Meath manager Eamonn Murray said it was the proudest day of his life after witnessing the character shown by his charges to stage an astonishing comeback and qualify for their first-ever TG4 All-Ireland Senior Ladies Football Championship final.
Cork looked set for their sixth All-Ireland final showdown with Dublin in eight years when they led by six points in the final minute but Meath rallied to fire in two goals and force extra-time.
And they made the most of their escape with Emma Duggan leading the way as the reigning intermediate champions secured their place in the TG4 All-Ireland for the first time in history.
Dublin beat Mayo at Croke Park on Saturday afternoon.
With the Men going down to defeat this will be the first Dublin Ladies Final in their chase for fve in a row that they will be the Capital’s sole representatives on the biggest stage of the football season.
With news of the return of Tyrone to the Senior Men’s Championship and the subsequent pushing back on the Men’s Final to the following Saturday it also means that the exclusive Gaelic Games spotlight will be on the Women’s game on the first weekend in September. For the last two years they have had to share it with the Men’s Final or the replay of it.
Momentum
Cork’s Senior Hurlers had given up a similar lead in the closing stages of last weekend’s All Ireland Hurling Championship but this time the momentum remained with the side coming from behind.
It is all the more remarkable and a boost for Leinster Football which two years ago had already cancelled the Leinster Ladies Football Senior Championship because Dublin were the only team at that level.
“Outside of my family it’s the proudest day of my life,” said Murray.
“They are a very special bunch and I’m a very proud man to be involved with them.”
“We have always told them never give up. Play to your system and don’t give up until the last second. Dreams do come through and there is still another hour of football left in this season.”
“We saw a lot of bad days, days when our hearts were broken. But we saw a lot of good days too, winning 16s and minors but this tops it all off.”
Learning All The Time
“We had good subs and we had good fitness and we are learning all the time. See what we did at the end? We held the ball. Cork did that for years, over and over, and we did it for a minute and a half or two minutes. And that’s down to a lot of things. The coaches we have are top class and the girls never panicked. They are all leaders in themselves, we have a good balance and they drive the system on.”
“We will enjoy this one and worry about Dublin during the week. But we don’t tend to worry too much about the opposition, we try to play our own football and look after ourselves more than worrying about the opposition. They will have a good day’s work done if they beat us.”
Cork manager Ephie Fitzgerald congratulated Meath on their victory and was obviously disappointed not to hold out when they led by seven points going into the closing stages.
“It’s hard to decipher, two goals in the space of a minute when we seemingly had the game tied up. I’m disappointed but at the same time very proud of the girls as well. They gave it everything.”
“We had a bit of a meltdown for a couple of minutes and probably gave them a lot of momentum going into extra time as well. Congratulations to Meath, they never gave up and in extra time they were worthy winners,” he said.
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