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www.ladiesgaelic.ie | AUTUMN 2020 | 17 TG4 INTERMEDIATE CHAMPIONSHIP Clockwise: Meath goalkeeper Monica McGuirk during the TG4 All-Ireland Ladies Football Intermediate Championship Final match between Meath and Tipperary in 2019. Niamh O'Sullivan of Meath following the TG4 All-Ireland Ladies Football Intermediate Championship Final match between Meath and Tyrone in 2018. Next Page: Meath players Aoibhín Cleary, left, and Vikki Wall leave the field after the TG4 All- Ireland Ladies Football Intermediate Championship Final match between Meath and Tipperary N o team has ever won a TG4 All-Ireland Intermediate final after losing the previous two deciders, so Eamonn Murray's Meath face a real challenge in turning their recent Croke Park anguish into a drive to the Senior ranks. Defeats to Tyrone in 2018 and against Tipperary in last year's Intermediate Final left the Leinster outfit heart broken, but the general consensus is they remain the team to beat in 2020. Creating some sort of history won't concern the Royal county ahead of the start of the new championship season, although they can draw some solace from similar successes in other grades. In 2017 Dublin put three years of All-Ireland Final anguish behind them and finally defeated Cork to become Senior champions. Monaghan got over two losses in their 1996 win, while Sligo (2006), London (1993) and Tipperary (1980) also recovered from their failures at the final hurdle on two occasions. This year's Intermediate grade is the most competitive of all though, one suspects. Thirteen teams line out at the start and as many as ten of those have genuine hopes of ended the year as champions. Paired with Down and Leitrim in Group 3, Meath will hope to get off to a fast start and keep their promotion dream alive, but according to Samantha Lambert, captain of the Tipperary team that defeated them in 2019, Meath will need to be at their best to succeed. "It must be completely devastating for them. Being runners up in 2018 and 2019, they're carrying a lot of hurt," said Lambert, who has won three TG4 All-Ireland Intermediate titles in her career. "I'm sure they have a lot of painful memories from those two defeats. They really are an incredible team, and they will be fiercely determined and motivated going into this championship. "But this year's championship at Intermediate is very open. You just never know what can happen. I was on the team that won the Intermediate in 2008, and two or three years later we got relegated again. "It took us until 2017 to get back up to Senior, so it doesn't just happen for you. Things change within the panel and within the county, you go through your different years, your form goes up and down, so in such a competitive grade it's hard to get out. "However, I do think Meath will be well up there this year." In last year's final Tipperary kicked on well in the second half to claim a 2-16 to 1-14 win over Meath. Twelve months earlier Tyrone powered to victory as the goals flowed in a 6-8 to 1-14 victory. Part of that up and coming Tyrone outfit is Christiane Hunter and she reckons it was the memory of defeats that drover her side over the line in 2018. Previous Intermediate Champions Assess the 2020 Contenders By DECLAN ROONEY