Mick Bohan: Meath have the most organised defensive structure I’ve seen

Dublin manager Mick Bohan is fully alert to the talents of Meath ahead of Sunday's TG4 All-Ireland Ladies SFC final in Croke Park (4.15).

While Bohan's side have won the last four All-Ireland titles and on Sunday will be playing in their eighth final in a row following their semi-final victory over Mayo, Meath have emerged very impressively in recent years and shocked favourites Cork in their semi-final.

Croke Park has been the venue for several victories for the 'underdog' team in recent weeks and Dublin will be doing the utmost to make sure Sunday does not add another one in the upsets column.

"They (Meath) have got the most organised defensive structure that I’ve ever seen and even when they conceded their scores they didn’t change,” said Dublin manager Mick Bohan.

“It’s exciting. Obviously while there wouldn’t be a huge rivalry between the two in women’s football, there's a huge rivalry purely on the basis of the border (neighbouring counties).

"From a management point of view, Meath’s win meant work for us. And lots of work.

“And we had to do that work quickly because we had nothing on Meath. We knew very little about them," added Mick, as Dublin have not faced Meath in championship action since 2016.

“Over the years, you build up material on all the counties that you meet. You keep adding to it, but we had no stuff on Meath.

“It meant a very busy three or four days for us. Trying to get the information, looking back on games, picking out key players.

“But we welcome that. It’s new. It’s fresh. It’s a new challenge for us. And new challenges are what motivates a team.

“In ladies’ football, there hasn’t been that same rivalry between Dublin and Meath as there has been in the men’s game. But the counties are just over the border from each other, so the traditional rivalry is there and it’s exciting.

“We will be very mindful of Meath and how they will set up. We will be conscious of their structure and how they will approach it.

“But, at the same time, the big thing for us is that we have our own style of play. We place a lot of pride in our attacking style of play. Equally, we have pride in how we defend.

“There’s nowhere like Croke Park for finding open spaces. No better pitch . So we’ll embrace that. As best as we can,” added Mick.

Dublin have injury concerns over Carla Rowe, Niamh McEvoy and Siobhan McGrath ahead of Sunday's duel at GAA headquarters.

---------------------------------------------

2021 TG4 All-Ireland Junior Championship Final

Sunday September 5

Antrim v Wicklow – Croke Park, Dublin, 11.45am – Live on TG4 and worldwide on the TG4 Player: https://www.tg4.ie/sruthtg4/peilnamban.php

2021 TG4 All-Ireland Intermediate Championship Final

Sunday September 5

Westmeath v Wexford – Croke Park, Dublin, 1.45pm – Live on TG4 and worldwide on the TG4 Player: https://www.tg4.ie/sruthtg4/peilnamban.php

2021 TG4 All-Ireland Senior Championship Final

Sunday September 5

Dublin v Meath – Croke Park, Dublin, 4.15pm – Live on TG4 and worldwide on the TG4 Player: https://www.tg4.ie/sruthtg4/peilnamban.php