by Conor McKenna
Galway footballer Aine McDonagh has revealed that
the Tribeswomen will be at full strength for next Sunday’s TG4 Connacht Senior
Final against Mayo.
Galway are aiming for a third successive crown – and
a seventh in eight seasons – against their arch-rivals.
“Thankfully we’ve no injury worries. Everyone’s
actually back. We’ve had a couple of girls come back from injury so everyone
seems to be flying it now which is a real positive,” said McDonagh.
“Trainings are getting very intense and everyone’s
trying to get their foot into that starting 15 so it’s encouraging getting all
the girls back,” added McDonagh, speaking in Dublin as the Ladies Gaelic
Football Association’s new Insurance partner AIG announced exclusive discounts
on car and home insurance for LGFA members and their families.
McDonagh is hoping that her side can deliver a
better performance than their male counterparts did last week – and she’s
excited ahead of Sunday’s clash with Mayo at Elvery’s MacHale Park, which will
be shown LIVE on the LGFA’s Facebook Page (4pm).
“I’m looking forward to it and I’m excited for the
game. The last game we played was the League final. Bit of a disappointment
after that game so we’re looking forward to getting going again and facing Mayo
on Sunday.
“Hopefully we can put on a bit of a better
performance than the Galway men’s footballers did,” she said.
McDonagh was happy with her sides Lidl National League
campaign, as Galway finished top of the table but suffered defeat against Cork
in the showpiece Division 1 decider at Parnell Park.
“I thought it was quite an encouraging campaign.
We’ve a lot of positives to take out of it. We did reach the final, we had
quite a respectable couple of games. We finished top of the table so there was
definitely plenty of positives to take from it,” said McDonagh.
Stephen Glennon left his position as Galway manager at
the end of the 2018 campaign, with Tim Rabbitt replacing him, although McDonagh
confirmed that Glennon was the only member of the management team to vacate
their position.
“Stephen was the only one that stepped down. Tim
Rabbitt was a selector on the panel and he stepped up and the rest of the
management have stayed the same. I think the management in place now are
absolutely brilliant and anything that we ask for they give it to us.
“Everyone is on the same page and has been now for
the past three years so it’s definitely positive. Everyone has the one focus
and we all know how we’re going to get there. Everyone’s on board and everyone
is of the same similar mindset,” she said.
McDonagh is pleased with the new championship
format, as it replaces the long gap after the provincial final which she was
not a fan of.
“For the likes of us that only have one game in the
provincials it gives us those extra couple of games that you have instead of
jumping straight into a quarter final.
“I think in 2017 we had something like an eight-week layover which in my opinion is way too long to keep the girls focused and motivated so I definitely think those couple of games are really of benefit to us,” she added.
