Meath manager Murray loves it when a plan comes together

With his mask in place there was no cigar in sight, but there was a hint of Lieutenant Colonel Hannibal Smith about Meath manager Eamonn Murray following Saturday's pulsating All-Ireland IFC semi-final victory over Clare at Portlaoise.

That overwhelming sense of satisfaction when a plan comes together was very evident when Murray spoke to the Meath Chronicle immediately after the 21-point win over a Clare side that managed just one score from play.

It was hard for the manager not to get carried away, but he has had his nose bloodied twice in the last two years following All-Ireland final losses to Tyrone in 2018 and Tipperary last year, so he was keeping his feet very firmly on the ground.

"That is the best performance we have managed to put together since the lockdown was lifted. That was the way we were playing before Covid, so thank God we are back to that type of form again and hopefully we can keep improving because we will need to ahead of the next day," said Murray.

"We all love playing on the big pitch and playing in dry weather is another key thing for us. That was very obvious out there today on a great pitch here in Portlaoise.

"We'll be guaranteed another good pitch the next day too provided it doesn't get too cut up by the lads playing on it the day before," joked Murray.

Joking aside Murray was surprised at Clare's failure to perform. The Munster side went into Saturday's semi-final with high expectations, but they mis-fired against a Meath side that were relentless throughout and that punished every error.

"Clare never got going in fairness to them. They are a far better side than they showed out there today and we knew what they are capable of. That is why we had to show them the highest respect possible today and that is why we needed to be at our best and thankfully we played well," said the Meath manager.

"Every little thing went against them. The early goal was exactly what we wanted, but it was a huge blow for them and then to concede a penalty on top of that it left them chasing the game and we knew that if we left them chasing us they would have to leave gaps at the back and we exploited that well.

"You have days where referees and the bounce of the ball can go against you and those things can be very hard to recover from. I thought the referee was very fair today, he refereed both sides the same and probably gave us both fairly soft frees, but we are just looking for consistency and we saw that today. It just wasn't Clare's day.

"All week we were listening to the hype coming out of Clare. The whole build up to the game was Clare were going to do this and Clare were going to do that. There was hardly a word about us, and that's the way I liked it, but Clare seemed to heap so much extra pressure on themselves and it showed there today.

"We kept a very low profile, we went about our work as hard as we could and said very little. We know what we are capable of, but we also know we have to prove that on the pitch, there is no point talking about it, you have to go out and do it.

"We will approach the All-Ireland final the same way. We will work hard at training over the next three weeks and focus on the job we have to do the next day out," he said.

While Clare were below par and failed to bring the attacking threat most people expected, Murray was effervescent in his praise for his young players, particularly his defenders who managed to restrict the Banner side to just one point from play and held them scoreless for the entire second-half.

"I didn't see that level of performance coming from our girls today. I know how good they are and how hard they work in training. They have been seriously committed this year and when we came back they have shown some focus, but never in your wildest dreams would you expect a performance like that against a side as good as Clare," praised Murray.

"Our defence was awesome today. They laid the perfect platform for the rest of the players to kick on and did what they are capable of doing. I cannot speak highly enough of our backs today.

"I asked one of our coaches, Shane (Wall), before the game today 'have we any weaknesses?' He was slightly concerned about our lack of experience in defence because many of our players are so young, but we have such faith in those girls, they are brilliant players and we had no weaknesses out there today, they were awesome from start to finish.

"Players like Bridgetta Lynch and Stacey Grimes up front were absolutely amazing today and when you have the younger players getting forward so quickly from defence and feeding those type of players we know we are capable of causing problems. Emma Duggan is the youngest player on the pitch yet she was a real leader out there today, overall it was a massive team performance.

"We only had one wide today, that is amazing accuracy and efficiency. They have two of the most dangerous forwards in the country in Niamh O'Dea and Chloe Moloney, but we kept them to just one point from play, that was unreal, they deserve huge credit for that performance, but there's nothing won here today. We will have to be better again the next day out."

That acceptance that there was nothing won yet was clear throughout the chat with Murray. The heartbreak of 2018 and 2019 are still very fresh in his mind, but he believes the quieter approach to this year's final might suit his side.

"It will be easy enough to keep the lid on expectations because of the way Covid restrictions will impact on the build up," he said.

"There will be no big meet and greet night in Dunganny and probably no big media fuss ahead of the final, those things can be a distraction and can lead to taking the eye off the ball a bit because you get swept up in the whole occasion.

"However, that won't be the case this year. Of course we will miss meeting our supporters and we did enjoy the build up to the last two finals, that's what it's all about. It's about creating memories and surrounding yourself with occasions, but it's also about winning and we want to win this All-Ireland, so that's all that matters to us now.

"We will be back training on Tuesday evening and we are delighted to be back at it. I told the girls that they don't have to buy anybody a Christmas present this year, a place in another All-Ireland final is all the present anyone needs, although the trophy at the end would be nice too," concluded Murray, hungry to lead his A team to the promised land.