Westmeath beaten by Meath in Leinster U16 camogie

Meath 'B' 6-8, Westmeath 'B' 1-1

Although they did not score in the second-half, Westmeath gave a solid account of themselves as a new team of players gathered for their first competitive outing in the opening round of the U16 Leinster Camogie Championship on Sunday in Multyfarnham GAA. At a windy venue, the visiting Meath team found late goals to put a good look on the score from their view as Westmeath, under Kevin Williams, had Arwen Briody to thank for some outstanding saves in both halves.

The meeting of old neighbours began with the Lake County having the wind at their backs and it was midfielder, Muireann Lawlor, (who had an excellent game) taking aim first but her strike went to the left and wide. In the fifth minute, Arwen Briody was called upon to make the first of her saves before two Meath points from Eleanor Dixon and Chloe O’Neill got them going. Despite some good balls into the forwards, Westmeath were not having much luck in the 50-50 battles. Amelia McCabe, an early substitute, almost saw her first touch find the net but the Meath netminder stopped her getting a goal.

The Royal County doubled their lead to 0-4 to 0-0 before the home side levelled. Firstly, a lovely free from Niamh Briody sailed over the bar to open their 2025 account. Putting on a good spell of pressure, Westmeath were rewarded in the 23rd minute with a goal. Saoirse Connaughton overturned a Meath attack and found teammate Séana Williams. With space ahead of her, Williams decided to take a few steps before unleashing from distance. The sliotar finding the net through bodies. Meath would finish the half strongest, adding 2-2 through Chloe O’Neill (2-1) and Lillymae O’Reilly and they led by 2-6 to 1-1 at the interval.

In the second-half, Arwen Briody was involved in several big moments, pulling off some superb saves both low and high. Both teams made changes throughout the half with the aim of giving much-valued game time to players. Isabelle Lynch, a Meath substitute at the break, brought the best out of Briody as she kept her effort out with a fantastic save. Lillymae O’Reilly did find a goal to get their half going before Amy Beggan and Olive Kennedy saw strikes hooked or blocked.

The game saw changes every few minutes on both sides without much goalmouth action, other than Briody making several more saves. It was not until the final minutes that Meath made the scoreline look very comfortable as they notched 3-2 without reply. Chloe Lynagh and an Ella Taaffe double registering the green flags in between two points from wing-back, Lucy Crinion. Agonisingly, Westmeath had a last-gasp chance but Kennedy saw her booted effort go wide of the target.

Scorers – Meath: C O’Neill 1-3 (1f), L O’Reilly, E Taaffe 2-0 each, C Lynagh 1-0, L Crinion 0-2, A O’Shea, E Dixon, S Coffey 0-1 each.

Westmeath: S Williams 1-0, N Briody 0-1 (free).

Meath: Abbie McCormack; Ellie O’Donnell, Niamh Purcell, Lauren Cooney; Lucy Crinion, Fiadh Dorgan, Bronwyn Whelan; Annie Lloyd, Aoife O’Shea; Niamh Delaney, Lillymae O’Reilly, Eleanor Dixon; Ella Taaffe, Sorcha Coffey, Chloe O’Neill. Rest of panel: Isabelle Lynch, Eleanor Fallon, Chloe Lynagh, Harriott Copeland, Lauryn Comerford, Emily Comerford, Anna O’Rourke, Callie Hagan.

Westmeath: Arwen Briody; Sara Hanniffy, Clodagh Gallagher, Aoibhinn Smyth; Ellen Carey-Weir, Saoirse Connaughton, Orla Egerton; Séana Williams, Muireann Lawlor; Emily Farrelly, Niamh Briody, Amy Beggan; Ciara Best, Sionainn McCormack, Olive Kennedy. Rest of panel: Caoilfhinn Bray, Kiera Coplen, Maisie Daly, Hannah Burke, Niamh Bowen, Jane Carey, Aoibhinn Gaughan, Abbie Harte, Skye McCormack, Katie McCormack, Hannah McCormack, Gráinne Heap, Leah Delaney, Georgia Kelly, Aisling Kilmurray, Ellen Sharry, Holly Desmond, Amelia McCabe, Niamh Murray.

Referee: Éamonn Kelly (Kildare).