Meath belief never wavered, says captain Cleary

Meath captain Aoibhín Cleary says the Royals “never wavered” after past disappointing performances as they now get set to line-out in another Ladies All-Ireland SFC final this weekend.

After dethroning Kerry with a 2-12 to 1-9 victory in Tullamore last Saturday week, Shane McCormack’s side are gearing up for their county’s third Brendan Martin Cup decider in five years as they take on Dublin this Sunday at Croke Park (4.15pm).

The derby showdown is a repeat of the 2021 final, which the Royals won by 1-11 to 0-12, and skipper Cleary knows that Meath will need to take things “up a notch” if they are to achieve the same outcome at headquarters in three days’ time.

"We've had ups and downs, some good performances and some very disappointing performances," she told RTE Sport.

"Even after all those losses the belief never wavered. We looked at what need to be fixed; the work ethic and the culture that we do have in the group is brilliant. Everyone put the head down and worked on what we needed to work on.

"Over the year we have got to a point where we've been more consistent in our performance, particularly in the last few games. But we'll have to take that up a notch going into the All-Ireland final."

She added: "There definitely has been a great buzz and energy in the county with the lads going on such a great journey and I think we fed off each other's energy."