Mayo ace Clodagh McManamon confirms side's positive mood ahead of clash with Kerry
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Burrishoole’s Clodagh McManamon has confirmed the mood in the Mayo camp is very positive ahead of today's TG4 All-Ireland Ladies SFC semi-final against Kerry at Semple Stadium, Thurles, this evening at 5 p.m.
He stated: "This is probably the strongest Mayo panel that I has been involved in.
“We are happy to be where we are and we are just focusing now on playing Kerry,” she said.”
There has been huge competition for places and training sessions are always intense as girls are fighting for their places in the team. I believe this is the strongest panel that we have had since I’ve been involved in the set-up."
How difficult were conditions in Pearse Stadium against Galway?
“I think we were really lucky with the conditions, as some of the weather conditions in the other quarterfinals were horrendous.
"There was a bit of wind in Pearse Stadium, and I felt that perhaps we didn’t utilise the weather conditions that we had in our favour in the first half.
"We didn’t produce our best performance but we still managed to get over the line, and hopefully we can eradicate those mistakes and improve even further.”
Mayo have been consistently competitive over the last number of years and that must be pleasing from a player’s point of view. Also, have you ever played in Semple Stadium before?
“I think this is our fifth All-Ireland semi-final in the last seven years, and hopefully we can go that one step further. To reach an All-Ireland final would be amazing.
“I have never played in Thurles before and I am excited to get the opportunity to play in that stadium. It is great that there will be a double header (Dublin v Cork after Mayo v Kerry) and that will add to the atmosphere.”
What type of game do you think will unfold?
“We know that Kerry are a strong, physical team, and it will be a different type of game compared to our quarterfinal against Galway. Kerry have some key forwards and we must try and prevent them from goal-scoring opportunities. We must implement what we’ve been doing in training, and do our utmost to get past the Kerry high press.”
Charlestown’s Ella Brennan explained that training has been good since the Galway game, but feels that the green and red will have to improve even further for the Kerry clash.
“As well as preparing for Kerry, we have been focusing on ourselves and trying to correct the mistakes that we made against Galway in the quarter-final.
"Our execution wasn’t great and we made some sloppy mistakes and we’ve been trying to improve since then."
How does Ella feel about how the championship is structured?
“The way it is structured at the minute is OK, as you want to get back to your club and play as well. The worst thing is the long gap between the Connaught final and the All-Ireland championship.
"Obviously other provinces have group games to run and it’s not a simple fix, however, overall it is good as there are plenty of games to play in the All-Ireland series and you can keep yourselves focused on the next fixture.”
The Charlestown ace also feels that a good start against the Kingdom is imperative.
“Making a good start will be crucial and it will set the tone for the game and calm nerves.
“They (Kerry) probably play a similar game to us in that they like to move the ball quickly, and they don’t play a defensive style of play.
"They also have strong shooters in their forward division, but the key could be to slowing down their attack, and to make sure that we keep the scoreboard ticking over in our favour."
Corner-back Eilis Ronayne took some positives from last Saturday week’s Galway encounter, and the Davitts star was pleased with the resolve that Mayo displayed in notching the winning score.
“I think we showed plenty of resolve in the end when we managed to get that point to win the game. That game could have gone either way, and in the past we might have been on the wrong side of the result.
"However, the resolve that we showed in the end to have that little bit of patience, be clinical and to win that crucial turnover which led to the winning score will hopefully stand to us in the Kerry game.
“We have faced Galway, Dublin and Kerry in the last number of years in All-Ireland semi-finals. The players that have been in the panel these last few years will have learned a lot from those experiences, and the girls that have been brought in this season will add something new as well."
Does Ronayne feel that Mayo might need to score a goal or two against Kerry?
“It was disappointing in the Galway game that we didn’t create any real goal chances and that is something that we will have to improve on.
"Kerry are a strong team and very physical, so we will be looking to be more clinical up front in that game."
The Mayo starting 15 is as follows:
Laura Brennan; Saoirse Lally, Clodagh McManamon, Danielle Caldwell; Éilis Ronayne, Ciara Needham, Kathryn Sullivan (capt.); Aoife Geraghty, Fiona McHale; Sinead Cafferky, Rachel Kearns, Sarah Mulvihill; Tara Needham, Deirdre Doherty, Sinead Walsh.