Mayo focused on taking keys of the Kingdom
By Aiden Henry
MAYO ladies senior footballers will travel to Semple Stadium, Thurles, this Saturday where they will clash with Kerry for the second year running in the All-Ireland senior ladies Gaelic football championship semi-final.
This game, which is timed for 5 p.m., will be the first of these All-Ireland semi-finals played at the Tipperary venue with the second semi-final between Dublin and Cork set to throw in at 7.30 p.m.
As already alluded too, this will be the second year running that Mayo and Kerry meet in the semi-final. Last year, when the two sides clashed in Croke Park, it was the Kingdom who came out on top, winning by nine points. However, we can expect a much closer contest this time around with Mayo having every chance of reversing the 2022 result.
For Mayo, this is a great opportunity to qualify for the All-Ireland final.
It is team manager Michael Moyles’ third year in charge. From day one he set out to build his own new team and he always stated it would take three years to develop a side that was capable of taking on and beating the best in the country.
Over the three seasons this Mayo team has come on in leaps and bounds and is now at a stage where they are regarded among the top five or six teams in the country.
While they have qualified for the championship semi-final the previous two years, one now expects the experience they gained will make a huge difference this time around.
On top of that, Moyles’ side gained their first Connaught title under his reign this year when they beat arch rivals Galway. This was seen as another massive step up for the team and while they will go into Saturday’s semi-final meeting with Kerry as underdogs, they still have a great chance of coming out on top.
While Mayo will be well aware that they will be up against a very in-form Kerry side and a team who this year will be hoping to make amends for last year’s heartbreaking defeat against Meath in the All-Ireland final, they will travel with a certain degree of confidence of upsetting the odds. Manager Moyles, while he is well aware that they face a difficult task against Kerry, is nevertheless confident that his charges are in with a good chance of winning.
“We know Kerry is a very good team. They went very close last year. But we have shown that if we can improve on certain aspects of our game, we are a match for any side,” said Moyles.
Moyles knows all too well that last time out against Galway in the All-Ireland quarterfinals his side made far too many mistakes in the opening half when they had the wind at their backs.
It left them with too much ground to make up in the second half. However, the girls showed great character in that second half to battle back brilliantly before coming out on top by a point.
There is little doubt that Mayo will need to settle much faster against Kerry and erase some of the mistakes that could have cost them dearly in the quarterfinal. But we can be sure that the management have been working and will continue to work this week on these mistakes before lining out against Kerry.
They will also have learned that Kerry are a team who like to get on top early and build up a lead. We saw this in their quarterfinal against Meath where they raced into a 11-point lead by half time, which proved the big difference between the two sides at the final whistle despite the Royals making a great comeback in the second half.
However, on the plus side, Mayo not only have a good starting 15 but have now a bench with top class players to bring on. This was never more evident than against Galway last time out.
For the second half the management introduced the likes of Shauna Howley, Maria Cannon and Lisa Cafferky. Howley scored three crucial points, including the winning point with less than 20 seconds remaining, while Cannon also kicked a superb point. It was also great to see Lisa Cafferky getting game time as she recovers from her hamstring injury.
Mayo are in a great position now to challenge for the top honours. There is little doubt that if they hit their best form they are a match for any side. Indeed, a repeat of their Connaught final display against Galway next Saturday would give them an outstanding chance of coming out on top.
Yet, I am sure the Mayo management and players are well aware they will be facing a tough Kerry team. They are a big, strong and physical side and one that must be very confident of not alone beating Mayo in the semi-final but going on and winning the final.
Last year they really put it up to Meath in the decider and were a little unfortunate not to win. But they got sweet revenge in this year’s quarterfinal against Meath and will be expecting to beat Mayo next Saturday.
However, while Kerry did beat Meath in the quarterfinal, they failed to score in the second half. Playing with the very strong wind in the opening half they outscored Meath by 2-8 to 0-3.
In the second half it was all Meath, who added seven points to their tally. But many missed chances by Meath in that half allowed Kerry to hang on for the victory. It showed that Kerry can be vulnerable, and Mayo can punish them if they get into full flight.
While it is going to be a big ask for Mayo against Kerry, they can surprise them. While it is a youthful Mayo side, they still have a lot of experienced players, including the likes of Danielle Caldwell, Kathyrn Sullivan, Fiona McHale, the two Cafferky sisters, Sinead and Lisa, Deirdre Doherty and Rachel Kearns.
Although we know they will have to produce one of their best performances next Saturday against Kerry, they can upset the odds and come away with a surprise win.
Verdict: Mayo.