‘These girls never stop working hard and they never give in.’

If anyone had suggested that Meath would be going into a Ladies Leinster SFC final against Dublin with a solid chance after significant league losses against Kerry, Armagh and Galway, you would have pointed the men in white coats in their direction.

However, manager Shane McCormack and his Meath side have shown tremendous growth over the last few games with very good wins over Cork, Kildare, and Laois.

McCormack tried out a very experimental side against Dublin in a dead rubber game at the weekend in Parnell Park. It was a good opportunity for some players to earn game time when the big day rolls around this Sunday. McCormack was delighted with the way his players performed and explained how giving these girls an opportunity like that can only be beneficial for Meath ladies football.

“Firstly, I’m extremely proud of the girls that went out there today. I think 16 girls made their championship debut today which is huge. It's huge for Meath ladies football," he told the Meath Chronicle.

"Of course, Dublin were very strong out there today. We gave a good few girls an opportunity there today and they were exceptional. Dublin got off to a flying start but we never stopped, we kept on battling.

"They only scored a handful of points in the second half. Our girls really stood up today, there were plenty of All-Ireland champions in that Dublin team. Our girls never stopped working. As a management team, that’s all we can ask for. At the end of the day, the whole point was to give girls an opportunity at this level. That game is done now and there are certainly jerseys up for grabs for next weekend.” said McCormack.

Some would say Dublin played their hand last weekend and fielded quite a decent team from the get-go. There was a lot of inexperience within the Meath team at Parnell Park and that showed on the scoreline. It does mean however that Meath are still relatively unexposed heading into this weekend's clash at Croke Park.

McCormack spoke about how his side will be keen to give it everything this weekend and won't walk away from the clash feeling like they could have given more.

“We set out at the start of the year and our goal was to get to the Leinster final. We achieved that with a game to spare. This week is all about getting ourselves ready. You can see the girls there today, they know they have been beaten, but they left everything on the field. That’s what we will be doing next week again. We will give it everything we have.”

Since having a dip in form midway through the league, The Meath ladies have seen a significant improvement in results. There is more energy being injected onto the field and McCormack puts that down to the hard work that the girls have put in on and off the pitch.

“You need to get game time into girls but it's all about performances as well. I keep saying that I am extremely proud of these girls. I mean it because these girls never stop working hard and they never give in.”

Meath will be looking to win their first Leinster title since 2000. It is hard to believe with all that his side achieved, the title eluded Eamon Murray during his reign, but McCormack seems to be confident that his side can finally end the 24-year wait for Leinster glory this Sunday.

“We are really looking forward to Croke Park. We said at the start of the year that our goal was to get to the Leinster final and we have achieved that now. Now we have to go out and win it. Absolutely, 100 percent we can win that Leinster Final next week, there is no doubt in my mind about that. The girls that played today have put themselves in the conversation for selection for next week as well. A few of them put their hands up and I just couldn’t be happier with them.” Regardless of whether or not Meath come out on the right side of Sunday's Leinster final. The progress that McCormack has made with this side since those heavy defeats in the league really is remarkable.

Yet it is clear that McCormack believes that his side can complete the unbelievable turnaround in such a short space of time with a win against Dublin and a first Leinster title since the four-in-a-row back in the late '90s/ early 2000s.