It was really special to enjoy our All-Ireland wins together

‘MICK BOHAN EXPECTS VERY HIGH STANDARDS... SO DO WE’

SHE IS one of half of football’s dream couple, hoping for a double.

It might make for a bad rhyme, but if Niamh McEvoy and her Dublin team get over the line today, it will make for a particularly sweet tale.

Her long-time boyfriend Dean Rock pocketed his fifth All-Ireland medal earlier this month, while today she will play in her fifth consecutive final.

They come from the land of plenty, but she has still quite a lot of ground to make up although it is hardly a race as they are invested in it together.

When the final whistle blew in last year’s final, one of the defining images was McEvoy’s embrace of her man.

‘Last year was extremely special for both of our families and they are so supportive and understand the support system you need to play at this level.

‘I’m just really appreciative and I think the previous three years when he would have won three in a row and when we were nipped at the final hurdle, it did kind of put a dampener on his celebrations.

‘I know last year we certainly celebrated in style.

‘It was really special to be able to enjoy that together,’ says the 26-year-old (right, with Rock).

That bond between the men and ladies teams plays for real, Paul Flynn’s wife Fiona Hudson was also there last year when Dublin got over the line against Mayo – as was Jack McCaffrey’s sister, Sarah, who left the panel this year to go travelling.

On top of that, Leah Caffrey and Lauren McGee are the daughters of former Dublin footballers, John Caffrey and Johnny McGee, and the sense is that they are all in this together and it has shown.

In a practical way, too, with Rock taking Dublin’s free-taker Sinead Aherne for the odd kicking session in the past.

‘The lads are Dean’s best friends and that’s the nature of sport,’ says McEvoy.

‘You spend so much time with these people that you become really good friends with them, so that group in particular, and not just Dean, are extremely supportive of us and always want to see us do well.

‘They are all very good. When they won four in a row, most of them went out of their way to find me and say good luck at the banquet before I skipped off to bed early, which I thought was a lovely touch.’

Where they differ, though, is that while the men have made a habit of winning close finals, the women spent most of their time coming up short.

Prior to last year’s win over Mayo, they lost three finals on the bounce, between 2014 and 2016, to Cork by a gross aggregate of four points.

But the sense is that they have kicked on over the past 12 months, adding the league title to their list of honours, with an 11-point win over Mayo in the spring decider.

They have hit the net 20 times in five games on their way to the final and there is a growing belief in the ladies game that this group can dominate, just like the Dublin men.

If they do, then it is all down to their attitude.

‘We were delighted with how the league went but we never put together a full 60-minute performance.

‘We blitzed Mayo for 40 minutes in the final but we did not see it through and Mick (Bohan) expects very high standards and so do we.

‘Our focus is always on the performance. We beat Galway in the league semi-final with a last-ditch goal and you would have thought we would have been very happy but the truth is we were very disappointed with our performance.

‘We hold very high standards for ourselves,’ says the 26-year-old St Sylvester’s star.

And that is why their recent trouble with Cork will not bother them in the least today.

‘We know what to expect from them, we will give them the respect that they obviously deserve.

‘But with this management team we are very focussed on ourselves and we have come a long way from 2014 and our first encounter with Cork.

‘We are a very different team, as are they, so all we can do is focus on our game and hopefully we will get the performance we want.’