Cynical defending gave Dublin the edge

Let's get one thing straight from the outset, Dublin were deserving winners of Sunday's Ladies All-Ireland SFC.

Their creative play, movement off the ball, press on the Meath kickouts and overall dominance of possession left Meath chasing shadows and when Niamh Hetherton executed a perfect second goal in the 22nd minute to make it 2-8 to 0-2 it was game over.

The key attribute that the wily old coyotes of Dublin possess is their application of the dark arts when it comes to defending their goals.

Nine times Dublin fouled Meath in the opening half, eight of those were within their scoring zone as Meath tried to build attacks, probe for openings that might free up a goal chance to get them back into the game.

However, every time Meath looked threatening Dublin threw in a high arm, pulled a shirt, climbed on a Royal back, wrapped up illegally or did anything necessary to prevent a shot being taken or a pass completed.

Meath were also creators of their own downfall. On three occasions in the first six minutes they squandered scoring opportunities, were turned over and Dublin raced down the field towards the Davin Stand and left with a score.

The most damaging of those counter-attacks came in the seventh minute and led to Nicole Owens' goal.

Had Meath taken those three scoring opportunities that resulted in turnovers and subsequent scores, then Dublin might not have hit 1-2 in that opening spell - but then again if is a very big word in sport.

What was even more frustrating from a Meath perspective was that Dublin's defensive plan was simple. Be first to the ball and if they weren't first they were to foul the Meath player and deny them the opportunity to create goal chances.

That happened on at least eight occasions in the opening half and while referee Gus Chapman awarded frees for the most part, he didn't punish the repeat offenders with yellow cards and the cynical play was allowed to continue.

If that type of illegal defending happened in rugby, the 'next player to foul' would have been issued with a yellow card and the offending team would be down a player for 10 minutes.

If the referee had applied the same logic after Dublin's third, or even fourth, cynical foul, then that might have softened the Dubs cough when it came to their underhand defensive tactics.

But there's that big word, IF, again.

Instead Dublin were allowed to get away with their cynical play and every time Meath looked like building momentum they were stopped in their gallop.

It can be argued that Meath could have deployed the same tactic and tested the referee's resolve, but that's the difference between the Meath of now and this Dublin team.

It was a case of cynical, effective defending from Dublin versus the naivety of youth from Meath.

The loss of Katie Newe to injury was massive. Granted Shane McCormack was able to bring in two-time All-Ireland SFC winning captain Shauna Ennis for her first start of the season, but the Na Fianna player wasn't ready for 60 minutes and would have been more impactful as a second-half sub.

Dublin pulled and dragged the Meath defence into spaces and areas of Croke Park they didn't want to be in and then when they broke from the back they did so with such power and pace that the Royal rearguard were on their heels throughout.

It was a tough opening half defensively for Meath. They did improve after the break and 'only' lost the second-half by a point from a Carla Rowe free with the last kick of the game after the hooter.

By then Meath's race was run.

Their attacking ploy of off the shoulder support play lacked enough penetration in the opening half and it took until the 35th minute for Emma Duggan to stroke over a first point from play.

Vikki Wall, Ciara Smyth and Aoibhin Cleary added scores from play as Meath enjoyed more luck against the Dublin defence, although the winners did add another 14 frees to their fouls against tally after the break.

Ultimately the stats don't lie.

Dublin scored 18 times from their 24 shots, were 100% from placed balls, won 13 of their 17 kickouts and turned Meath over 22 times.

Meath's shot return was only 47% (10/21). They scored just six of their nine efforts from placed balls and were only on 33% shot return for efforts from play.

They did have enough possession and chances. Robyn Murray found a team mate with 82% of her kickouts, but Dublin were clinical. Despite having only three more shots than Meath, they scored eight more times and two of those were the crucial goals that left Meath with too much to do.

Just as Kerry did in the men's final and Tipperary did in the hurling final, Dublin brought their A game to the biggest stage.

Hannah Tyrrell received a standing ovation as she hobbled off injured before the end. Sinead Goldrick also picked up a knock and Nicole Owens might be calling it a day after this.

This was possibly the last hurrah for this aging Dublin side who had eight players 30 years old or more in their starting line up as opposed to Meath who only had 31 year old Shauna Ennis over the age of 28 in their starting team.

Cleary and Vikki Wall's duties in Australia might deprive Meath of their captain and their best player for next year, but with a talented bunch of two-time Leinster u-20 FC winners coming through, the future is bright for Meath and the experience gained in this glorious summer will stand to them.