Battling Meath foiled as Galway ‘get out of jail’

MEATH recovered from a nine-point deficit in ordinary time only to be denied victory by a late equaliser at the end of extra time in this TG4 Ladies Football All-Ireland quarter-final in Portlaoise on Saturday, and favourites Galway were a very relieved team to survive.

“We got out of jail. We were lucky and we know we were lucky,’’ exclaimed manager P.J. Fahy afterwards.

Runners-up last year and champions for the first time in 2004, Galway got off to a flying start, with Niamh Fahey converting a penalty after only four minutes. Geraldine Conneally put the ball in the net a minute later and Annette Clarke scored a third. It saw them led 3-1 to 0-1 after just eight minutes and pose serious questions about a Meath team without key forward Geraldine Doherty.