Sligo one step away from title
For Sligo captain Noelle Gormley, Sunday’s TG4 Connacht Intermediate final at Elverys MacHale Park is as much about redemption as anything else. After a gruelling league campaign that ended in relegation, the St. Nathy’s player is hopeful that the experience gained by this new-look team will stand to them when they take on Roscommon in Castlebar.
“We had a tough league campaign, there is no denying it” she told the Sligo Champion. “It is good to be there and we’re looking forward to it. This year we have a new panel looking for experience and game time. There have been a lot of players played throughout the league and this is what we do it for, to try and compete well in Connacht and the All Ireland series.”
Some teams would prefer to play at a higher level in order to prepare for the championship, but the veteran goalkeeper isn’t sure that there’s as huge difference between Division Two and Division Three, where Roscommon secured a mid-table finish.
“Is there a difference between Division Two and Three, who knows?” she asked. “There are a lot of intermediate teams in Division There as well, just as there are some in Division Two. Championship is a different ball game entirely, you have to take the team in front of you and treat them as if they’re a top-quality opponent and match them in everything they do”.
Both sides were equally discommoded by Leitrim’s withdrawal from the championship. That meant that this fixture was moved from taking place as a semi-final in May to a final in late June. Gormley appreciates however that this is just one of those things that can come up from time to time, and that the games will come thick and fast from here on in.
“After the league campaign, in Sligo we go into our club league. We had games there, but you have to keep the heads down training. It’s a long stretch alright but that’s where the work is done. You are getting to know your team there and then. In those club games you’ll find a few players that are performing in their clubs and that can only help you.
“The new system of qualifiers means more game time in championship. I was part of it there a few years ago when
It is good to be there and we’re looking forward to it. This year we have a new panel looking for experience and game time.
they did something similar in the group situation. Ladies football is always trying something new. Similar to the lads, we’ll get an extra few games”.
Gormley refers to the new group stages of the All Ireland series, which will kick in after the Connacht final, regardless of whether or not her team wins that game.
“The championship is a bit unknown at the minute. Anything can happen in the group stages, you don’t know who you are going to meet, you don’t know what group you are going to be in. It’s exciting on that front. For new players that haven’t a championship game under their belts, this is their chance. You are not going to be knocked out in the first hurdle”.
For now however, the immediate challenge is to lead her county into a provincial final – though if she’s particularly ener- gised by the captaincy aspect, she doesn’t show it! “There is a game there to be won and it’s up to every member of the team that’s playing to do that. At the end of the day it’s 15 on 15, everybody has a role to play. My job is to go up for the toss of the coin and pick which way we are going to shoot. After that it’s a team game, and we’ll stand or fall based on how we do at that,” she added.