Shorty's Royals waiting in the long grass for the Dubs

It means a lot for former Allenwood and Kildare goalkeeper Shane “Shorty” McCormack to lead Meath into the TG4 LGFA All-Ireland Final against Dublin in Croke Park on Sunday but it is tinged with a little sadness because of the absence of his Dad, Michael, who passed away a couple of years ago. 

“Daddy and his best friend, Joe Murray, would have brought myself and my brother Micheál around the country to every single Kildare match from when we were five or six years of age and still to this day Joe would always be a huge supporter. He still calls into my mother, Anne, every week as well. I’m gutted that Da can’t be here for the final. Padraig Carberry in Clane School was also a huge role model for me and he sent me a nice message (after the Kerry game),” he added.

As a player, he made 16 appearances for Kildare, split evenly between the league and championship. He was a very solid presence between the posts as Kildare reached the All-Ireland semi-final in 2010 and in forever linked to that infamous Benny Coulter “square ball” goal for Down that day, quite unfairly when you consider the the goal should have been disallowed. 

“I didn’t take it well, to be honest with you. It just kind of destroyed me,” he explains. 

“From then on, it was just an horrific time for me and my family because of the abuse. I remember my Da ringing me as there were two letters sent to my house from two disgruntled fans saying not nice things and it went on for years and it turned me off,” he added. 

For one still so young McCormack has packed a lot into his coaching and management career at club and intercounty level including with Clogherinkoe and Sarsfields in Kildare, Rathvilly in Carlow and Maynooth University. 

His intercounty managerial career started with Wexford LFGA before becoming involved with Armagh and now Meath. 

In Armagh “Shorty” won two Ulster titles in a row and he managed them back to Division One. 

“After three years of travelling the journey had to end and I was going to take a year out as I got married in 2022. However, I then went for the Meath job and even though they were going through a bad patch and had lost a lot of girls I saw something in them,” he added. 

His first year in charge in Meath was “a tough one” but a change in his backroom team brought a change in fortune for  McCormack and Meath. Among those coming in was Kildare’s Wayne Freeman, the former Clare and Louth LGFA manager. 

“Tony Reilly, a former teacher of mine in Inchicore College, has always been my main man. I met Wayne a couple of times and then he came to the house with Tony and we had a whiteboard and I remember I put out my plans and his plans and we were on the same page. I said to Tony, this lad is the real deal.” 

Poor finishes to games seemed to be a problem for the Royals all through the year. 

“The Dublin game in the Leinster Final is still not sitting right with me,” McCormack says. 

“It wasn't a lack of fitness; it was just composure and game management. We sat down as a group and they were the key areas that were mentioned. The Tipperary game in the group stages was huge, we were ruthless. I think after that we realised it (the performance) was coming and we said if we can re-enact this against Kerry, we can blow them out of water.” 

Dublin will be firm favourites for the Final on Sunday but being underdogs might suit Meath best, we suggest. 

“Sure, we have always been underdogs including myself,” Shorty laughs. 

“Winning a Leinster is gone but we have a way bigger picture here to win the All-Ireland. Anything can happen on the day. We were written off all year and we were written off against Kerry but these girls thrive on that and they are chomping at the bit. We have a super Sports Psychologist in Kelley Faye, who used to be with Davy Burke in Roscommon. There will be no circus,” the Lecturer in Sports Studies in Crumlin College says.

Finally, we ask Shane how he got the name “Shorty”. 

"You’re going to laugh now," he says. 

“I was playing U10 for Allenwood School and Kieran O'Donnell from Raheens was my teacher. Himself and the late John Roddy and Da would have been great role models for me. The grass on the pitch was very long and I was a small fella playing at corner forward. At the start of the second half, I was down on my knee tying my laces and Kieran said, I just couldn't see in the long grass,” he laughs. After that all the boys called me “Shorty”.

With his daughter Lily in tow, Shane McCormack is sure to enjoy a big Kildare following as he plots the downfall of the Dubs in Croke Park on Sunday.