NO REGRETS FOR MURRAY, AS HIS TOP ROYALS MOVE ON
time this all-conquering group plays together.
Vikki Wall flies out to Australia soon to line out for North Melbourne, one of a roster of 21 Irish players on the books for the new season and midfielder Orlagh Lally goes with her after signing for Fremantle Dockers in Perth.
Emma Troy — a Footballer of the Year nominee in 2021 and brilliant again yesterday — is taking a year out to go travelling, with a plan to link up with her Meath team-mates Down Under, although not in a playing capacity.
‘Magic’ said an emotional Eamonn Murray afterwards.
‘That’s where the tears are coming from. I know we could do four or five in a row but we probably won’t now. But we had a few great years. I don’t blame them for going off one bit. They don’t owe Meath anything. They’re an awesome bunch of players. I love them all.’
When asked if there could be a changing of the guard next year, Murray said: ‘I won’t worry about that, they have two All-Irelands in their pocket. They will go with pride and their heads up, and we wish them luck. And we look forward to them coming back, and they will be back. I know they will.’ TG4’s official Player of the Match Niamh O’Sullivan echoed Murray’s words about the scale of the achievement.
‘It’s magical. It feels like a dream. We knew coming up today, we didn’t want to think about two in a row, we just wanted to give a performance. And I think we did that.
‘Kerry’s a footballing county, they have great players. We knew it was going to be a hard game. They threw everything at us. Us Meath women know how to stand up and fight and we did that today!’
They certainly did, bouncing back from conceding 1-2 in the opening seven minutes to take control and shoot 1-6 without reply, Troy popping up to score the crucial goal.
But the strength of this Meath team is in the collective, from the superbly drilled defensive set-up that frustrated Kerry and limited the challengers to just two points in the second half, to the counterattacking style that saw the holders find the net twice in the second half to wrap up the game.
‘We knew what Kerry were going to bring, we knew they were fantastically skilled footballers, especially at getting goals, so it wasn’t a shock,’ said midfielder Máire O’Shaughnessy about the tough start. ‘We just knew we had to
switch on then, and not leave more goals go in and leave us with a mountain to climb. No, panic didn’t set in.
‘Personally I didn’t feel like there was more hype or more pressure on us or anything like that. It was just a different challenge.
‘It’s such a tough competition. It really is just great for ladies’ football. The bar is constantly, constantly rising. We haven’t been allowed play our game – that’s not because we’re not playing it, it’s because teams aren’t letting us.
‘The standard of ladies’ football is rising and rising. It’s such a privilege to be involved in such a competitive team and such a competitive competition.’ Murray said: ‘They are a very special bunch.
‘And it takes a very special bunch to go two in a row.
‘We started the year quietly, won the league without playing well and started championship then. We were getting better and better but we kept the best ’til last.
‘The response was brilliant, three different players scoring goals.
‘Bridgetta [Lynch] came off the bench and she was magic, played the best game of her life.
All our subs did very well. We were told during the week we didn’t have subs but I think we proved today we have,’ Murray added.