Shauna Ennis: 'To be back here again in a final having lost all of those players is an impressive feat'

The thoughts of playing for Meath again had motivated her greatly throughout the darkest days of her recovery while midfielder and close friend O'Shaughnessy, 31 this year, fancied chasing a third medal too.

A few weeks later, at the start of March, just as Ennis was nearing something like her old self, O'Shaughnessy suffered the very same injury in a league game against Dublin at Parnell Park.

Fast forward to the present and O'Shaughnessy is in Ennis' thoughts as Meath and Dublin prepare to meet all over again in Sunday's TG4 All-Ireland final.

"A month in, she ended up doing her ACL," said Ennis of former All-Star O'Shaughnessy. "So that was kind of a traumatic event, to be honest. The two of us have been very good friends for a very long time and we kind of both came back to our first sessions together, I think around the first of February.

"We just said, 'Okay, we're going to have another crack at this'. And then a month later she's gone, with the ACL. For her, I was just hugely disappointed. She would be playing a massive part if it hadn't happened. I'm hugely disappointed that she's not and sad not to have her by my side as well. I suppose you have to take the good with the bad in sport, don't you?"

Back in 2021, when Meath surprised five-in-a-row chasing Dublin by beating them in that season's All-Ireland final, O'Shaughnessy was a key player.

Four years on, she isn't the only high profile player who won't be involved in Sunday's rematch.

"I could name a whole team nearly," said Ennis, referencing the various retirements and departures. "There's Niamh O'Sullivan, Emma Troy, Orlagh Lally, Orla Byrne, Orlaith Duff, Kelsey Nesbitt, Maire, there's so many, I could nearly name a whole 15 that we've lost over the last while, Bridgetta Lynch.

"To be fair, to be back here again in a final, having lost all of those players is an impressive feat. And I suppose we do still have that core group of players that have been there the whole time, like Vikki Wall and Emma Duggan and Aoibhin Cleary, Katie Newe, myself, there's a few of us still there that have definitely been around a good while.

"So I suppose it's a different team to 2021 but we still have those core players too."

Ennis went under the knife for corrective surgery on May 7, 2024 after the ACL setback. She returned to action with Meath exactly 13 months later, scoring a goal as a sub in last month's All-Ireland SFC group draw with Armagh. She has come on in each game since, contributing 1-2 in total despite being best known as a defender.

"It felt huge," said Ennis of her comeback moment. "I was lucky enough, I had one or two small setbacks but nothing huge. And then running out and playing, getting on in that game in Pairc Tailteann, it was just a really nice feeling, to know that I can still play at this level."