A Dub to the core.
The 12-point margin was tough on Mayo in the end but once the capital got a sniff of bloody, they went for the jugular and they did not let up.
It was a blitzing finish to the ladies senior final that had been a one-score game for most of it until Sarah McCaffrey and Carla Rowe decided that enough was enough and, by Jesus, they ended it cruelly with an eight-minute massacre.
Niamh McEvoy.
Cúl iontach ag @dublinladiesg & iad chun cinn anois #properfan @LadiesFootball ar @TG4TV pic.twitter.com/3dCiOqwIwk
— Spórt TG4 (@SportTG4) September 24, 2017
Sarah McCaffrey.
An é sin an buille marfach? Cúl ag @dublinladiesg & 6 pointe an bearna anois #properfan @LadiesFootball ar @TG4TV pic.twitter.com/lcAjfcfD2v
— Spórt TG4 (@SportTG4) September 24, 2017
Carla Rowe.
Cúl eile ag @dublinladiesg #properfan @LadiesFootball ar @TG4TV pic.twitter.com/iOurJsVG1j
— Spórt TG4 (@SportTG4) September 24, 2017
Sarah McCaffrey.
Agus arís! cúl ag @dublinladiesg #properfan @LadiesFootball ar @TG4TV pic.twitter.com/XVY1m9Batd
— Spórt TG4 (@SportTG4) September 24, 2017
Dublin won their first senior championship since 2010 – the county’s second ever – with a 4-11 to 0-11 win over Mayo and, with 46,286 in attendance, it really felt like there was a screw turning in ladies sport in Ireland.
It made it even better to see so many big names in the crowd taking it all in and appreciating a belter of a final as the Dubs and the ladies from out west treated the crowd to a ding-dong battle.
Dean Rock was there, speaking on TG4 before the game.
Stephen Cluxton and Philly McMahon were sitting together.
And Jack McCaffrey and James McCarthy looked to be having the time of their lives.
Jack McCaffrey enjoyed that Carla Rowe goal 😂 pic.twitter.com/cPDLrxOVRB
— GAA JOE (@GAA__JOE) September 24, 2017
The men’s team were dotted around Croke Park amongst the tens of thousands of other supporters but it was particularly special for the former footballer of the year when his younger sister rattled in her second goal of the game and her big brother? Well, he just celebrated like every big brother would.
Jack McCaffrey enjoyed that Sarah McCaffrey goal 😂 pic.twitter.com/6hygdHLEn7
— GAA JOE (@GAA__JOE) September 24, 2017
For an afternoon, it wasn’t about anything else but Dublin. And, on this afternoon, it was solely about the Dublin ladies.
They’re deserving champions who got the platform and the turnout they deserved.
And, yes, in men like Jack McCaffrey, they got all the vocal support they could’ve wanted as well.
Here’s to next year getting bigger and better again.
