'Dublin were a little bit hungrier' - Meath manager reflects on slow start to All-Ireland final

Meath Manager Shane McCormack during the team huddle after the game. Pic: ©INPHO/Leah Scholes.

Meath manager Shane McCormack clung to the positives after a punishing day at Croke Park. And there were some positives despite the double-digit, dozen point defeat to the old enemy.

"We had 16 new girls onto the panel from last year and this year," said the Kildare man and former Armagh manager.

"I think nine girls got their first ever senior start in an All-Ireland final today, so there are a lot of positives. Those things are healthy, and the U-20s winning the Leinster title the other night as well. That's all very positive for Meath ladies football."

The former Kildare goalkeeper still bore the look of a soldier just back from war as he considered events on the field.

"I'm just gutted for the girls, to be honest," he said. "We were always doubted, even at the start of the year before a ball was thrown in. And that was to even get to a quarter-final.

"But we believed within our circle that we could achieve it. We played Dublin three times this year before today. We got a 16-point trimming in the league which wasn't good and we sat down that week and had a chat among ourselves and we kind of worked on different tactics.

"And in fairness to the girls, obviously we lost to Dublin in the Leinster final but we were gutted that day because Dublin got the last eight points without reply from us.

"So coming into today's game, we knew what they could do and what we wanted to do but unfortunately the game was nearly over at half-time.

"In fairness to our girls, they battled to the end. I think we were 11 down at half-time. In the second-half, I was pretty pleased that we came out of the blocks quickly enough. We lost the second-half by a point. But overall just gutted for the girls because they're a fantastic bunch."

Did Meath simply freeze in those opening 23 minutes? Because from then on, they actually outscored Dublin by 0-8 to 0-7.

"Dublin were a little bit hungrier, to be honest," responded McCormack, reflecting on how they ran up a 2-9 to 0-2 lead.

"In the first five or 10 minutes, they hit the ground running. There were a few passes that went astray with our girls.

"Obviously if the goal chances went in...I'm not saying it would have changed the result but we would have been in a different position at half-time. It's very hard going in at half-time in an All-Ireland final when you're 11 points down."