Dublin's Niamh McEvoy in action against Cork in the semi-final.
By Michael Devlin
Dublin ladies footballer Niamh McEvoy won’t be in Croke Park to cheer on her county men to a potential fifth Sam Maguire success in a row tomorrow.
Instead she’ll be at home watching on TV, gearing up for her own All-Ireland final against Galway the following day. It was a decision she says was made as soon as she made her way out of the stadium in the drawn game two weekends ago.
“I was expecting that to be the end of their season, but it isn’t. I had decided leaving Croke Park that day that wouldn’t be going to the replay. I’m the type of person who has a very distinct preparation, and it just wouldn’t quite fit in. I certainly will be tuning in and watching it on TV.
“Obviously attending Croke Park as a fan is extremely worthwhile and enjoyable, and I’d love to be able to come and support the men, but it’s such a tiring four or five hours. It’s not something I’d be able to see myself as being able to do the day before an All-Ireland final.”
Preparation is key for McEvoy, especially with the stakes so high for the Dublin ladies, who are going for their third successive Brendan Martin Cup. The notion of ‘three-in-a-row’ is definitely not something the Dublin ladies camp have been dwelling on according to the St Sylvester’s player. When McEvoy hears that phrase, the only three that come to mind are the successive final defeats to Cork in 2014, 2015 and 2016.
“We are distinctly aware of what it’s like to come out on the wrong side of the result on All-Ireland day. It’s certainly not something we’d be focusing. I’ve experienced successful and unsuccessful days here in Croke Park on the last day of summer.
“Personally, I’ve been on the team more than a decade now. I’ve been involved in each of the last six years, and thankfully we’ve been able to keep the core group of us together after those three defeats. It was about having that desire after such disappointment. Mick [Bohan] and the management did an incredible job of keeping that together, but also in bringing in youth.
“There’s a number of girls on our panel who didn’t experience those losses, and still haven’t lost. Obviously, we’d be making them very aware that this doesn’t come around easy and there’s a lot of work that goes in. We’ve a really good mix on the panel.”
McEvoy, left, and Sinéad Finnegan celebrate following last year's TG4 All-Ireland Ladies Football Senior Championship win.
The old foe Cork had to be vanquished once more in the semi-final three weeks ago, and while they continually prove to be an ever-challenging opponent, McEvoy is expecting a similar test from Galway on Sunday, who she thinks will be buoyed by their own semi-final win over Mayo in Croker.
“Cork have been the pillar, the benchmark in ladies Gaelic football. They are a formidable side and we knew we’d have our work cut out for us that day. Equally we have the same amount of respect for Galway. They have some incredible individual footballers and they play a great brand, always heads up and trying to do the right thing at the right time.
“The fact that the semi-final was in Croke Park will really have benefitted Galway. They’ve had a really good season, they got to a league final and didn’t get over the line, but they would have learnt a huge amount from that as well. They are an experienced side.
“Obviously our experience will help us to a certain extent, but its whoever goes out and performs on the day. Kilkenny camogie have been in consecutive finals in the last three years, but they’ve lost to different opponents, so it doesn’t really account for everything.”