Improving Meath have grown with every game but Dublin's firepower will probably be enough
Whatever this final throws up, it's difficult to imagine either side will have many surprises for the other. This will be Dublin and Meath's fourth meeting of the season – once in the league, twice in the Leinster championship and now in the
All-Ireland final
. Can't be too many rabbits stowed away in hats waiting for their moment.
The question is, how relevant is the fact that Dublin won all three previous encounters? Or indeed the fact that Meath have lost each of their last five meetings, by an average of 13 points a game? On the bare numbers, none of that bodes well for the underdogs here.
But there is no question that the Meath team heading for Croke Park is an entirely different outfit to the one that started the year in such unimpressive form. They lost to Kildare in the league and took a hiding in Parnell Park in March. In the provincial championship, they coughed up a nine-point lead over Kildare in May to just about squeeze through to the final by one. Nobody was predicting an All-Ireland final back then.
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All-Irelands are all about timing though. Over the past couple of months, Meath have hit their groove and rediscovered some of the form that made them back-to-back champions in 2021 and '22. The Leinster final showed a few stirrings and they grew with every game in the championship, dealing with Armagh, Kildare and Tipperary on their way to the All-Ireland semi-final.
The game against Kerry a fortnight ago was their most complete display of the year and gives this final a different complexion. If they can reproduce it against Dublin – particularly in terms of going after the opposition kick-out – then we have a 50-50 game on our hands.
Meath's Emma Duggan in action against Kerry's Eilís Lynch during the All-Ireland semi-final. Photograph: Tom O'Hanlon/Inpho
For their part, Dublin have done as Dublin do. Their passage to yet another final has been mostly serene, with the obvious exception of the last day against Galway. They rolled through Leinster and though there was a sticky endgame against Waterford when they needed a late equaliser, they demolished Cork in the quarter-final.
Coming through the epic semi-final against Galway was huge. Not alone did it right the wrong of the 2024 quarter-final against the same opponents, it was a signature win for the management team of Paul Casey and Derek Murray in their first season. Though it probably seemed a bit crass for the TG4 cameras to keep cutting to the lone figure of Mick Bohan on the terrace in Tullamore, the shadow of his astonishingly successful eight years over the team is unavoidable.
There's only one way for Casey and Murray to escape it, of course. You win your own All-Ireland, you write your own story. Whether they can do so here might not be a whole lot more complicated than how they got about keeping Vikki Wall and Emma Duggan under wraps. The likelihood is that Leah Caffrey will pick up Duggan and Sinead Goldrick could be detailed to attach herself to Wall, with Martha Byrne floating around the Dublin defence as a kind of all-purpose problem-solver.
Galway's Sarah Ní Loingsigh with Dublin's Leah Caffrey during the All-Ireland semi-final. Photograph: Tom O'Hanlon/Inpho
At the other end, Meath look to be without Katie Newe, who limped off in the semi-final and was seen on crutches afterwards. Mary Kate Lynch will probably take up Hannah Tyrrell but although Kate Sullivan might not have as high a profile as her Dublin strike partner, she has racked up 5-11 on the way to the final and her speed can be devastating.
Can Meath stay in the game to bring it down the stretch? Dublin look to have more guns, particularly off the bench, but for all their firepower and courage in a pinch, the truth is Galway really should have beaten them in normal time the last day. So although they are worthy favourites, Dublin aren't a cast-iron certainty here.
They will probably see it out, when all comes to all. But Meath's record in All-Ireland finals is two wins from two and another one here would be no shock.
Verdict:
Dublin.
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