A RIVALRY RE-IGNITED

IT’S a rivalry for the ages. Very little has separated Geevagh and St. Nathy’s in recent years.

And once again this year, they go toe-totoe in the Ladies Senior Championship final at Markievicz Park this Saturday afternoon.

Only last year, St. Nathy’s stopped Geevagh from winning three in a row, and this year, Geevagh will be keen to stop their rivals from winning back-to-back titles.

Angela Doohan, a stalwart of the St. Nathy’s side, is now in her 24 th year wearing the red jersey.

She knows all about the rivalry with Geevagh - she has been a huge part of it all.

“We’re looking forward to it. The goal at the end of the year is always to get into the county final. We’re happy with the progress so far and we’re against our rivals Geevagh so that’s always guaranteed to be a good match,” she told The Sligo Champion at the media event on Wednesday evening.

“The last ten years, it’s been the two of us in the final most years. We know each other inside out at this stage and there’s never much between the two of us. It’s hard to call it.”

Denise McGrath added: “Everyone’s looking forward to getting back out on the pitch again. Everyone wants to get into a Championship final and hopefully we do the business.”

St. Nathy’s manager John O’Hara says his side are prepared to fight for back to back titles.

“Everything is going well. At the start of the year the aim was to get into the County Final and hopefully we can do it back-to-back, that’s the hardest thing to do. Preparation is going good.”

The experience of players such as Angela and Etna Flanagan is vital to a team such as St. Nathy’s.

Angela says her love for the game keeps her going each year.

“It’s not hard to keep motivated. I enjoy it, doing all the training and the banter with all the girls. I’ ll keep playing it as long as I still enjoy it. Etna is there a bit longer, and you see how well she can keep going. She would drive you on.”

And John says that the experience of these players helps to guide younger girls coming through.

“It’s very important to have these experienced players. It’s good for the younger players coming in, they look up to the likes of Angela and Etna.”

These sentiments were echoed by Denise, who says younger players are made feel welcome by the likes of Angela: “The craic at the club is great. Coming in and playing with some older players and some younger ones, everyone has the same amount of craic. When you’re having so much fun it’s easier.”

Geevagh have beaten St. Nathy’s once this year, albeit at the start of the league. But Nathy’s certainly have the upper hand, having beaten their rivals in the league final and earlier in the Championship - winning well on both occasions.

“We know Geevagh don’t give up until the final whistle and they have beaten us once this year already and we’ve beaten them,” said Angela.

“It’s a different day, a different game. We have some injuries since we last played them. Mary Ann O’Kennedy is gone on a scholarship to America, so she will be a big loss. We’ ll focus on the players we have.”

The return of the county players to the panel is welcome, says John: “The county girls are back with us. It is hard when they’re out, there’s a lot of experience there and they bring a lot to training.”

For Geevagh, this is about redemption. They are feeling the hurt from last year, David Gaffney, manager, knows they have worked hard enough for this. “We’re feeling good. We’ve prepared well all year, we’re just at the fine tuning stage now.

“We will be looking for redemption. That’s why you train all year. That’s the goal at the end of the year. No-one sees when you’re down training in March. Now is our time,” he told The Sligo Champion.

Sean Brehony says they want their side to win as much as possible - “We were going for three in a row last year. There will be a bit of redemption. The years you play football doesn’t last that long and you want to win as much as you can.”

David feels that Nathy’s will come into this game as favourites, but it will not deter his Geevagh side.

“In fairness to Nathy’s they would have had the upper hand. We beat them once earlier in the league, but they have won the two competitions at the start of the year. We will be underdogs.”

Last year’s defeat, and indeed their two defeats this year to Nathy’s, can be used as motivation: “You prepare and you prepare as well as you can. The things bout getting beaten last year was that it gives you something to drive for this year. It’s the same in every rivalry between two years, you’re trying to get better than the other.”

Stephanie O’Reilly, a key figure in this Geevagh side, says that a rivalry such as this is good for football in Sligo: “You’re still seeing the same teams for the last couple of years. Some might say that’s unhealthy but at the end of the day we’re the top two teams in Sligo and were back in a final to battle it out. It’s good to see Junior teams coming through as well. Club football is important in Sligo.”

And she says that they want to make amends for their previous defeats to Nathy’s.

“We felt the hurt a bit in the league but we’ ll try and get over this hurdle. You always want to get to the final, then you’re hoping to win the final. That’s every team’s goal. We have another chance to do it and hopefully we can.”

Geevagh will be without Elaine O’Reilly.