In 2003 Mick Bohan stood on the line in Croke Park as Dublin lost to Mayo in the Ladies Football All-Ireland final. It was a tough day at the office but a lot of lessons have been learned since then.
Fast forward 14 years and he is back at the helm vying to claim the Brendan Martin Cup and on Sunday Mayo will again provide the opposition.
"Mayo are a good team, highly mobile highly physical," Bohan told RTÉ Sport.
"They have three or four girls who are giving it one last crack and they are coming with everything. I expect to see the two teams going at it toe to toe. I see it being a tight game and going to the wire."
Over the last decade Bohan’s coaching CV has expanded and so has his experience. He’s done several stints as a coach, learning from the likes of Jim Gavin with the Dublin footballers and Colm Collins with Clare and during that time he’s seen both the men’s and women’s games evolve.
"With the girls now they are a more athletic bunch than they were in 2003 and the conditioning has changed.
Sports science has changed too but there is still an amount of work to do there.
"Football now has got to the level hurling was at when we would have watched it 15 years ago. Back then the skill level in hurling was way higher than that in football.
"I see a dramatic change in that now particularly with the top teams. On Sunday you could see that with the lads from Dublin and Mayo, the skill levels were high and that is the way that they have spiraled.
Bohan is a renowned football coach and when it comes to the Ladies game he feels they have work to do on their skills.
"The challenge now for the Ladies Association to push those skill levels higher. The standards the girls set themselves are the same as the men.
"A lot of the coaching done at underage could have been done at a better level and therefore the skills would be a bit better and that stands to them down the track."
Dublin beating Mayo and claiming Sam Maguire on Sunday has lead to plenty of talk of the Dublin doing the double but Bohan isn’t letting the hype affect him.
"I don’t feel under pressure because of anybody else. I try to do the best I can with whatever team I can with my coaching. I have my own standards and I would be highly motivated, we are very proud of what the men have achieved but I don’t feel any pressure because of it."
The Dublin Ladies have lost three consecutive finals but have learned lesson from those defeats.
"To be fair to the girls in the last number of years they have fallen short and I don’t think they are making any excuses for that. It’s up to them to set higher standards and that’s what they have done.
"The team who scores more will win it’s as simple as that and it’s never been any different. Getting people to shoot at the right time at the right distances will be key, ultimately making sure their execution is good and defensive work too to negate the opposition."
