Galway ladies footballers facing toughest test yet

GALWAY senior ladies football manager Barry Downey believes Monaghan may be “the real deal” but insists his Tribeswomen will not be found wanting when it comes to asking questions of the Ulster champions when the sides meet in their All-Ireland semi-final at Breffni Park, Cavan on Saturday (4pm).

While both Galway and Monaghan have been impressive in their championship runs to date, the Farney County, who completed the four-in-a-row of provincial final wins over the Summer, have already been touted as the team to break Cork’s stranglehold on the Brendan Martin Cup.

No doubt, Monaghan have been superb in 2013, winning all of their seven Division 1 group games before being ambushed by Mayo in the National League semi-final in the Spring and subsequently cruising through Ulster with facile wins over Donegal and Tyrone.

“I have said all along that the team who beat Monaghan will win the All-Ireland and I still believe it. Hopefully, that team will be us,” says Downey. “So, they are a good side but we are confident we can ask questions. We are by no means cocky that we can do that but, yes, we are confident and we’ll see then how they respond to that.”

In challenge games between the two this year, Monaghan have held the upper hand but Downey notes that on those occasions, Galway had – not intentionally – shown their full hand. “We didn’t show our full hand because we were down bodies.

“However, we did see at first hand what they could do and maybe that gives us a slight advantage. Again though, they are the real deal and, you can see it yourself, they have been putting up big scores in the championship.”

That said, Galway, despite plying their trade in Division 2 of the League – where they were beaten by Kerry in the final – have also been prolific in their two championship encounters with top flight opposition. Against Mayo in the Connacht decider, they accounted for their fierce rivals 0-16 to 1-9 to secure back-to-back titles.

In the All-Ireland quarter-final, Galway upped it another notch to send Tyrone packing on a 2-20 to 2-5 scoreline, with midfielder Annette Clarke (0-5), Edel Concannon and Roisin Leonard (0-4, 0-1 free, each) and goalscorers Geraldine Conneally and Lorna Joyce leading the way. Full preview in this week’s Connacht Tribune.