Galway ladies set to rule province again

STEPHEN GLENNON

THE game is afoot for Galway ladies footballers as they bid to claim a fourth consecutive Connacht senior title when they travel to face old rivals Mayo in the lioness’ den of McHale Park, Castlebar on Sunday (4pm).

No doubt, Galway have been one of the form teams this year so far, reaching the league final where they were agonisingly beaten by a single point in the replay by the reigning All-Ireland champions, Cork. They have waited seven weeks to put that result behind them.

“It is a long wait but things have gone grand since the league final. We have been training away and there has also been club championship. So, we are looking forward to it,” says Galway boss Kevin Reidy, who is no stranger to Mayo ladies having managed them for a period.

The injury news is that defender Fabienne Cooney, who started five of Galway’s league games, is out with a damaged knee, while captain Geraldine Conneally is also in a race to be fit with a similar ailment. Dunmore forward Lucy Hannon is in trouble with a back injury as well.

On the plus side, their spiritual leader Annette Clarke and forward Roisin Leonard have returned to training from injury in recent weeks. Clarke hurt her ankle in the league final replay while Leonard damaged her ankle earlier in the year playing O’Connor Cup football for University of Limerick (UL).

At any rate, Galway should still be strong when they take the field on Sunday. Johanna Connolly, who manned the posts in nine of Galway’s 10 league fixtures, is the front-runner for the No. 1 jersey. In defence, Emer Flaherty, Sarah Gormally, Aine Seoighe, Nicola Ward and Sinead Burke were the county’s most prominent defenders in the league and should see action here again.

Amazingly, only three of those backs played in last year’s Connacht final – Ward, Flaherty and Burke – as full-back Maireád Coyne has been juggling her Gaelic football and rugby commitments; Orla Dixon has been abroad studying; and Rebecca McPhilbin has retired.

Midfield has been a movable feast for Galway in 2015 with Louise Ward, Patricia Gleeson, Clarke, Conneally and Maria Hoey all spending time in this sector. The formation of this pairing will impact on the attack, as all of these have the versatility to play further up the field.

That said, Galway will look to the talented Tracey Leonard, who racked up an astonishing 8-35 in the league (8-28 from play) to lead the inside lines while Barbara Hannon – who was Galway’s top ball handler in last year’s decider – and Olivia Divilly should also feature.

Full preview in this week’s Connacht Tribune.