7 days ago
Nadine Doherty: All-Ireland race might be open but the quality is on a downward arc
This year, ladies football has gone backwards and become very difficult to watch, so when looking ahead to next weekend's semi-finals I was immediately drawn back to the last team in each county to win the All-Ireland. Their predecessors all played a type of uninhibited and entertaining football that has been eroded from our game.
Galway's 2004 team included the brilliance of Niamh Fahy, Annette Clarke, Lisa Cohill, Ruth Stephens and Niamh Duggan, between them it's unlikely they ever passed a ball backwards. Dublin 2023, the most impressive of Mick Bohan's six titles due to the loss of so much experience from previous years, their hunger and drive easily dispatched of Kerry in the final. Meath 2022, managed to achieve the unachievable by winning back-to-back titles and dispel the notion that they had been lucky to win one while playing a ferociously-paced brand of football.
