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18 | SPRING 2021 | www.ladiesgaelic.ie By Jackie Cahill T G4 All-Ireland Final day. December 20, Croke Park, 2020. The most bittersweet of days for Meath defender Sarah Wall. Just 11 minutes have elapsed when Wall is carried off with a serious knee injury. At full-time, a hobbling Wall is back out on the pitch to celebrate Meath's victory over Westmeath, with the heartbreak of Final losses in 2018 and 2019 finally banished. Wall knew that she was in trouble when she sustained her knee injury. Now 20, she had just turned 17 and was in action for her secondary school at the time, St Peter's Dunboyne, at a Dublin City University blitz when she suffered cruciate knee ligament damage to her left knee. "We were in a 7-a-side semi-final," Wall remembers. "We were trying to do a blanket defence against a very good team. I went like the clappers, a girl ran past me, I planted me knee but when I turned, my knee didn't come with me." Wall donned a protective boot to enable her to travel to China on a school trip shortly after but she couldn't bend her knee "more than 10 degrees." She knew she was in trouble and a scan upon returning home confirmed the dreaded news. Wall was out for a full year after that, rehabbing under the watchful eye of renowned physio Barry McEntee. That patience stood "IF WE DON'T TURN UP AND PLAY LIKE WE CAN, WE'LL GO BACK DOWN" Meath's Sarah Wall talks about her last few years and what awaits Meath Ladies in Senior Football. Wall in good stead as she was fast-tracked onto the county's adult panel after returning from injury in early 2018. And so while diagnosed with cruciate knee ligament damage to her right knee was a tough pill to swallow for Wall, at least she knows the road ahead. Not that that makes the journey any easier – quite the opposite, in fact. She's back working with McEntee and hitting those short term goals that will add up to the bigger picture. "That's what Barry and I have been talking about – week to week, doing something that I wasn't doing last week, and taking that as my achievement," Wall explains. "But this one is tougher – the first few weeks were much tougher. I struggled with that before eventually processing it." Due to the Christmas break, it was January 5 before Wall received a full diagnosis. In the back of her head, however, she knew. Still, she allowed herself to enjoy the festive celebrations. The way Wall saw it, there was no point being down about things when Meath had just won an All- Large image: Sarah Wall of Meath walks out with her team ahead of throw in, during TG4 All-Ireland Ladies Football Intermediate Championship Final match against Tipperary inset: Sarah Wall of Meath leaves the field on a medical cart after picking up an injury. INTERVIEW