Meath manager Murray: ‘It will go down as one of the great days’

Meath manager Eamonn Murray said his side had to be their very best and indeed were a little “lucky” to be only three down at the break and ultimately get past Donegal in the TG4 Ladies All-Ireland SFC semi-final.

The Division 1 and All-Ireland champions came from four down to win 0-12 to 1-7 at Croke Park on Saturday.

“We were lucky,” he said, making reference to the half-time deficit of just three points with Donegal 1-3 to 0-3 ahead with Niamh McLaughlin’s penalty the difference between the sides. 

“Apart from the penalty, Donegal had a couple of very good opportunities and we could have been further down at half-time. Stacy Grimes kept us in the game with a few big frees. 

McLaughlin: 'It’ll be hard and we could see a domino effect of departures'

Nicole McLaughlin and her Donegal teammates will think long and hard about Saturday's TG4 Ladies All-Ireland SFC semi-final loss to Meath and the future of the group is uncertain - but it should never be overlooked just how far they've come

“We had some heroic performances all over the pitch. They’re all heroes as far as I’m confirmed. This one here [Emma Duggan] is a hero for life. This was a tough day, but it will go down as one of the great days.”

Meat have frequently run the gauntlet over the last two years but can draw on that experience to get themselves out of corners. In the last eight fixture against Galway they squeezed through 1-12 to 1-11 with Duggan also the star of the show.

“That’s two weeks in a row,” Murray added. “And this time last year we were six points down against Cork and we came back. Today was another nail-biter.

“When we lost Máire O’Shaughnessy we put six points up on the board. It's unbelievable. That's our best football that we played all year. The whole team was unbelievable. The first half performance was disappointing. 

“We won in the end with a change in the end and an uplift in tempo at the start of the second half. We didn’t have to tell them at all. They knew they were so flat. That’s the best we played to score six unanswered points. Like Galway last week, Donegal are an awesome team. We showed the good, the bad and ugly today.”

“What really kicked in was the hunger the desire,” Emma Duggan, who was player of the match added. “The biggest challenge this year is that we’re being watched a lot more. We’ve timed our run to perfection. We just keep coming back. Your heart is in your mouth sometimes but it shows the spirit of the group.