WALL IS TOO HIGH FOR KERRY TO SCALE
FIRST year back in the senior Championship, first time in the senior final, Meath’s win against Dublin last year was presented as a fairytale.
Twelve months later, they retained their title with a performance grounded in teamwork and fitness, decorated at important junctions with brilliant flourishes by some influential players.
But this was no unlikely tale. This, rather, was a classic example of champions asserting their class.
Kerry were unlikely finalists, and they suffered the fate that many thought would befall Meath a year ago.
The temptation to see the Royals’ breakthrough win in 2021 as a Disney tale was understandable. Five years earlier, after all, they had requested relegation from senior because of the percussive force of repeated heavy defeats.
But they deserved to beat Dublin last year thanks to a clever game-plan but also a brilliant cast of players.
Add to that the lung-busting fitness that left Kerry in tatters as the second half wore on in Croke Park, and this was a display of utter control.
There was also an early fright with which to contend, as Kerry surged into a lead made handsome by a Louise Ní Mhuircheartaigh goal.
She had, understandably, been presented as one of star figures in yesterday’s final, and when she snaffled the opportunity presented by a poor Meath kick-out and lobbed the ball classily back over the head of Monica McGuirk, Kerry led by five points. The lead didn’t stay that size long enough to foster a daydream.
Opportunism is another word for skill, and Emma Troy, the highly influential Meath centre half-back, displayed it in palming an attempted kick by Katie Nesbitt under control, and booting the ball high to the Kerry net three minutes later.
Thereafter, the story of the half was Kerry hanging on as Vikki Wall proved unplayable.
She was the decisive figure in the game, as her breath-taking combination of ball-winning ability, running power and technical skills presented Kerry with an ever-changing list of difficulties.
They couldn’t solve any of them.
She was, along with Troy and Niamh O’Sullivan, Meath’s most important player. Emma Duggan wasn’t required to produce the interventions that saved Meath in the quarter and semi-finals.
Instead, another one of the Meath stars served as smart link-player: dropping deep to win ball, she popped passes to runners or switched the play with good foot passes.
Everything she did stretched Kerry and applied pressure, and the latter had to fight hard to get to the break trailing by just three points.
Two frees in the first six minutes after half time pared that Meath lead down to one, and the 46,000 crowd in the ground were producing an atmosphere worthy of the tension.
Duggan kicked a free to give Meath some wiggle room, before a 10-minute deadlock prevailed. When it was broken, it was done in the decisive manner expected of champions.
A Kerry kick-out was won by Meath, and the ball was moved rapidly through Meath hands, before Stacey Grimes displayed excellent awareness to set O’Sullivan up.
Kerry seemed to diminish physically, as the realisation that all their efforts threatened to come to nought took hold.
That desperate feeling was confirmed three minutes later when Bridgetta Lynch kicked the third.
From there on in, Meath exuded control and the closing 15 minutes became a ramp towards joy for their supporters.
Theirs really is a tremendous achievement. This is a sport that has been dominated by two of the great powers in GAA generally since the 2000s, and to emerge through that hierarchy at all is stunning.
But to then maintain their place at the head of it is a credit to the players and their manager, Eamonn Murray.
It has been common, since the appointment of a new manager to the men’s team in Meath a week ago, to point to the example of the women’s side as an inspiration.
There is certainly much that Colm O’Rourke can take from what they have achieved, and one of the most important lessons is not relying too heavily on history.
The old records detailing the heroics and hardiness of Meath men’s teams won’t be worth a great deal at all in the modern game — in precisely the way that the unremarkable details around the story of the women’s side before 2021 had no bearing on what this generation of players wanted to achieve.
History can be an anchor as much as an inspiration, and the best and most innovative sides don’t get snagged on old glories, or failures.
In that way, Meath are a good example for the sport they serve.
Yesterday was another day of triumph for ladies football.
It has its ongoing issues, and plenty of critics, too, but the numbers in both categories continue to fall.
This is an inspiring game, when played the way Meath play it.
The effects of Australian losses could be the most telling factor in what comes next for them, but they’ll always have days like this.
As examples of cool, measured reactions to adversity go, this was magnificent.
This was the game of their dreams, rooted firmly in the here and now.