Meath's Mary Kate Lynch swearing by gum shields after last summer's All-Ireland semi-final ordeal

Over the last couple of years, Mary Kate Lynch has been a defensive lynchpin for a Meath side that have won the last two All-Ireland titles.

So it was something of a change of scenery to find herself venturing forward deep into opposition territory against Donegal early in the Lidl National League campaign.

The full-back was about 25 metres out and decided to have a crack at the posts. The shot did not vault the crossbar, instead dipping beneath it, lobbing goalkeeper Aoife McColgan and hitting the back of the net for a rare goal and in what, crucially, proved to be Meath's only win in this year's league.

"I got asked an awful lot, did I actually mean that shot. Look, I didn't exactly mean the goal," admitted at the announcement of AIG's extension as Insurance Partner to the LGFA for a new five-year term.

"You know what, our management would always say if we ever get an opportunity to go forward, go forward, I said that day I might as well keep going and took the shot. I got lucky in the end that it dropped short."

But last summer in the All-Ireland semi-final against the same opponents, there was a moment when being out of position on the field ended up with her sustaining an injury that could have threatened her hopes of playing in the final.

"Thirty seconds from the end of the All-Ireland semi-final, I'd an awful collision," she recalled.

"I suppose I was out of position when it happened and I was actually scrambling back to full-back from the midfield and half-back area, and I went to tackle and Niamh Hegarty went to dummy me and come back in, and her head went straight into my lip. The only thing that really saved me now was my gum shield.

"If I didn't have my gum shield on my two front teeth, bottom teeth and the whole lot