What's rare is wonderful.
The quick thinking of Dublin captain Carla Rowe saw her back-heel the ball to the Galway net, giving her side a five-point lead just after extra-time had commenced in the recent All-Ireland semi-final. That moment of audacity gave the Dubs some breathing space; there would no way back for the Connacht side, despite their two late goals, in what was frenetic last-four encounter in Tullamore.
Even in association football, back-heeled goals are rare enough. One that comes to mind was the late Denis Law, then in the colours of Manchester City, applying such a finish against his former club Manchester United in 1974. There was no elation from Law; the Red Devils were heading for the old Division 2. More recently in the League of Ireland, Francely Lomboto's winning goal for Sligo Rovers against Galway United came via a back-heel.
Ahead of Sunday's TG4 All-Ireland SFC final against Meath at Croke Park, the Dubs skipper is at the Jones' Road venue to meet the media. Rowe is in good spirits and the first question, to no great surprise, concerned 'that goal'.
"Definitely not a training ground move," Rowe revealed.
"I suppose a little bit of instinct kicked in there. The ball rolled behind and I was gone in front of it and I knew if I picked it up the keeper would be on the move very quickly. So that was all I saw and just thank God it went in.
"At the time when I look back on it, it was the right thing to do, maybe! But there was that moment when I ran out (after scoring) of, 'oh my God, why did I just do that?' If it went wrong, I was in a lot of trouble. But I knew the goal was open. I knew if I connected with it well and concentrated on that one move and gave it 100% that it should go right."
11nóim Am-Breise #GALvDUB@GalwayLgfa
— Spórt TG4 (@SportTG4) July 19, 2025
0-14@dublinladiesg
2-13
CÚL! CÚL! CÚL!!!! 🤯 Críoch dochreidte ó Carla Rowe isteach san eangach!
The tension is unreal! 💯
Beo/Live ar @TG4TV @GAA_BEO @nemetontv pic.twitter.com/urIa1SHBYN
And while there was much for Dublin to mull over after reaching another All-Ireland decider, Rowe's telling improvisation was now making headlines, with one social media user renaming her Rowenaldo.
On her now unexpected brush with fame, she said: "There was a lot to kind of come down from after the Galway game in terms of our performance. So it wasn't until probably 24 hours later I looked and I think one of the girls sent me a screenshot of Twitter and I was trending number one in Ireland ahead of Rashford and Coldplay.
"This kind of puts the limelight on it. So obviously yeah, there was a bit about it afterwards. But these things don't happen too often in sport and I always think you have to just take them in and enjoy them."
Rowe has five All-Ireland medals to her name, though the journey home from Tullamore brought about the realisation that a collective improvement would be needed if a sixth success is to come her way on Sunday evening.
It took a late free, converted by Hannah Tyrrell, to force extra-time at Glenisk O'Connor Park. After Rowe's soccer-style score, Kate O'Sullivan raised another green flag, helping to secure a three-point victory for the team in blue.
A bit too close for comfort.
"That was probably the feeling on the bus on the way back, which was causing the quietness on the bus," Rowe recalled.
"I think it was probably just those moments of realisation that that could have been the season.
"I was thinking we need to keep the ball, get the ball up the pitch, and when we lost it, it was we need to get the ball back, and I think that's the kind of thing you get a lot of confidence from. We lost the ball twice in the last minute and a half, which isn't what we would pride ourselves on, but we got it back. We stuck to the process.
"We stuck in the moment, and we didn't go off thinking about, 'Oh God, we're going to lose this game', and as a collective, we all did that, which allowed us to get the ball back, and that's all that matters. It's once the ball goes over the bar, it doesn't really matter how you got to that point. It's making sure that we all stuck to it, and we stuck together.
"You take your learnings from it, and then you have to move on because this keeps rolling."
Last autumn saw long-time Dublin manager Mick Bohan step down. Paul Casey and Derek Murray, who were part of the set-up under Bohan, took over as joint-managers.
"The two lads are brilliant," says the team skipper.
"They're open to learning whatever they can. It's their first year, it's a hard task to take on a Dublin senior inter-county team in your first year, but it has been seamless and the work they've put in over this year has been phenomenal. We're back in an All-Ireland final and that's where we want to be."
Yes, Dublin back in another final, looking to regain the trophy they last won in 2023. For Casey and Murray, they have had to contend with injuries to key players throughout the season. Rowe (reoccurring calf tears), Kate Sullivan, Nicole Owens and Orlagh Nolan have all been absent for parts of the campaign, with Dublin using 30 different players so far.
Rowe missed the Leinster final win over Meath; so as to ensure she would be ready for the business end of the championship.
"We just said, you know what, for the longevity of the season, we need to get this right, so we just spent some extra time rehabbing and, touch wood, all is well," the Clann Mhuire player acknowledged.
"You lose the likes of myself or Kate or whoever it is and we've had young girls coming in and playing and playing well, and performing, and that's what we need. I would say that has really stood to us this year.
"The injuries can be seen as a bad thing and obviously they are but, for me, I feel it really underlines that whole thing of 'we have a squad who can come in and do the job on the day. They have proven that because they've had to prove it, on the pitch."
In 2021, Meath's first All-Ireland saw them account for Dublin. "Obviously a hard one to take," was how Rowe recalled that September day, but followed up with "but you have to forget about that".
In their three meetings so far this year, Dublin have had the upper hand, but their full-forward feels past performances will now count for little.
"It's All-Ireland final day. Teams come in with different energies and we know Meath have been building really nicely this year. We have that percentage in our pocket if we want to use it, but it's not going to disillusion us or anything like that. We know we need to prepare really well for Sunday."
Follow a live blog on the All-Ireland Ladies Football Championship final, Meath v Dublin, on Sunday from 4.15pm on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app. Listen to commentary on RTÉ Radio 1. Watch highlights on The Sunday Game from 9.30pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player
