'I wasn't in good form for a few months after. You're so close to the players'
IN THE WAKE of their second All-Ireland final defeat in a row, Meath ladies manager Eamonn Murray was ready to quit.
Tyrone slammed six goals past them the first day out in Croke Park to become the 2018 intermediate champions. And now Tipperary were muscling past to take the crown by five points. The summit was falling further and further from view.
He didn’t want this job when it was first offered to him. Murray, who had been happily immersed in the underage structures for the past 15 years, wanted to continue working with the Meath minors. He tried to repel the charms of then Meath chairman Fearghal Harney before eventually giving in. He took the reins in 2017, bringing the highly-rated coach Paul Garrigan along with him.
Languishing in Division 3 at the time, only Fermanagh would agree to a challenge match. Squad morale was low. Only the promise of a two-week trial was enough to persuade players to buy in to his vision. Goalkeeper Monica McGuirk had just finished up playing soccer in the Women’s National League when Murray came calling.
“Players were sick of me ringing them every week,” he says looking back at the building blocks of a modern dynasty in ladies football. Two Brendan Martin Cups and a Division 1 title would be the pick of his achievements as Meath manager.
But in this moment, after two All-Ireland intermediate final defeats, he couldn’t shake the self-doubt. Perhaps it was time to allow someone else take over and complete the mission.
A conversation with his four daughters rinsed the despair out of his mind. They reminded him of how far Meath had travelled under his watch.
“‘You’ve done the hard work. Don’t leave now,’” they told him.
It was just the tonic he needed to launch a third attack from the trenches. And by the end of a pandemic-affected 2020 season, Meath were finally All-Ireland intermediate champions. A day to remember as they defeated Westmeath by 2-17 to 4-5 just shortly before Christmas.
Murray had some concerns about the four goals they conceded that day, but the work needed to tighten their defensive shape would soon follow. For now, Meath could enjoy their breakthrough success. The extra few percent they were missing was rooted in a fitness plan devised by their strength and conditioning coach Eugene Eivers.
During the days when collective training was prohibited, girls from the same parish paired up to complete the runs together.
“I just couldn’t believe the time they’re doing at the end of that,” Murray adds. “When we came back after Covid, our girls were in super shape. We knew we were going to win it. We conceded a lot of goals, and we said to ourselves, ‘We’re never going to concede that many goals again,’ and we didn’t.
“We kept getting players in as well, and changing the team. I remember being in Croke Park against Tyrone and I looked at the physique they had compared to ours. We just upped that end of things.”
The momentum of that victory propelled Meath to even greater heights in 2021. Facing a Dublin team aiming to complete an All-Ireland five in a row, Murray’s Royals prevailed to conquer the top tier of ladies football. They defended their title the following year when Kerry were the challengers.
And through it all, they honoured that promise to curtail the number of goals conceded. Dublin failed to score any goals in the 2021 final. And while the now retired Louise Ní Mhuircheartaigh scored a goal for Kerry the following year, Niamh O’Sullivan, Emma Troy and Bridgetta Lynch clattered the Kingdom net.
Meath’s intermediate celebrations were understandably curtailed by the pandemic but no such barrier interfered with the parties that followed their senior triumphs.
“It was a strange feeling heading back to Navan that night with about 20 people watching us there,” Murray says referring to the afters of their 2020 decider.
“We went upstairs to the hotel with masks on, had a dinner at two or three pints of Guinness and home at 10 o’clock.
”Move forward to next year when we won senior and some of the girls didn’t get home for a week.”
Murray stepped down as Meath manager shortly after the 2022 season. At the time, it seemed that his exit was partly motivated by the Vikki Wall and Orlagh Lally’s decision to take up offers in the AFLW. But others were departing too.
Paul Garrigan and Eugene Eivers switched backroom teams in Meath to work under the then men’s senior manager Colm O’Rourke. Aoibheann Leahy, Emma Troy and Kelsey Nesbitt were all stepping away, and Murray felt a rebuild would be too much. Everything was coming to a natural conclusion.
“It wasn’t easy. My gosh, it broke my heart. I wasn’t in good form for a few months after. You’re so close to the players.
“Some of them I was with since they were 16. They are part of your family. You spend more time with them than they do with their own family.”
Switching from mentor to supporter has been an interesting process for Murray. The calmness he brought to the sideline has been replaced by the sound of his voice cheering the team on. He can’t help but compare his management style with that of the current boss Shane McCormack, but he accepts that as a natural part of the transition.
He was thrilled to see his former side finally get the better of their 2022 All-Ireland final opponents Kerry in this year’s semi-final after two consecutive championship defeats.
And he looked on with furious confusion at some of the decisions given against Vikki Wall. Her sin-bin against Kildare in the All-Ireland series was a major talking point as she was adjudged to have fouled Claire Sullivan when many felt the decision should have gone in Wall’s favour. Like others, Murray feels she is mistreated by match officials on account of her superior strength.
“It’s one of my most frustrating things to watch.
“There’s no other girl or man or person in the country that has to hold their hands up in the air when attacking someone. She has to hold her hands up now in a tackle so the referee sees clearly she’s not using her hands.
“She’s almost too big for the rules. It’s very hard to change directions coming at her speed. And players are out there saying, ‘I’ll stop Vikki Wall.’ Every team has a few players trying to stop her. And they’re not trying to stop her legally but they get away with it.”
Murray has coached Wall since her underage days, and has marvelled at her physical transformation as she moved up the grades.
“She never left the gym, and she was running day and night. That’s what she does. You rarely see her injured. She’s an example to every young player in the country. And she’s probably one of the easiest players I’ve ever managed. She never complained.
“She’s the ultimate team player. I think she really brought on Emma Duggan, her clubmate as well. Emma was very lucky to have her there at the time. The both of them get on very well and play very well together.
“The lift that gives the Meath team when she gets the ball.”
There’s no regrets about not being part of the Meath management team that has guided the Royals back to an All-Ireland final. He’s happy to be a full-time fan. His family were glued to Meath’s progress when Murray was in charge and remain full invested this weekend for another trip to Croke Park. It was their intervention that convinced him to stay when all he wanted to do was quit.
A familiar foe awaits on the other side of the line, and just like in 2021, they’re considered outsiders against Dublin. Murray knows how well Meath are suited to the underdog tag.
“We’ve always told them that you should always feel like you’re an underdog.
“They’re on a great roll and to beat the All-Ireland champions as well, that has to mean something. I’m sure it’ll be well worth watching.
“I’d advise anybody who loves football and sports to go and watch it because there will be plenty of excitement to watch.”
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