A Martian observer might have been taken aback by those shortlisted for the PwC GAA-GPA player of the month accolades for July and August this week. They may have made assumptions about the All-Irelands, considering Galway’s dominant presence – bagging four out of six awards. This doesn’t indicate that the county has become just the second in history to suffer a treble of final losses within a year.
Armagh defeated Paul Conroy’s group in the men’s football finale. The camogie squad, featuring Dervla Higgins and Aoife Donohue, was bested by Cork, whereas Kerry ran over Nicola Ward’s footballing side.
At the photoshoot for these sporting disappointments, Ward shared there was a fair share of dark humour. Ward even mused: ‘Kerry serves as an exemplary tale for us – we’ll get there someday’.
Ward, along with Paul and Dervla, shared a light-hearted exchange. Ailbhe Clancy also caught their attention- she was a part of the victorious Leitrim intermediate team, thus the three sought a few pointers from her. “Galway has had a challenging few weeks, with the fans making regular visits to Croke Park”, Ward adds.
Despite the disappointment, Ward has committed to necessary introspection, even noting that the squad has already reviewed the match footage thrice in an admirable display of grit. Ward, only 27 yet a ten-year veteran in the county shirt, speaks about returning to normalcy since the loss, describing it as “tough”, and acknowledging several mistakes on the final day against the formidable Kerry’s. Her narrative highlights Galway’s battle with inconsistency and the subsequent struggle to put up back-to-back impressive performances.
Discussing the season’s most notable match, which saw her outperform the reigning All-Ireland champions Dublin in their home territory of Donnycarney and earn the Player of the Match title, she has still felt inspired by Galway’s perseverance in the All-Ireland semi-final.
“It was an extreme contest, extending further than the usual 60 minutes, up to 80 after overtime, which puts a strain on anyone. Despite this, we managed to replicate our performance against Cork, which I had mentioned before. We have the ability to outshine everyone one day and then not meet expectations the next,” she stated.
The final match was disappointment defined, a harsh reality for a player who is accustomed to being a successful and versatile centre back, racking up individual accolades and an impressive record with her Kilkerrin-Clonberne club, the three-time consecutive All-Ireland champions.
“It was indeed unpleasant,” she confessed, recalling the inter-county final held earlier in August.
“We were on equal footing with them at 3-2 for the first 20 minutes and we occupied much of the possession, but our scoring was lacking. We were banking on one or two Kerry forwards to underperform but they were in excellent form. That pre-half time goal was a real blow.
“There is a significant gap between being down five points versus eight. Realistically, the match was done-and-dusted by the interval. Afterwards, we were constantly on the backfoot, playing catch-up, ending up getting drawn out of position, and being increasingly exposed defensively. We were not twelve points inferior and it was disheartening that we couldn’t prove our worth,” she explained.
It was her second final loss, along with many other team members who suffered a close defeat by Dublin in the extremely wet conditions of the 2019 final. Both matches saw a detrimental last-minute goal before the half-time mark which dampened Galway’s chances.
After a long drought and some recent disappointments, Kerry’s victorious moment may pave a way forward for Galway, a belief she upholds.
“The club I play for, Kilkerrin-Clonberne, has faced four semi-final losses and one final loss before finally claiming a victory. When you overcome setbacks, like Kerry has done, you gain invaluable experience year after year. We will eventually achieve our goal, as exemplified by Kerry,” she conveys hope.
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