Meath players stand for the playing of the National Anthem before the TG4 All-Ireland Ladies Football Senior Championship Semi-Final match between Donegal and Meath at Croke Park in Dublin.
By John Harrington
Meath Ladies Football team manager, Eamonn Murray, has a simple message for Royal County residents – come watch this remarkable team while you can.
In the last four years they’ve turbo-charged the appeal of Ladies Football in Meath most obviously, but also across the whole country.
Not only have they won three National League titles in three different divisions as well as Intermediate and Senior All-Irelands in successive years, they’ve achieved this with a group of footballers of both great ability and personality.
And if they can win back-to-back senior All-Irelands on Sunday by beating Kerry, they’ll have cemented their status as a truly iconic team.
“I keep telling people in the country and Meath especially, go and watch us, they are always exciting,” says Murray.
“It is like the old Meath lads team years ago. You might have lost by a point but by God you enjoyed it.
“But the people that don’t go and watch it, they are the losers.”
Murray probably feels this sentiment all the deeper because there’s a feeling that this All-Ireland Final represents a water-shed moment for this team and things will never be quite the same afterwards.
The side’s dominant personality, Vikki Wall, will fly to Australia soon to join AFLW side North Melbourne, and it’s difficult to know what the extent of her involvement with Meath will be in the short to medium term.
Another member of the team, Orlagh Lally, is making the switch to the AFLW with the Freemantle Dockers, while Emma Troy is moving to Australia to live.
The departure of Wall will be particularly keenly felt because the reigning Player of the Year isn’t just such an inspirational figure for this Meath team, she’s become the face of Ladies Football in the last year.
Vikki Wall of Meath shoots to score a point during the TG4 All-Ireland Ladies Football Senior Championship Semi-Final match between Donegal and Meath at Croke Park in Dublin.
The thought of her leaving clearly pains Murray, but he’s doing his best to keep it from his mind until after Sunday’s Final.
“It’s tomorrow’s problem,” he says. “I don’t know how she is holding it together. There’s a lot of stuff in her head, college and that. She’s a very level-headed girl. She’s still everybody’s friend. You’d see it after the last match, she’d go round to every table and have the chat. They are all equal to her, from the weakest to the strongest.
“I’d always say to Vikki, “Thank you.” “For what?” “For staying Vikki Wall.” She never changed. She’s the nicest person to every child in Meath. The last person leaving the pitch. It’s a great bond we have with the players.
“The craic we have. Go watch any of your sessions. The fun we have, long may it last.
“They talk about Vikki going away, it’s never mentioned. I’ve never mentioned it. I won’t be. I wish her the very best.
“She is going to be a massive loss, not just for us but for the country.
“Look it, she wants to get a taste of it and she is very young. I know she will be back playing with Meath. I will not be around probably, but I hope somebody will have her again.
“She is a very special person, but she is not the only special one we have. We have plenty of them. That’s why we are All-Ireland winners.”
Meath have had to display a serious depth of character in this defence of their title because it hasn’t been easy to make it as far as Sunday’s Final.
They drew with Armagh in the group phase, beat Galway by a point in the Quarter-Final, and Donegal by two in the semi-final.
Meath manager Eamonn Murray celebrates with Aoibheann Leahy of Meath after their side's vctory in the TG4 All-Ireland Ladies Football Senior Championship Semi-Final match between Donegal and Meath at Croke Park in Dublin.
They were all matches they could have lost and indeed looked like losing at different points, but they always found a way to pull through in the end.
Murray doesn’t mind admitting it’s been a much more challenging campaign than last year’s when less was expected of them.
“It has a lot,” he says. “We probably expect far too much from ourselves. We’re never going to go out every week and play like the All-Ireland final. That’s the last game people remember from last year.
“They don’t remember the tough games we had. They all think we should be able to do that every week. That’s never going to happen.
“This is our sixth big year in a row. Our fifth All-Ireland final. So we’ve been going flat out for years. What’s probably nicer too this year is that certain players… A lot were writing off Emma Duggan.
“We gave her a few weeks off training, she was tired. Did her the world of good. Look at her now, one of the all-time greats. She probably took over in the last three games.
“Three strange games. A draw, a point win and a two point win. So tough. I wouldn’t expect any different. I think that Galway team are an awesome team. Then we came across a very good Donegal team. We were probably a bit lucky. We are fast learners in Meath.
“We just pick one match at a time. Have never discussed winning All-Irelands. Just discuss playing Kerry. We haven’t mentioned winning All-Irelands this week – and we won’t. It’s just go out and play the next game. Even at that, you divide the game up into sections as well. The team is very relaxed. We’re in a good place.”
Meath players celebrate after their side's victory in the TG4 All-Ireland Ladies Senior Football Championship Final match between Dublin and Meath at Croke Park in Dublin.
Whatever happens on Sunday, this Meath team has already left a great legacy.
Not just because of what they’ve won, but because of how they’ve captured the hearts and minds of the sporting public.
“I’ll give you an example,” says Murray. “Last week, one of them was in Toronto and a local team asked her to train them.
“It wasn’t planned. When they heard where she was from, the biggest thing that ever happened them.
“They were all such big fans of Meath ladies.
“The other one (daughter) was down in Limerick, and they heard where she was from, buzz, buzz, buzz, it’s great.
“I think we have done an awful lot for ladies football. Maybe we didn’t get enough recognition for it.”
If they can now win back to back All-Irelands, they’ll surely get all the recognition they deserve and then some.
Murray is the sort of person that appreciates the journey as much as the destination, but he doesn’t mind admitting it would be a very sweet moment if they could pull it off.
“Ah it would be very special, my God, not many teams can do it,” he says.
“I know Dublin and Cork and Kerry did it, I think that's the only three that ever did it. So it's up to us now. It's getting very close to it, we'll give it our best shot and see what happens.”
