All-Star snub for Galway Ladies leaves sour taste

It beggars belief each and every year that when the Ladies Gaelic Football All-Stars are announced that Galway gets continually snubbed when it comes to the gongs. It happened again last weekend when no Galway player was feted and this, not surprisingly, has left many in the county fuming.

All-Stars, by their nature, tend to generate debate and it is no different when the hurling, camogie and football teams are named annually. There are cases for and against. However, there does seem to be a trend in recent years that Galway ladies have to go that extra yard to secure some recognition.

This year, Galway were seen as the biggest threat to Cork’s ambitions of landing a 10th All-Ireland title in 11 years – particularly earlier in the year when it required a replay and extra-time to separate the teams in the National League Division 1 final before Cork finally emerged victorious.

The Tribeswomen bounced back from their league defeat to win their fourth consecutive Connacht title over Cora Staunton’s Mayo, with All-Star nominee Patricia Gleeson kicking a dramatic late point to snatch the victory.

Sadly, when Galway and beaten Munster finalists Cork met in the All-Ireland quarter-final in August, the reigning All-Ireland champions snatched the victory on a scoreline of 1-12 to 1-10. That two-point defeat was the same margin Dublin, who received a plethora of All-Stars, lost the All-Ireland decider.

If Galway and Cork had avoided each other for another round, until the All-Ireland semi-final, it may have strengthened their case in the eyes of the All-Star selection committee – yet, that said, would that have even mattered?

The All-Star nominations were released in October, with 45 players named on the shortlist. All-Ireland champions Cork understandably dominated with 11. They were followed by Dublin who received 10. Galway – for many regarded as the second best team in the country at present – received just five.

They were Sinead Burke, Áine Seoighe, Geraldine Conneally, Patricia Gleeson and Tracey Leonard, the latter of whom was one of the top forwards in the country in 2015 and absolutely terrorised Cork when she had the ball in her hands.

In the National League alone, Leonard tallied 8-35 – taking Dublin in the semi-final for eight points (seven from play) before going on to shoot another eight against Cork (six from play) in the drawn League final. She tallied three more (two from play) in their 0-14 to 1-10 loss to the Rebels in the replay.

In their own statement, the Ladies Association state “the players that are selected as being potential All Star nominees could be from either the winning or the losing sides regardless of the result” and that this criteria extends to all competitions, including the National League.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.