Meath hoping to stun Tipperary in Croke Park

The weight of expectation is very firmly on Tipperary’s shoulders as Meath bid to stun them and claim the Ladies All-Ireland IFC title for the first time at Croke Park on Sunday.

Despite being seen as most peoples second favourites for top honours this year, the stark reality of the 2019 IFC for Meath is that Tipperary have been overwhelming favourites to claim the crown ever since they were relegated from senior in 2018.
That favouritism has been justified in this year’s campaign as Shane Ronayne’s side have marched through Munster and strolled through the group stages of the All-Ireland to set up Sunday’s showdown.
That path to Sunday’s All-Ireland final already took Tipperary straight through Meath when the sides met in the opening game of the round-robin All-Ireland series as the Munster champions slammed the Royals for six.
The general consensus from those supposedly in the know is that Meath will do well to keep the ball kicked out to Tipperary next Sunday.
However, on such presumptions teams have floundered before - especially against Meath.
The formbook suggests Tipperary will have it easy, but as any team that has faced Meath this year will testify the Royals don’t play their games on the pages of a formbook, they do their talking on the field.
Tipperary are rightly considered favourites for the All-Ireland IFC crown. They beat the mighty Cork in their own back yard of Pairc Ui Rinn in NFL Div 1. They held the all-conquering Dubs to single figures in the points tally (although they did ship six goals) and there was very little between them and Galway.
However, the signs also point to an inconsistency about Tipperary and it is that fragility that Meath will hope to exploit next Sunday.
For all their decent showings in NFL Div 1 Tipperary lost out to Westmeath and only managed to scrap by Monaghan with a point to spare. Those type of performances will give Meath hope.
Also Tipperary’s three games against Clare, two in the Munster IFC and one in the All-Ireland quarter-final, will give Meath plenty of reason for optimism.
While Tipperary were comfortable against the Banner in the Munster final, they only had three points to spare in their first meeting and then scraped through by two points in the All-Ireland quarter-final.
That slugglish display in the last eight was followed by another below-par performance against Sligo in the All-Ireland semi-final. 
If that game against Sligo is to be used as the yardstick then Meath can look at their 13-point win over the Connacht side in the NFL Div 3 final as a pointer as to how close they can go.
Tipperary are a class outfit and in Aisling Moloney and Aisling McCarthy they have two of the country’s finest players, but Meath have their threats too.
Vikki Wall is playing the football of her life at the moment and when on top form she too is regarded as one of the top players in the country.
The precocious talent of Emma Duggan, the goal threats of Kelsey Nesbitt, Fiona O’Neill and Bridgetta Lynch and the incessant work rate of Orla Byrne all make Meath a potent force.
Add in the fact that Stacey Grimes is back on board after a summer in the US and it is easy to see where Meath get their belief from.
Defensively Meath have also been very sound. Shauna Ennis faces the toughest job in ladies football trying to contain the exceptional Moloney, but as a unit if Meath can limit the supply to the Tipperary danger player then they will be well on their way towards victory.
In Monica McGuirk Meath have the finest goalkeeper in the country, bar no-one. 
McCarthy is Tipperary’s other star turn so captain Maire O’Shaughnessy and her midfield partner, most likely, Sarah Wall or Aoibhin Cleary will have their hands full, but that trio are more than capable.
Niamh Gallogly has also returned from her travels to help bolster the panel and with the pain of last year’s final defeat driving them on, Meath will certainly believe that they can climb those steps again for the first time since 1994.