'I'm just gutted for the girls. The game was nearly over at half time'
'I'm just gutted for the girls, to be honest,' he begins after the 2-16 to 0-10 loss.
'We were always doubted, even at the start of the year before a ball was thrown in, to even get to a quarter-final stage. But we did believe within our circle that we would achieve it.
Advertisement
'We (previously) played Dublin three times this year. A 16-point trimming in the league wasn't good so we sat down that week and had a chat among ourselves and we kind of worked on different tactics. And in fairness to the girls with the Leinster campaign, obviously we lost to Dublin in the Leinster final but we were gutted because Dublin got the last eight points without a reply from us.
'So coming into today's game, we knew what was going to happen but the game was nearly over at half time. In fairness to our girls, they battled to the end. I think we were 11 down at half time. In the second half, pretty pleased that we came out of the blocks quick enough. I think we lost the second half by a point. But I'm just gutted for the girls because they're a fantastic bunch.'
It's Meath's first All-Ireland senior final defeat in their history. The Royals won their first in 2021, ending Dublin's Drive for Five, and backed it up in 2022.
Two consecutive quarter-final defeats to Kerry followed, before they turned the tables and dethroned the 2024 champions in this year's semi-final. That was a huge performance — a stark contrast to today as they trailed by 13 points at one stage in the first half, and failed to score from play until after the restart.
Vikki Wall dejected as Dublin celebrate. Leah Scholes / INPHO Leah Scholes / INPHO / INPHO
'Dublin were a little bit hungrier, to be honest,' McCormack continues, rueing 'small margins' like Vikki Wall's spurned goal opportunity when they trailed by one point early doors.
'In the first five or 10 minutes, they hit the blocks running. But there were a few passes that went astray with our girls. Obviously if the goal chances went in, I'm not saying it would have changed the result but we would have been in a different position at half time. It's very hard going in at half time in an All-Ireland final when you're 11 points down. The positive would be for our girls that they came out quick enough there in the second half.'
'When any Dublin team get ahead, they're very hard to claw back,' the former Kildare goalkeeper adds. 'But credit to Dublin today, they're a super team with multiple All-Stars and All-Ireland medal winners.
'We had 16 new girls onto the panel from last year and this year. I think nine girls got their first-ever senior start in an All-Ireland final today, so there are a lot of positives. It is healthy, even with the Under-20s winning the Leinster the other night as well. So it's very positive for Meath ladies football.'
*****
Check out the latest episode of The42′s GAA Weekly podcast here
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Times
an hour ago
- Irish Times
RTÉ not showing Shelbourne's Europa League second leg against Rijeka
RTÉ will not televise Shelbourne 's Europa League second-leg qualifier against Croatian champions HNK Rijeka from Tolka Park next Tuesday due to budgetary and personnel restraints. Joey O'Brien's team lead 2-1 from the first leg following a surprise victory in Rijeka on Wednesday night. If Shelbourne win the tie on aggregate they are guaranteed group stage football in either the Europa League or Conference League, and at least €4 million in Uefa prize money. Shels have never reached the group stage in European competitions. READ MORE The national broadcaster provided live coverage of their 1-0 victory over Linfield at Tolka Park on July 9th, in the Champions League first qualifying round, with RTÉ disappointed by an average audience of just 120,000. The second leg at Windsor Park in Belfast was available on the BBC iPlayer in Northern Ireland and subscription channel Premier Sports in the Republic. RTÉ committed to showing the women's Euros in Switzerland this summer and the GAA Championship along with the Dublin Horse Show, Euro Hockey, the women's Rugby World Cup and the World Athletics Championships from Tokyo in September. All these commitments, plus the short six-day window of the tie being scheduled, were factored into the decision to not cover the League of Ireland champions at this juncture. The cost to RTÉ of screening the game would be in excess of €70,000. RTÉ lost the League of Ireland rights to Virgin Media this season,they did, however, retain exclusive coverage of the FAI Cup. Shelbourne have also approached Virgin about providing live coverage of the second leg against the Croatian champions as only 3,650 fans can be accommodated inside Tolka due to Uefa's restrictions. There will be no travelling Rijeka fans as they are currently banned due to crowd trouble at previous games. The game will be live on LOITV with the FAI confirming that Shelbourne will receive 100 per cent of the revenue from the streaming service. For every European game the club negotiates the cost with the rights holder. So, for Tuesday at Tolka Park, LOITV and Shels have come to an agreement on cost for a two-camera production. LOITV is platformed by Premier Sports which is owned by Mickey O'Rourke, who is a shareholder and chairman of the Shels board. RTÉ production costs are significantly higher than Premier or Virgin, as they use six cameras and a drone. Shamrock Rovers fans can pay €9.99 to watch tonight's Uefa Conference League qualifier against Ballkani in Kosovo. With Rovers, Shels and St Patrick's Athletic still on course to earn group stage football this season, RTÉ have not ruled out purchasing the rights for another European game in the coming fortnight.
The 42
an hour ago
- The 42
Over 15,000 tickets already sold for Crocker and Donovan's all-Irish world-title fight
OVER 15,000 TICKETS have already been sold for next month's all-Irish world-title fight between Lewis Crocker and Paddy Donovan at Windsor Park, Matchroom Boxing have confirmed. Belfast's Crocker (21-0, 11KOs) and Limerick's Donovan (14-1, 11KOs) will rematch at the home of Northern Irish football for the IBF welterweight world title on Saturday, 13 September. Tickets went on sale last week but Matchroom chairman Eddie Hearn confirmed on Thursday morning that over 15,000 of them have already been snapped up with more than five weeks remaining, with pitchside tickets 'completely sold out'. A small number of cheaper tickets (around €52) are still available on Ticketmaster, while undercard boxers can also be contacted directly via social media for tickets. Advertisement 'Let's sell this place out for the first ever all-Irish world title fight,' Hearn said. In over a century and a half of professional boxing under the Queensberry rules, no two Irish-born fighters have ever fought each other for a world-title belt in any weight class. September's encounter will see either Crocker or Donovan join Katie Taylor as one of only two reigning Irish world champions, although Belfast's world-class super-featherweight Anthony Cacace is effectively in that same company having vacated his IBF title to avoid a mandatory challenge and instead take more lucrative fights with British rivals, which he has won. Crocker and Donovan's original bout at Belfast's SSE Arena was, in its own right, one the most significant to take place between two Irish boxers in the modern era. In what was a final eliminator for Boots Ennis' IBF title (Ennis has since vacated the belt and moved up in weight), Donovan and trainer Andy Lee were left furious when the previously unbeaten Limerick man was disqualified for knocking down Belfast's Crocker after the bell had sounded to end the eighth round. Related Reads 'This should have been Bernard Dunne 2.0... but life played out how it played out' Peerless in his own era, Oleksandr Usyk would have held his own in any of them Landmark victories are taken literally in New York, and Taylor has no more worlds to conquer Donovan had already been harshly deducted two points for head clashes by English referee Marcus McDonnell, who deemed his third punishable foul to be worthy of a DQ. To that point, Donovan had dominated a compelling contest against his rival from the north, earning a legitimate knockdown of Crocker and leading the Belfast man 69-63 x2 and 67-65 on the three judges' scorecards before being disqualified for his illegal blow. Remaining tickets for Crocker-Donovan II are available here.
The Irish Sun
3 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
Record number of GAA stars set to compete in Aussie Rules as TG4 announce coverage of six games
There were numerous stars who featured in Sunday's All-Ireland final who will be making switch to the AFLW AUSSIES RULE Record number of GAA stars set to compete in Aussie Rules as TG4 announce coverage of six games THE AUSTRALIAN Football League Women's (AFLW) is set to feature a record number of Irish athletes with the majority making the move from Gaelic football. The AFL has been a common destination for male and female GAA stars due to the professional state of the sport and its similarity to Gaelic football. Advertisement 2 The record for most Irish players in one season was set at 34 last season 2 Tipperary footballer Orla O'Dwyer won the 2021 AFLW Grand Final match with the Brisbane Lions Plenty of high profile Gaelic footballers have moved from the GAA to Australia over the years, such as Oisín Mullin, Conor McKenna and Zach Tuohy to name a few. While there has been a long standing tradition of a handful of Irish players competing in the AFL, Cora Staunton has been credited with popularising the move from Ladie's Gaelic Football to the AFLW when joining Greater Western Sydney (GWS) in 2018. The following season nine players followed her lead to Australia in search of professional sport. The upcoming AFLW season will break the record for most Irish players competing in the competition with 39 players set to play for 13 of the competing 18 team in the league. Advertisement The record was broken just last year when 34 Irish players featured in the AFLW. The AFLW season runs from 14 August to 29 November which just about doesn't clash with the inter-county LGFA season which came to an end on Sunday as Dublin claimed the Brendan Martin Cup. Quite a few players who featured in Sunday's All-Ireland final will make the trip to Australia to compete in the AFLW. Meath's Aoibhin Cleary and Vikki Wall will compete against Sinead Goldrick and Eilish O'Dowd yet again this year, but this time in Australia and with a Sherrin ball. Advertisement The Head of Sport at TG4 Rónán Ó Coisdealbha was delighted with the Irish milestone in the AFLW and is happy to facilitate coverage of the action in Ireland. Ó Coisdealbha said: 'This is a brilliant moment for the Irish-Australian sporting connection. TJ Reid and wife Niamh de Brun's gorgeous pregnancy reveal "With more Irish players than ever involved in the AFLW, we're delighted to bring their stories and performances into homes across the country.' Carlton and Freemantle share the title for most Irish players in their squads going into the AFLW season next week with five apiece. Advertisement The Carlton Irish contingent is made up of Maria Cannon, Dayna Finn, Erone Fitzpatrick, Síofra O'Connell and Aisling Reidy while Joanne Cregg, Orlagh Lally, Aisling McCarthy, Amy Mulholland and Aine Tighe will line out for Fremantle. There's two teams with four Irish squad members as Amy Boyle-Carr, Kayleigh Cronin, Grace Kelly and Niamh Kelly will be representing Adelaide while the current champions North Melbourne will be home for Blaithin Bogue, Amy Gavin Mangan, Erika O'Shea and Vikki Wall. Brisbane have signed Neasa Dooley, Jennifer Dunne and Orla O'Dwyer ahead of the new season as Muireann Atkinson, Kellyann Hogan and Sarah Rowe join up with Collingwood. Rachel Kearns, Kate Kenny and Aishling Moloney will play for Geelong while Tanya Kennedy, Paris McCarthy and Julie O'Sullivan sign for Sydney. Advertisement There are four teams who will have just a pair of Irish players with Clara Fitzpatrick and Niamh McLaughlin (Gold Coast), Grace Kos and Eilish O'Dowd (GWS), Aileen Gilroy and Aine McDonagh (Hawthorn) and Sinead Goldrick and Blaithin Mackin (Melbourne) all competing. Meath LGFA captain Aoibhin Cleary will be the only Irish woman on her lonesome in an AFLW squad as she joins Richmond. The first three rounds of TG4's fixtures have been finalised with plenty of Irish players on show:
