Skipper Leonard sets sights on some overdue silverware

GALWAY ladies football captain Tracey Leonard believes it’s about time the Tribeswomen secured a bit of silverware and took a major trophy back across the Shannon ahead of Sunday’s Division 1 league final against Cork at Parnell Park.

Five times the Tribeswomen have reached this stage in the league, only to come up short each time dating all the way back to 1979 against Tipperary. Three of those losses have come against Sunday’s opposition Cork, most recently after a replay in 2015 and for Leonard and her teammates, victory on Sunday is crucial.

Not only is it crucial in terms of setting the record straight and securing a first Division 1 league crown but also ahead of championship, to be considered a real threat to the ‘big two’ of the Rebelettes and Dublin.

“I definitely think Galway need a bit of silverware,” the Corofin attacker said. “There’s been no silverware in Galway since we won a Division 2 league title back in 2014. But I think as a group we need to get our hands on silverware.

“We haven’t beaten the Cork’s or Dublin’s in a big decider. It’s grand beating them in a league stage or whatever but when crunch time comes, now’s the time you want to beat Cork. They’ll be going hammer and tongs for it as well so we want to match that. It’s been thrown around there that we are a top team but I don’t think we have really proved that we are a top team until we beat them on a big day.”

The first stage in the quest for obtaining silverware is reaching the decider and that’s not something Galway have always achieved when opportunity knocked in recent times. Last year they were beaten at the semi-final stage in both league and championship by reigning All-Ireland champions Dublin, but a fine victory over Donegal two weekends ago has set Tim Rabbitt’s side up nicely for a crack at the Leesiders.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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