Tourlestrane ready for big day
THIS Sunday at 2:30pm in Duggan Park, Ballinasloe, Tourlestrane ladies go into the history books as they take on Glanmire of Cork in the All-Ireland Junior final.
What a year 2018 has been for the south Sligo club of Tourlestrane, with the senior men winning the county championship for the third year in a row, a feat never achieved before by Tourlestrane and the club’s minor lads also contested the Connacht final.
Now it is the turn of the ladies to see if they can achieve what has never been done in ladies club football within the Yeats County by winning an All-Ireland title. Win or lose on Sunday and it has been a phenomenal year for Tourlestrane, not just the players and management teams themselves, but also for their large and extremely loyal supporters who have travelled the length and breadth of the country supporting the green and yellow.
Led by manager David Bailey and his backroom team of Leo Gaughan and Enda Kelly, the Tourlestrane ladies set out on what would be a whirlwind 2018 back in January and what successes they have achieved since then, winning the club’s first senior provincial title and then defeating Old Leighlin of Carlow away and now this Sunday, they are one step away from an All-Ireland title.
What a year to look back and savour and it is far from done just yet.
David Bailey, who has been at the helm for 2 years, has brought together a team of experience and youth and gelled a superb blend of players together with their calibre showing on the pitch.
He said the excitement and buzz around the parish is something else and it is all anyone is talking about.
He told the Sligo Champion: “The preparations are going good and everyone is raring to go now.
“We have no injuries thank God and we are 100% fit which is brilliant.
“We had a couple of injuries awhile back but the physio did great work and now the team is fighting fit.
“It is great to still be here especially at this time of the year!”
He said that when they started out back in January there was expectations that this team could possibly do well in Connacht but with an All-Ireland final now to look forward to, the ladies have exceeded all expectations.
“We will be starting out next month in January again for the new year and we have been on the go since training started last January.
“We sat down back then and spoke about how this team could have a real try at Connacht and have a good run in the next 2 years or so but the expectations have really exceeded all that.
“We could see with every game that we played that there was light at the end of the tunnel and then we got out of Connacht and here we are now.
“I think with regard to Sunday that if we reach 80 or 90 percent of our benchmark then we really will go a long way,” he explained.
David praised all of the players who make up this Tourlestrane team including the experience of the likes of Katie Walsh and Nikki Brennan to name a few.
“There is a lot of emphasis on Katie and Nikki which is great but we have so many experienced former county players on the team too such as Aisling Egan, Shauna Henry at corner-back, there is so much experience there but then we have so many young players that are doing phenomenally too.
“The likes of Leonie Gaughan and my own daughter Ellen these are only minor and U16 players and for them it is huge.
“Like we have some players that 2 years ago were only 13 or 14 and what is so great is that we have gelled a team that have all come up altogether.
“Laura Hegarty who won a minor a title is still on the team and she and it is great to have such a good mix.
“Laura is like the mum of the team and she really keeps everyone together,” David added.
Remarkably David, who has been managing the side for 2 years, was also involved with Tourlestrane’s first provincial win when the minor boys brought the club’s first Connacht title a few years ago.
“Now the club has 2 Connacht titles and to be involved with both teams is really good.”
Looking ahead to an All-Ireland final as a manager has been a dream come true he said.
“As manager it has been good, this is everyone’s dream to be in an All-Ireland final and playing in Croke Park would have been a dream altogether but we are really looking forward to Ballinasloe.”
What this will do for football not only in the club but in the county too will be huge.
“It is great not just for the club of Tourlestrane but the south Sligo region in general.
“If it is girls or boys it doesn’t matter, we are in an All-Ireland final at the end of the day.”
David said everyone from the supporters to the sponsors have pulled out all the stops in lending a helping hand along the way.
The phone too hasn’t stopped ringing he laughed. “The phonecalls are coming in from all over the world, England, you name it.
“There is only a couple of hundred in the parish but once the phones start ringing you see how far that parish goes.”
He said 2018 will be one remembered for a long, long time in Tourlestrane.
“The lads created history by winning 3 in a row and that is certainly not an easy achievement. The minors then reached the Connacht final in the same month. The underage in the club is really good and there are so many great volunteers there and the support given to us really pushes us on and we try to keep it as grounded as possible.
“The well wishes online too have been great and what is happening now in the parish has never happened before.
“It is the only thing that people are talking about and with the lads doing so well too this year now that we are into December it is great to still be here with an All-Ireland final to look forward to.”
The bunting, banners and flags are proudly donned throughout the parish and come Sunday the green and yellow army will leave south Sligo for Duggan Park in their hundreds.
“We have been getting people knocking on the door looking for bunting and there is not a house in the parish covered,” he laughed.
In terms of their opponents on Sunday, David said they have looked into them. “We have done what we could do and know that they have a population of 2,000 compared to a couple of hundred that we have but on Sunday it will be 15 on 15 at the end of the day and we are in joint first place at the moment. Women’s football in Cork is very high at the moment.”
The legacy that will be left regardless of the outcome on Sunday will be extremely beneficial to ladies football in the county. “John O’Hara and David Curran the new Sligo ladies managers have been looking to see what players from Tourlestrane they can bring in which is great too.
“We are still such a young team and there are such strong ladies teams in the county at the moment and there are great structures in place too.
“Paddy Henry did so much work too,” David said.
He also commended his backroom team which have helped mould this team together. Leo Gaughan father of the county players comes from the Gaughan household that has so much knowledge! Enda Kelly too has been brilliant, he is my right-hand man and been on the management of the senior lads and now the girls. He has huge experience and would brighten a lot of clubs throughout Connacht and is so important to us.”
If victory is theirs on Sunday evening, David said it would be massive, not only for the players and management but the whole group of supporters throughout Tourlestrane.
“It is hard to describe what winning an All-Ireland title will mean. We thought winning the Connacht title was excellent with the minor lads and then with the girls to win 2.
“Winning an All-Ireland for the club and the older supporters that have been there down through the years would be a dream come true,” David added.
Someone who is really looking forward to Sunday’s All-Ireland final is Tourlestrane and Sligo star Katie Walsh.
She said the mood in the camp is something else heading into the final with everyone counting down the days.
Katie told the Sligo Champion: “We are all set and we are as set as we can be.
“The mood is really good and everyone is fighting fit and there are no injuries which is great especially at this time of the year.
“The whole team now is just hoping to get over the line.”
She said it has been a huge year for Tourlestrane ladies and men’s teams.
“It has been massive for the club, a fantastic year with the lads winning county and a lot of our games were on the same weekend so we were pushing each other which was fantastic.”
Looking back on some of their games, Katie said the team really showed what they are made of.
“The conditions in Belmullet that day were really tough but we got the win and the team dug deep.
“Then going to Carlow we knew it would be tough and we had such a turnout from the club which was massive for us and we didn’t want it to be a wasted trip for our supporters, they really were the 16th player on that day.”
She said seeing the impact that being in the final has had on younger players too is really special.
“It is fantastic to see the likes of our U12s out supporting us and hopefully they too will find success in the years to come.”
Katie said they are not focussing on Glanmire as such but instead more so on what they have to do on Sunday.
“That’s not to take away from them we know they too are in their first All-Ireland final and nerves will play a huge part.
“We know we have to give it our best shot and we know what we are capable of.
“The younger girls on the team have really shown such maturity for 15 and 16 year olds and there is a fantastic mix.
“I already lost an All-Ireland semi final this year (with Sligo) and to win an All-Ireland for my club would be a dream come true.
“To be in an All-Ireland final may never happen again. It has been a fantastic year and one hopefully we continue to build on,” Katie added.
Throw-in on Sunday in Duggan Park, Ballinasloe is 2:30pm.