Emma Duggan meant it...of course she did.
Having shot the lights out in the All-Ireland semi-final against Cork, Emma Duggan has, on the biggest stage of all, picked up from exactly where she left off. To have a chance in this All-Ireland final, you felt that Meath would need to settle well and settle fast and, inspired by their 19-year-old trump card, Eamonn Murray's side got off to the perfect start in Croke Park.
The veteran Niamh O'Sullivan kicked a brilliant early score to get the Royals roaring and if they were roaring then, they were going buck mad five minutes later when Duggan did her thing. A Ciara Trant kick-out went astray and, with the goalkeeper slow to back-track towards her line, the Dunboyne sharpshooter sensed an opportunity.
What followed was a moment of ingenuity and a moment of tremendous skill as Duggan measured her lob to absolute perfection. During the week, Duggan's club manager Brendan Quinn told us he had no worries whatsoever about the teenager being overawed by the occasion. 10 minutes later, as she dummied and then struck a wonderful point to put Meath five up just before the half-time hooter, you could see exactly what he was talking about.
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