'Jesus, how did this happen?': Cork shocked by late Meath rally

Cork's Doireann O'Sullivan argues for late free. Picture: INPHO/Ryan Byrne

There was only one starting point for the Cork post-mortem, and that was their inability to safeguard a seven-point lead with three minutes of regulation time remaining.

Manager Ephie Fitzgerald said his side endured “a bit of a meltdown” during this game-changing period, likening Meath’s comeback to Manchester United’s 1999 Champions League final smash-and-grab win.

“It reminded me of Bayern Munich and United. I said to myself on the corridor there, ‘Jesus, how did this happen?’ because it is very hard to say,” remarked a visibly disappointed Cork boss.

He reckoned his players may have tried to be a bit too safe when attempting to protect their seemingly unassailable lead late in the second half.

“Their first goal probably panicked us a small little bit and maybe that led to a small little bit more panic,” he said. “Certainly, from the point of view of game management, you’d have to argue that we should have done better. But we didn’t and Meath are now in the final and congratulations to them.

“We were seven up with five or six minutes to go and they kicked a couple of nice scores, but I thought we were comfortable. Maybe we got a little bit more defensive psychologically and there was an attitude of ‘we’ll hold onto what we have’. But when you concede two goals like that, it is a killer. We scored 2-10, that’s fair scoring against a defensive outfit like theirs. We dealt with their defensive game quite well, it was just the finishing-off of the game that caught us.”

Fitzgerald rued Cork’s several missed chances late in the second period of extra time and said he “felt sorry” for Eimear Scally, who missed a 78th-minute free to tie proceedings, given the “fantastic” work she put in.

“We had so many chances to equalise. I said to Paddy O’Shea [selector] with a minute or two to go, that ‘I don’t think it is going to be our day’ and that is the way it worked out, but it wasn’t from the lack of effort.”

Fitzgerald said he has given no thought to whether he will continue for a seventh season in charge. “We’ll see how things go over the next while. They are a great bunch. It was another learning experience for them. If you look at the Dublins, they would manage that game and they would finish it out. That comes with experience. We probably could have kicked the ball out over the line for their last goal. These things happen.”