Goalden girls win it in style
DUBLIN put their recent All Ireland final agonies behind them to claim the TG4 Ladies senior title in glorious style — scoring four goals before a record crowd in Croke Park yesterday. After losing three deciders between 2014 and 2016, the Dubs were determined not to be denied by Mayo yesterday and, in front of a 46,286 crowd — the highest recorded attendance for a women’s sports final this year — Mick Bohan’s side produced a storming second-half display for a comprehensive 4-11 to 0-11 victory. ‘You’d have to be thrilled for them,’ said Bohan, in his second stint as manager, having been in charge for the 2003 final when Mayo claimed the honours. ‘They have shown great resilience as human beings to
come back and bounce back from lots of disappointing days. ‘They didn’t just represent themselves today but it was the groups of the last number of years — even going back to our own group in 2003. But we are very proud of them.’ However, Bohan (right) did express his ‘hurt’ at how his midweek comments on Cora Staunton were received and insisted he had huge respect for the Mayo superstar. Bohan suggested in the build-up that Staunton could ‘intimidate referees’ and sought to clarify the situation after the final yesterday. ‘I was very disappointed. And that probably shows why people don’t open up,’ said Bohan. ‘If you take a full conversation and put it out there, it represents the topic better. ‘But if you take parts of a conversation and put them out there, it does not represent what the topic is about. ‘It did hurt me and I was concerned that it would hurt the group. And that was a bit of a weight I carried over the last few days — but I will learn from it.’ Speaking after yesterday’s 12-point final loss, Mayo manager Frank Browne wondered ‘was the referee got to with all the stuff that was going on during the week’. Mayo had three players sin-binned during the game — and finished the first half with 13 players after Yvonne Byrne and Rachel Kearns were shown yellow cards. ‘Some of the comments about Cora intimidating referees, for not just an icon of Ladies Gaelic Football but of Irish sport, it was a little bit over the top,’ said Browne. ‘We’re all locals here, we know Cora and we know the sports person she is, and how humble she is. ‘I don’t think it put Cora off her game by any means, she’s too much of a professional.’ Browne insisted that Bohan’s remarks didn’t affect the Mayo camp. ‘Not in the least,’ he added.