When Niamh Hetherton rifled into the Canal End goal in the 22nd minute, Dublin moved 2-8 to 0-2 ahead. They turned over Robyn Bulger’s kick out, Éilish O’Dowd carried at pace and Hetherton side-stepped Mary Kate Lynch before sending a rocket into the roof of the net.
Two minutes later, Dublin secured their biggest lead of the game, Kate Sullivan’s effort confirmed by HawkEye and putting them 13 points clear.
Dublin targetted a fast start, and executed it to perfection. They had 1-3 on the board before Meath opened their account in the 10th minute, Nicole Owens raising their other green flag. They hit an unanswered 1-5 between Emma Duggan’s second free in the 13th minute and her third in the 26th. By the time Hetherton wheeled away after after her goal — almost immediately after seeing one chalked off — all six of Dublin’s forwards had scored from play.
They were fast, furious and direct, picking Meath off time and time again on the counter and taking 11 of 14 scoring chances in the opening half. Hannah Tyrrell, Carla Rowe and Sullivan finished the game with a combined 0-13, Sullivan’s four points coming from play and some of Rowe’s efforts dazzling.
The platform for this success was laid in a first-half blitz.
2. Orlagh Nolan brilliance and the last to quit
Several times on TG4′s commentary, Brian Tyers referred to Orlagh Nolan having “saoirse an páirc”. Like Paudie Clifford in Kerry’s win last week, Nolan got on a world of ball and enjoyed the freedom of the pitch. On her first start since returning from an ACL injury, she finished with the Player of the Match award and a fourth All-Ireland medal.
Having impressed through a semi-final cameo, Nolan got the nod for the injured Caoimhe O’Connor. The two-time All-Star was hugely influential again, scoring a point and orchestrating much of Dublin’s attacking play from the half-forward line as she hugged the left sideline and made darting runs.
Advertisement
She was involved in the build-up to both goals; more so defensively for Owens’ as she gathered a fisted clearance from goalkeeper Abby Shiels and kick-passed it on, while she fed O’Dowd for Hetherton’s.
Nolan in action against Marion Farrelly. Ben Brady / INPHO
Ben Brady / INPHO / INPHO
The former Ireland underage soccer player was a composed, controlled presence on the ball, often using one hand to solo and the other to dictate with her head always up. After registering Dublin’s first wide in the 17th minute, she made no mistake with her next effort from a similar position just afterwards.
As confirmed to The 42 by the brilliant X account Gaelic Statsman, Nolan had around 26 possessions between kick outs won, scores assisted, turnovers and general ownership of the ball.
“I just wanted to hold wide and hopefully drag people out and create the space in there for the guys,” Nolan told TG4 afterwards. “I don’t know, maybe they gave me a bit too much time on the ball and then I was able to cut in.
“That’s the thing about our forwards: if one of us is having a bad day, the next person will step up.”
They all did on Sunday, in an ultimate team performance. Defensive stalwarts Sinéad Goldrick, Leah Caffrey and Martha Byrne were others to encapsulate the words printed on a team flag behind the scenes: “The last to quit. Always.”
3. Meath regret in one-sided contest
The lack of a contest and one-sided nature of the game is an obvious talking point. It kept with the trend of this year’s All-Ireland finals to date, with Tipperary, Kerry and Dublin all winning easily. It made for another disappointing ladies football final too, games generally put to bed at half time in recent years.
Dublin’s scoreboard dominance doesn’t tell the full story of Sunday’s first half. Meath were incredibly wasteful, converting just four of 10 scoring opportunities and seeing several other attacks break down. They had more possession in the opening half (56% versus 44%) but were sloppy and made uncharacteristic mistakes.
While Dublin were direct and often used width well, Meath were ponderous in possession and repeatedly tried, and failed, to go down the middle. The Dubs were masterfully cynical, Meath were one-dimensional and couldn’t get near their intensity levels.
Emma Duggan’s frees were their only source of scoring in the first half, their first from play not arriving until five minutes after the restart amidst five unanswered points either side of the break.
They trailed by 11, then 12, at the short and long whistles, but interestingly, Meath actually outscored Dublin 0-8 to 0-7 from that HawkEye-confirmed point in the 24th minute.
While Duggan and Vikki Wall will rue poor shooting and decision making, they had their moments. Goalkeeper Robyn Murray was a real bright spark, and Aoibhín Cleary and Ciara Smyth grew into the game. The regrets from their first All-Ireland defeat will linger.
4. A festival of football at Croke Park
The 42 stumbled across a colourful scene en route on Sunday afternoon. A group of young Dublin fans – primary school kids, perhaps a team – congregated for a picture at The Five Lamps. As they hung onto the city landmark, they spotted a Meath family, and began booing in unison. ‘Up the Dubs, up the Dubs,’ they chanted as the Royal kids took shelter behind their parents.
They were all part of the 48,089 attendance at HQ, a healthy turnout on a Bank Holiday Sunday amidst a costly condensed season. The crowd fell short of the 2019 record of 56,114, but was a notable increase on last year’s 30,340. The proximity of Dublin and Meath helps, of course.
There was a good atmosphere in the stadium; the sea of blue, green and gold, broken up by flashes of red, yellow, white and blue.
In a more exciting intermediate final, Tyrone beat Laois 2-16 to 1-13 to lift the Mary Quinn Memorial Cup. Goals in either half from Aoife Horisk and Katie Rose Muldoon powered the Red Hand to promotion after a one-point loss to Leitrim last year.
Kate Flood in full flow. Leah Scholes / INPHO
Leah Scholes / INPHO / INPHO
Earlier in the day, Louth defeated Antrim 0-13 to 1-8 to win the All-Ireland junior championship. Kate Flood was the scoring hero with 0-4 before announcing her inter-county retirement, the talismanic forward and one-season AFLW star bringing the curtain down on a 15-year senior career. More would follow her into the sunset as afternoon turned to evening.
Related Reads
'I was in a really bad way' - Dublin's goalscoring star bows out a five-time All-Ireland winner
'I'm just gutted for the girls. The game was nearly over at half time' - Meath boss McCormack
'She's given everything. This is a cherry on the top' - Dublin's retiring multi-sport star
5. What next?
Hannah Tyrrell and Nicole Owens confirmed their retirements on the Croke Park turf after Dublin’s win. It was a fitting stage to call it a day after glittering careers.
Tyrrell and Goldrick shared a beer in the middle of the pitch when just the lawn mowers remained, two Irish sporting legends savouring the moment. Goldrick, at 35, is set for another AFLW season with Melbourne, but must be weighing up her inter-county future after winning her fifth All-Ireland title. Byrne, Caffrey, Rowe and Nolan are all over 30: similarly, they are at the peak of the powers, but have serious miles on the clock.
Wall is the big name in focus for Meath, the multi-sport star recently signing a new, three-year deal with North Melbourne. Her AFLW commitments could again limit her inter-county involvement going forward. Captain Aoibhín Cleary is also Australia bound.
Sub goalkeeper Monica McGuirk and former captains Shauna Ennis and Máire O’Shaughnessy are the only panellists over 30, and Shane McCormack was already looking to a “positive” future on Sunday.
Paul Casey and Derek Murray’s side is also littered with young talent. Dublin may not dominate like before in a more open championship, Kerry and Galway among many who will be gunning for glory in 2026.
Between now and then, the rules are sure to remain in the spotlight.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Close
Comments
This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic.
Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy
here
before taking part.
Dublin’s first-half storm, Meath regret, and what next after one-sided All-Ireland final?
1. Dublin’s first-half storm
When Niamh Hetherton rifled into the Canal End goal in the 22nd minute, Dublin moved 2-8 to 0-2 ahead. They turned over Robyn Bulger’s kick out, Éilish O’Dowd carried at pace and Hetherton side-stepped Mary Kate Lynch before sending a rocket into the roof of the net.
Two minutes later, Dublin secured their biggest lead of the game, Kate Sullivan’s effort confirmed by HawkEye and putting them 13 points clear.
Dublin targetted a fast start, and executed it to perfection. They had 1-3 on the board before Meath opened their account in the 10th minute, Nicole Owens raising their other green flag. They hit an unanswered 1-5 between Emma Duggan’s second free in the 13th minute and her third in the 26th. By the time Hetherton wheeled away after after her goal — almost immediately after seeing one chalked off — all six of Dublin’s forwards had scored from play.
They were fast, furious and direct, picking Meath off time and time again on the counter and taking 11 of 14 scoring chances in the opening half. Hannah Tyrrell, Carla Rowe and Sullivan finished the game with a combined 0-13, Sullivan’s four points coming from play and some of Rowe’s efforts dazzling.
The platform for this success was laid in a first-half blitz.
2. Orlagh Nolan brilliance and the last to quit
Several times on TG4′s commentary, Brian Tyers referred to Orlagh Nolan having “saoirse an páirc”. Like Paudie Clifford in Kerry’s win last week, Nolan got on a world of ball and enjoyed the freedom of the pitch. On her first start since returning from an ACL injury, she finished with the Player of the Match award and a fourth All-Ireland medal.
Having impressed through a semi-final cameo, Nolan got the nod for the injured Caoimhe O’Connor. The two-time All-Star was hugely influential again, scoring a point and orchestrating much of Dublin’s attacking play from the half-forward line as she hugged the left sideline and made darting runs.
She was involved in the build-up to both goals; more so defensively for Owens’ as she gathered a fisted clearance from goalkeeper Abby Shiels and kick-passed it on, while she fed O’Dowd for Hetherton’s.
The former Ireland underage soccer player was a composed, controlled presence on the ball, often using one hand to solo and the other to dictate with her head always up. After registering Dublin’s first wide in the 17th minute, she made no mistake with her next effort from a similar position just afterwards.
As confirmed to The 42 by the brilliant X account Gaelic Statsman, Nolan had around 26 possessions between kick outs won, scores assisted, turnovers and general ownership of the ball.
“I just wanted to hold wide and hopefully drag people out and create the space in there for the guys,” Nolan told TG4 afterwards. “I don’t know, maybe they gave me a bit too much time on the ball and then I was able to cut in.
“That’s the thing about our forwards: if one of us is having a bad day, the next person will step up.”
They all did on Sunday, in an ultimate team performance. Defensive stalwarts Sinéad Goldrick, Leah Caffrey and Martha Byrne were others to encapsulate the words printed on a team flag behind the scenes: “The last to quit. Always.”
3. Meath regret in one-sided contest
The lack of a contest and one-sided nature of the game is an obvious talking point. It kept with the trend of this year’s All-Ireland finals to date, with Tipperary, Kerry and Dublin all winning easily. It made for another disappointing ladies football final too, games generally put to bed at half time in recent years.
Dublin’s scoreboard dominance doesn’t tell the full story of Sunday’s first half. Meath were incredibly wasteful, converting just four of 10 scoring opportunities and seeing several other attacks break down. They had more possession in the opening half (56% versus 44%) but were sloppy and made uncharacteristic mistakes.
While Dublin were direct and often used width well, Meath were ponderous in possession and repeatedly tried, and failed, to go down the middle. The Dubs were masterfully cynical, Meath were one-dimensional and couldn’t get near their intensity levels.
Emma Duggan’s frees were their only source of scoring in the first half, their first from play not arriving until five minutes after the restart amidst five unanswered points either side of the break.
They trailed by 11, then 12, at the short and long whistles, but interestingly, Meath actually outscored Dublin 0-8 to 0-7 from that HawkEye-confirmed point in the 24th minute.
While Duggan and Vikki Wall will rue poor shooting and decision making, they had their moments. Goalkeeper Robyn Murray was a real bright spark, and Aoibhín Cleary and Ciara Smyth grew into the game. The regrets from their first All-Ireland defeat will linger.
4. A festival of football at Croke Park
The 42 stumbled across a colourful scene en route on Sunday afternoon. A group of young Dublin fans – primary school kids, perhaps a team – congregated for a picture at The Five Lamps. As they hung onto the city landmark, they spotted a Meath family, and began booing in unison. ‘Up the Dubs, up the Dubs,’ they chanted as the Royal kids took shelter behind their parents.
They were all part of the 48,089 attendance at HQ, a healthy turnout on a Bank Holiday Sunday amidst a costly condensed season. The crowd fell short of the 2019 record of 56,114, but was a notable increase on last year’s 30,340. The proximity of Dublin and Meath helps, of course.
There was a good atmosphere in the stadium; the sea of blue, green and gold, broken up by flashes of red, yellow, white and blue.
In a more exciting intermediate final, Tyrone beat Laois 2-16 to 1-13 to lift the Mary Quinn Memorial Cup. Goals in either half from Aoife Horisk and Katie Rose Muldoon powered the Red Hand to promotion after a one-point loss to Leitrim last year.
Earlier in the day, Louth defeated Antrim 0-13 to 1-8 to win the All-Ireland junior championship. Kate Flood was the scoring hero with 0-4 before announcing her inter-county retirement, the talismanic forward and one-season AFLW star bringing the curtain down on a 15-year senior career. More would follow her into the sunset as afternoon turned to evening.
5. What next?
Hannah Tyrrell and Nicole Owens confirmed their retirements on the Croke Park turf after Dublin’s win. It was a fitting stage to call it a day after glittering careers.
Tyrrell and Goldrick shared a beer in the middle of the pitch when just the lawn mowers remained, two Irish sporting legends savouring the moment. Goldrick, at 35, is set for another AFLW season with Melbourne, but must be weighing up her inter-county future after winning her fifth All-Ireland title. Byrne, Caffrey, Rowe and Nolan are all over 30: similarly, they are at the peak of the powers, but have serious miles on the clock.
Wall is the big name in focus for Meath, the multi-sport star recently signing a new, three-year deal with North Melbourne. Her AFLW commitments could again limit her inter-county involvement going forward. Captain Aoibhín Cleary is also Australia bound.
Sub goalkeeper Monica McGuirk and former captains Shauna Ennis and Máire O’Shaughnessy are the only panellists over 30, and Shane McCormack was already looking to a “positive” future on Sunday.
Paul Casey and Derek Murray’s side is also littered with young talent. Dublin may not dominate like before in a more open championship, Kerry and Galway among many who will be gunning for glory in 2026.
Between now and then, the rules are sure to remain in the spotlight.
*****
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Dublin Ladies Football Meath Talking Points