MEANEY DETERMINED TO PUT PAST DEFEATS TO REST

MOURNEABBEY may have reached their fourth AllIreland ladies senior club football final in the last five years but, according to Eimear Meaney, they have yet to show their full talents on the big stage. Rightly regarded as one of the country’s top club teams, it is perhaps a blot on their record to have five Cork titles, five Munster wins and zero AllIrelands — but against Foxrock-Cabinteely this evening (5.15pm) at Parnell Park, they are determined to amend that statistic. After an extra-time win over today’s opponents in last season’s semi-final, Mourneabbey misfired in the final against Carnacon. Meaney (left), a 2018 AllStar nominee, says they are determined to play to their potential today. ‘Obviously you don’t forget how disappointing those finals were but some of them are a bit of a blur. The matches passed us by,’ says the 21-year-old. ‘In every final and semifinal we lost we definitely had the ability to win those games. That’s something that is very hard to accept. If we go out and perform to the best of our ability then we can only hold our hands up and congratulate them. ‘Whereas if you go out and don’t perform you’re kicking yourself for the next 12 months until you get back there.’ While Carnacon’s defence of their All-Ireland title was stalled in a Connacht final against Kilkerrin/ Clonberne, Mourneabbey showed a ruthless streak in their semi-final victory over the Galway girls. An eight-point win in Clonberne set up another tilt at the Dolores Tyrrell Memorial Cup, and while they’re delighted to be back in the final, Meaney says there is nothing to celebrate just yet. ‘At the start of the year we came back, obviously you have to win the county and Munster to get here, but our goal wasn’t to win the county or win the Munster, we are going for that elusive title. This is our fifth year running. ‘I don’t think there is words to describe or explain exactly what it could mean. I don’t think I’ve ever wanted something as bad.’