Confidence in Galway camp that their best is yet to come
GALWAY and Cork renew rivalry when they meet in this Sunday’s LGFA All-Ireland semi-final at Parnell Park (1:30pm), with Galway boss Tim Rabbitt noting that his side’s season – disrupted as it was – has all been about building toward this stage of the championship.
With All-Ireland champions Dublin already back in the final following their win over Armagh in their penultimate fixture last weekend, it means the three best teams in the country are now left fighting it out for the Brendan Martin Cup.
In recent times, Galway and Cork have vied to be four-in-a-row chasing Dublin’s main threat, although both fell short to Dublin in the knockout stages in 2019. Cork lost to Mick Bohan’s outfit 2-11 to 0-11 in the semi-final before Dublin defeated Galway in the final on a 2-3 to 0-4 scoreline.
As it stands, Cork would still be viewed as a step ahead of Galway, given their successes since 2005 and having beaten the Tribeswomen in the National League final last year, but there have been green shoots from a Galway perspective.
Reaching an All-Ireland final in 2019 was a big boost to the set-up while, in the past two seasons, Galway have beaten both Dublin (2018) and Cork (2019) in the group stages of the National League. The next step Galway need to take now is to beat one of the above in championship.
Galway manager Rabbitt agrees. “To be fair, we have been building towards this point all year long, knowing this game was going to come. It has come now and it is just about being ready and that we attack the game and that we are brave enough to take it to Cork.
“They pose a lot of challenges in terms of physicality and their belief in themselves. They have a lot of quality footballers throughout the field and they can definitely hurt us if we are not on top of our game. So, that is what everything is geared towards in training; to make sure we are ready for this game on Sunday.”
For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.
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