 to 0-1 lead.

That lead was stretched when corner-forward Grainne Rafferty scored Tyrone’s third goal after a perfectly weighted ball over the top from Begley, who was winning possession in and around the half-forward line, in the 17th minute.

It looked like it was going to be one-way traffic, but Meath gradually came into the game and a Stacey Grimes free in the 19th minute saw them register their first score in 15 minutes. That was quickly followed by another point from their captain O’Sullivan and one from Fiona O’Neill as Tyrone at times struggled to keep possession.

Gemma Begley replied for Tyrone with a point from a free, but three in-a-row from Grimes saw the Tyrone lead clawed back to four, 3-2 to 0-7, by the 30th minute.

McCaffrey put five between them and, after Meath hit t he post through O’Sullivan at one end, O’Neill fired a fourth Tyrone goal to the net at the other end.

Just as she did at the start, Woods took the game to Meath and she coolly fired home her side’s fifth goal two minutes after the resumption to move Tyrone 11 clear.

The impressive Niamh O’Neill chipped in with her side’s next three points with Fiona O’Neill, Vikki Wall and Megan Thynne responding for Meath to make it 5-6 to 0-10.

Meath were then dealt a blow when midfielder Marie O’Shaughnessy was sent to the sin bin in the 42nd minute, but the numbers were soon even when O’Neill followed her two minutes later for Tyrone.

The sides traded the next few points with Grainne Rafferty on target twice for Tyrone as they kept their opponents at arms’ length. And when veteran forward Begley raised the green flag for a sixth time in the 51st minute, Tyrone were more than home and dry.

Meath, however, kept going and were rewarded with a 59th minute penalty which Grimes expertly struck past Shannon Lynch who earlier had pulled off a superb save to deny Wall.