Irish Daily Star - Inside Sport
DILLON SAYS IT’S GAL’ TO PLAY FOR NOW
SARAH Dillon damaged her ACL for the first time in March 2016 and did it again in June 2018.
Then a shoulder injury caught up with her in November 2019, before another shoulder setback in August 2020.
But now she is fit and fighting on all fronts.
“Thank God, I actually feel the fittest I ever felt. I have a full pre-season under my belt. In the few League games, I’ve picked up nothing. I’m buzzing, thank God,” said Dillon.
“Hopefully I’ve turned over a new leaf.”
And while Dillon prepares for a crucial Lidl NFL clash with Galway tomorrow, and a Yoplait Lynch semi-final with her TUS Midlands teammates next week, there are others who are not quite so fortunate.
Lucy McCartan, who also scored a goal in the TG4 All-Ireland Intermediate final last year, is out with a serious ACL injury.
Another influential player, Vicky Carr, has a shoulder problem and Dillon’s sister, Rachel, remains on the comeback trail following her own ACL disaster.
“It’s so tough. You are looking at them and you know how challenging, mentally and physically, it is,” said Dillon.
Tough
“It is really tough to watch someone else go through it. So we will just be there to support them and make it as easy for them as it can be.”
And Westmeath have struggled in their absence at the start of 2022, resulting in their game against Galway this weekend taking on huge significance.
A relegation playoff looms and boss Michael Finneran will be desperate to avoid the drop in his first season.
But bereft of 18 players from last year’s All-Irelandwinning squad, it makes his job that bit more difficult.
“We lost key leaders, Fiona Claffey, Jennifer Rogers, girls who had so much experience,” said Dillon.
“We are adjusting to new girls coming in. We have new management in as well. We did take a lot of learnings from our start this year and we did bring them into the Donegal game.
“We did have a better performance, we didn’t get a win but we got a lot from the Mayo game. We will see if we can get more from the Donegal game and bring that into the Galway game.”
But any team would struggle if the backbone was taken out of their squad, and that, coupled with injuries for McCartan and Carr, have resulted in backto-back defeats in Division 1A.
Play
“All we want to do is put up a performance and play as well as we can and not make mistakes,” said Dillon.
“Galway are in the same boat as us, they have two losses as well. It’s going to be a really competitive game for both of us. Hopefully we can come out on the good side of it but you never know. We will give it our best shot anyway.”
Dillon knows that last September’s 4-19 to 0-6 win over Wexford could have softened the blow for others who headed for the exits.
“It is tough but that’s what happens,” said Dillon. “But you can’t fault any of the girls for having left the group having gave so much to Westmeath ladies.
“Now there is a new phase of players coming through. We have to adjust to that.”