Derry Ladies ready for All-Ireland battle
Thursday, 25 September 2008
Derry ladies, who will be going for All-Ireland Glory this weekend.
DERRY Ladies go in search of an All-Ireland dream this weekend when they face London in the TG4 All-Ireland Junior Final at Croke Park.
It's been an amazing year for the Oak Leaf girls who have excelled under new managers Pearse McCallan and Mary Jo Boyle.
And while they have already beaten London twice this year it will be a different story when it comes to Sunday and there's an All-Ireland title up for grabs.
London, on the other hand, already know what it feels like to lose an All-Ireland final having reached this same stage last year, only to get beaten by Kilkenny at GAA Headquarters.
However, Derry are confident in their own ability and after a superb semi-final win against Antrim in which they scored 4-16 they know they can and will have to reach those same heights if they are to send London to their second successive All-Ireland final defeat.
The Oak Leaf girls will also have to contend with the idea of playing in Croke Park, which is a dream of everyone who plays Gaelic Games. Although Ladies Finals Day, which will also see Clare take on Tipperary in the Intermediate final and reigning All-Ireland champions go for three-in-a-row against Monaghan in the senior decider, will not attract the 82,000 people that packed into Croke Park last weekend, the Doire girls will most likely be playing in front of the most support they have had all year as clubs around the county gather up support to get behind them.
McCallan and Boyle have almost a full 26 strong squad to pick from. Ashlene Moore is unavailable for selection as is Derry dual player Breige Convery who has a back problem, but Ursula Mullan who was forced off with a shoulder injury early in the semi-final should be available for selection and would be an automatic choice for a start in the half-forward line.
Ashleen Kealy who won player of the match in the semi-final just six days before she got married has returned from honeymoon in Mexico and Una Harkin, who is also a Northern Ireland international soccer player, has been flown home from Dubai for the final. Una, this year's regular centre-half back, began a year's teaching in the United Arab Emrites at the beginning of August and was also flown home for the semi-final, putting in an impressive performance.
Her presence on Sunday will be a huge boost for the team and she has been busy keeping fit and training with the Dubai Gaelic men's team out there.
It's more than likely that Boyle and McCallan will go with a similar starting line-up on Sunday as they did for the semi-final. However, the performances of young Aine McCusker and Michelle McAteer, who came on as subs, will give the management duo something to think about and at this stage in the game, it's a healthy headache.
There are also nine Glen players on the squad and they bring with them the experience and the pain of defeat in an All-Ireland final, having lost their All-Ireland Intermediate Club final to Cork side Mourneabbey by a solitary point last November.
Those nine, which includes Doire captain Louise Glass, will be looking for a different outcome in this final, which acts as a spur for them to banish that pain of 10 months ago.
“The pain of that All-Ireland club final is still very much there," she said. "It's not nice losing an All-Ireland final particularly when we were up by five points at one stage and for me and many others this is a chance to wipe out that pain and doing it in Croke Park and for your county will go a long way to putting that to bed.
“This year has been a fantastic one for Derry Ladies and the change that has come about within the team has been unbelievable. For so long Derry Ladies have underachieved and we are determined to get Derry the right recognition it deserves. And I think people have began to take notice of what we can do and what we are capable of.
“There's no doubting the talent and ability within the team and I believe we have what it takes to win an All-Ireland Junior title - we wouldn't be in the final if we didn't have what it takes, but it's going to take a huge performance and an unquestionable hunger and desire from every member of the squad to beat London becuase they want to win too."
One half of the management team, Mary Jo Boyle, too is under no illusion of the difficulty of the task at hand.
“This is a massive occasion and Croke Park is a massive pitch. Bearing in mind this is our first All-Ireland and London come to the table having experienced defeat in an All-Ireland final last year Pearse and I are under no illusions of just how difficult a task we have ahead," she said.
“London are a strong, physical team so with that in mind we have to match them physically in every department. Our game needs to be based on a huge work-rate moving the ball as quickly as we can to the forward line. The kick-pass will probably prove crucial on a big pitch and it will be imperative we kick accurate balls out of defence and into our forward line.
“London also have a slight height advantage in the midfield and forward areas so we will have to be wary of that challenging as much breaking ball as we can. On such a big occasion every score will be critical so we must make sure the girls make the most of every scoring opportunity that comes there way."
