‘I do have to pinch myself sometimes to remind myself that I am part of this team’

The name Emma Duggan is a household one all over the country.

There isn't a person with even the slightest interest in sport who doesn't recognise that distinctive hair style, that cultured swing of the left or right foot, that killer instinct in front of the posts.

However, less than three years ago only those in the know in Meath Ladies football knew her name. Amongst that contingent there was excitement about the potential young superstar running amok for Dunboyne and Meath underage teams, colleges were already whispering her name and senior management were eager for her to make her way up through the ranks.

In 2019 Duggan played a more than significant role in helping Meath to a first Ladies Leinster MFC crown in 17 years.

The Dubs must be sick of the sight of her. Duggan scored 3-6 in Meath's 3-16 to 1-12 victory that day. In the final she scored 1-10 in Meath's 3-13 to 3-11 win over Kildare. Just 24 hours earlier she had scored 1-2 as Meath secured the NFL Div 3 title with victory over Sligo.

Since then Duggan's popularity and profile has gone stratospheric.

Her sensational winning goal against Cork in this year's All-Ireland SFC semi-final will go down as one of the most dramatic goals ever scored in Croke Park as she pulled Meath back from the brink of defeat.

"We are a team that have had a lot of heartbreak over the years. We know what it is like to be on the losing side, so especially after the 2019 All-Ireland final you get to a point where you are sick of losing big games and that is what drove us on in those last few minutes against Cork," she recalled.

"As competitive people we don't want to be on the wrong end of result. In the last few minutes of that game there was a lot of pride in our jersey, it all came together.

"The goal was just instinct. A lot of people talk about those last few minutes, but for us it wasn't thinking about what we were doing, it was just instinct to go and press up in those last few minutes.

"The chance came for me, I was only four yards out, so if I had missed from there I would be a bit worried. The girls around us did a lot of work that day, it just fell to me to put it in the back of the net and thankfully I did."

That wasn't Duggan's only piece of wizardry when it mattered most.

Her outlandish lob to bag Meath's goal in the All-Ireland final against Dublin cemented her legacy as a Royal legend and all at just 19-years old.

So how does she keep her feet on the ground?

"I'm pretty good at keeping my feet on the ground, but my Dad (Liam) has his part to play in that too. My friends slag me an awful lot too, so that certainly humbles you very quickly," laughed Duggan.

"Keeping your feet on the ground is very important. We have to enjoy it, but we also have to stay true to ourselves.

"There is an element that you can't control in terms of people coming up to you, that is what success has brought.

"I try to keep my head down as much as possible. You play sport for a reason, so I just want to keep working hard and keep improving all the time. I don't want to let it get to my head, but it has been brilliant.

"It certainly has been a change having people coming up to me and asking for a picture, I would never have experienced that before.

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"I used to be one of those kids who stopped people on the street for pictures, so it certainly has been a change, but it definitely isn't a bad complaint to have.

"Knowing we have had a massive impact on young kids around the country is brilliant. It is heartwarming to know that these kids are looking up to us.

"The amount of people who have come up to us and told us stories about how they had quit football, but they've gone back to the game because of us is unbelievable.

"Mothers are telling us that they can't get footballs out of their daughters’ hands, stories like that are nice to hear.

"Whether we had won or lost the All-Ireland, the stage we got to this year inspired people and it is great to think about it like that," she said.

Confident in her own ability and that of her team mates, Duggan always believed that Meath were capable of such glories - but not so quickly.

After winning the All-Ireland there were a few nights celebrating, but then her attentions turned to helping Dunboyne retain the Meath Ladies SFC, a feat they achieved last month with a 20-point final win over Seneschalstown.

So has 2021 sunk in for Duggan yet?

"No, not at all. It will probably only sink in when we finish up football for a few weeks and we get to sit down and reflect, it probably only hit us then," suggested the Dunboyne star.

"It has been a crazy few months between winning the All-Ireland and then winning the senior title again with the club, so it's been go, go go for a few months. That's not a bad way to be, but it hasn't all sunk in yet."

After winning the NFL Div 3 title in 2019, Meath's progress was stalled by Covid in 2020 just when they appeared on the brink of promotion from Div 2.

However, when the green light was given to return to action the sole focus became winning the All-Ireland IFC title in 2020 and that dream became a reality in an empty Croke Park the week before last Christmas.

Since then it's been a whirlwind. That NFL Div 2 title was eventually annexed with a Croke Park win over Kerry. Another successful day out in Croke Park secured an All-Ireland semi-final win over Cork and then came the greatest prize of all - victory over Dublin in the Ladies All-Ireland SFC final.

"Those type of things don't happen overnight. People forget the bad times we have had. The work that went in to try to put all those bad things right is huge and the fact that people now refer to us as the standard they have to get to and the belief they have to have in every player is brilliant.

"I do have to pinch myself sometimes to remind myself that I am part of this team, a team that has changed peoples mindsets and has made people realise anything is possible.

"There was every emotion under the sun at the final whistle (in the All-Ireland final). I remember myself and Aoibinn Cleary coming together at the end and wondering 'what has just happened?'

"It was absolutely amazing, I can't really sum up the feeling at the time, but it was an incredible feeling of getting over the line.

"We had a lot of belief in ourselves. Whether people outside of our group did or not didn't concern us.

"We knew we had the work done, we had a lot of momentum and we had put in a lot of good performances beating Cork and Armagh, so going into the All-Ireland we had no doubts that we could win it.

"However, when that whistle goes and you realise that you actually have done it, not only beaten Dublin, but to actually hit the pinnacle of sport, there is a sense of disbelief, but that was more in terms of the achievement of reaching that point rather than not believing we could."

So where does all that belief come from? Duggan admits the drive and hunger comes from within the group and the hard work they put in, both during lockdown and in Dunganny.

The 19-year-old also heaped huge praise on manager Eamonn Murray for bringing the coaching team together and getting the best out of the group.

"There is a lot of pain there (Dunganny), you put your body through a lot out there, but when the girls beside you are doing the exact same it makes the bond between you a lot stronger," she said.

"The relationship that we have as a team and the bond that is there has been shown, not only off the pitch, but on it this year as well. It's really, really special and I feel lucky to be a part of a group like that.

"Eamonn is the one who brought all this together. When Meath were at their lowest point, he was the one who brought his coaching team in and he brought all the players back who would have given up on Meath football.

"He started it all. Paul (Garrigan), Shane (Wall), Paddy (Dowling), Mark (Brennan), Eugene (Eivers), all those lads have come in and just taken it to a whole new level.

"The commitment and dedication that they have given to Meath football over the last year has been absolutely incredible and I don't think there is enough we can say about them to prove what they have done for us.

"They are certainly people that we will never forget and we are really, really grateful for everything that they have done for us. They have brought us all to this point, both as a team and as individuals, we really can't speak highly enough of them," concluded Duggan, who is hungrier than ever for more in 2022.