GALVIN ON CLOUD NINE AHEAD OF SHOWDOWN WITH GALWAY
ALL eyes may be on Kerry’s history-busting NFL clash with Dublin this weekend but their women’s footballers also have a massive game in the Lidl National League tomorrow. A third win in-a-row for Division One’s jointsecond side would put them right back in the hunt for the semi-finals with two rounds to go. Beating joint leaders Galway away is a big ask and the two-week break for Congress and the third-level finals arguably came at the wrong time for them. Yet, after lifting thirdlevel’s blue riband — the O’Connor Cup — last weekend, UL captain Anna Galvin and some Kerry teammates are headed to Tuam with their confidence soaring. Galvin and Laura Rogers were among the University of Limerick stars who shocked DCU and then UCC to clinch the top colleges’ title and the UL squad also included rising stars Ayesha Roche, Leah Henry and Laoise Coughlan, the latter two still Kerry minors. ‘Yes, we’re on cloud nine after the college win. You wake up in the morning and remember you’re a winner and it puts a smile on your face,’ Galvin says. It was a third colleges’ title in four years for the sports science student from Caherdaniel and particularly treasured because she had to sit out one of those seasons with a torn cruciate and was also pipped in last year’s final by UCD. Now her focus returns to the county, who have some momentum after losing heavily to Cork and then by a goal to Dublin. ‘We had both of last year’s All-Ireland finalists in our first two games which was tough and were unlucky not to get the win against Dublin,’ Galvin says. Kerry’s future looks bright if they can retain and harness the talent that has won one Under-14 and two U-16 All-Irelands since 2014. But they need to start finding consistency, especially against sides like Galway as Galvin admits: ‘If we can get a win and someone can beat Cork and Dublin that would be ideal!’ Dublin/Armagh and Cork/Monaghan are both top-versus-bottom clashes but, with home advantage, Monaghan have the better shot at doing them that favour.
Lidl NFL Div 1 (Rd 5) — Today: Monaghan v Cork, 3.0, Clones.
Tomorrow: Galway v Kerry, noon, Tuam; Donegal v Mayo, 2.0, Convoy; Dublin v Armagh, 2.0, Abbotstown.