Clare Senior Ladies Footballers are celebrating after their thrilling win over Meath in the Championship Qualifiers .
They now go on to face Galway in the next round
It went down to the wire at Saint Brendan’s Park in Birr with The Banner’s Naomi Carroll’s scoring the wining point in the dying seconds of the game.Clare lost to Cork by eleven points in the Munster semi-final but hit back in spirited fashion to send Leinster finalists Meath crashing out of the All-Ireland series.
And it was Carroll who sealed Clare’s passage to the quarter-finals with 55 seconds left on the clock.
A tie that was level six times looked destined for extra-time but Carroll, despite being off-balance, fired over the winner to clinch a surprise win.
Meath finished the game with 14 players when Jenny Rispin was sin-binned in the closing minutes but overall, the Royal County didn’t do enough to get the job done.
They were over-reliant on captain Katie O’Brien for scores as the St Ultans player finished with 1-7.
O’Brien also levelled the scores at 1-10 apiece with two minutes remaining but that was her sole score of the second half.
Meath managed just three points in entire second period, despite playing with the aid of a stiff breeze.
But when midfielder Shauna Bennett popped over a 32nd point, Meath were two clear and with a decent platform to build from.
Clare’s response was impressive, however, but a run of four unanswered points – including two from impressive forward Niamh O’Dea – send the Banner County into a 1-10 to 1-8 lead.
Meath hit back with scores from Mahon and O’Brien but there was a late sting in the tail as Carroll fired over the priceless winner for the 2009 All-Ireland intermediate champions.
Meath, with O’Brien landing 1-6, led at half-time, 1-7 to 1-6, but had to overturn a four-point deficit to establish that slender interval lead.
In a half that was level four times, it was wind-assisted Clare who struck the first real decisive blow in the 12th minute when Ailish Considine’s defence-splitting pass found Maria Kelly through on goal, and the West Clare Gaels player made no mistake with a low finish.
Niamh O’Dea tagged on a point and Clare were 1-4 to 0-3 clear but Meath were on terms at 1-5 apiece five minutes before half-time.
The goalscorer was O’Brien, who collected a pass from midfielder Shauna Bennett, dodged a defender and cracked home a rising drove to the roof of the Clare net.
That strike midway through the half breathed fresh life into the Leinster runners-up and it was O’Brien who was pulling the strings, roving to good effect in attack and popping over scores with regularity.
O’Brien hit including 1-3 from play but it was a free from the ace forward in the 25th minute that tied the scores at 1-5 each.
Considine nudged Clare back in front again but O’Brien would have the final say in the first half, landing two glorious points from play before half-time to inch Meath ahead again.
Scorers for Clare: N O’Dea 0-5 (2f), M Kelly 1-1, A Considine 0-3 (1f), N Carroll 0-2.