1. Opportunity awaits
Both Kerry and Galway are out to end long waits for All-Ireland senior ladies football glory.
Kerry last lifted the Brendan Martin Cup 31 years ago, in 1993, while it’s two decades since Galway won for the first time in 2004.
The Kingdom have suffered back-to-back final defeats to Meath and Dublin. A coveted victory at Croke Park today will move them clear of Cork atop the roll of honour with 12 titles.
Galway, meanwhile, return to the decider for the first time since 2019, when they fell to Dublin in a low-scoring, rain-soaked encounter. They dethroned the Dubs this year in the quarter-final, blowing the championship wide open.
It’s the first All-Ireland final meeting between the counties, and with it, comes a huge sense of opportunity. Galway ’04 was the last time a team aside from Cork, Dublin or Meath reigned supreme.
2. Third time lucky for Kerry?
Regrets linger from the 2022 and 2023 finals for Kerry. Many players have spoken about the heartbreak, and in turn, motivation including captain Niamh Carmody.
Earlier this year, Kayleigh Cronin explained that the ’23 defeat hurt so much more.
“I don’t even necessarily know why,” she told The 42. “We were a small bit maybe naive going into the first one. We were nearly star struck. It was just a lot of pressure that we hadn’t experienced before.
“We kind of put that one down to that bit of inexperience and we told ourselves the next year, if we get there, we’ll know what to do and it will just be a case of go out and play your football. Unfortunately, we didn’t. We gave 30 minutes of it, but the first 30, we left behind us.”
Dublin dominated from the off, 0-2 to 0-0 ahead inside a minute and Kerry were held scoreless for 16 minutes towards the end of the half, leaving the scoreline 0-11 to 0-4 at the break. The previous year, they led 1-2 to 0-0 after seven minutes, but didn’t capitalise on their dream start after another lengthy scoring drought.
Avoiding the same mistakes will be key if they are to turn the tables and reach The Promised Land. This is it: it feels like The Last Dance for management duo Declan Quill and Darragh Long, and a cohort of older players.
3. Galway’s young guns
Can the Tribe’s recent underage success translate? At senior level, they have been there or thereabouts in recent seasons, but this is their first significant breakthrough since that 2019 final appearance.
Galway won the All-Ireland minor title in 2023 — and 2018 — and featured in the ’22 final. They also won three in-a-row in the U16 A championship from ’17 to ’19, with many of those players coming through. 13 of the 36-strong panel were minors in ’22 or ’23.
Daniel Moynihan, who stepped up as senior manager this year, oversaw much of their success and development.
Backboned by the All-Ireland club winning Kilkerrin-Clonberne contingent, Galway have had one of the strongest panels in the country on paper of late, but it felt like they hadn’t reached their full potential.
Tracey Leonard’s retirement could have been a major blow — as well as the absence of other big players — but Galway instead saw opportunity. Could the injection of youth prove decisive?
4. Recent meetings and path to this point
Kerry won the Division 1 league clash between the sides on a scoreline of 2-11 to 0-12. They went on to reach the final, while Galway were relegated.
They also met in last year’s league final: Kerry powered to a 5-11 to 1-10 victory on a day to forget for the Tribe. The Kingdom also won their last senior championship meeting in 2022, but recent history will mean little as they renew rivalries.
Galway responded to league relegation by winning a Connacht title. They lost to Cork in the group stages of the All-Ireland series but progressed after hammering Laois, and later scalped Dublin and gained revenge on the Rebels in the semi-final.
Kerry similarly toasted provincial success after league final disappointment to Armagh, and they are unbeaten in the All-Ireland series. They drew with Donegal and defeated Waterford in their group, before overcoming Meath and Armagh in the knockout stages.
This one is extremely difficult to call: both have solid defences and strong attacking lines, with Danielle O’Leary among those stepping up alongside Louise Ní Mhuircheartaigh for Kerry, and Galway duo Olivia Divilly (3-16) and Róisín Leonard (4-13) the All-Ireland senior championship’s top scorers.
5. Bouncing back from turbulent times
Regardless of who climbs the steps of the Hogan Stand and lifts the Brendan Martin Cup, both sides have had fascinating journeys in recent years. There has been drama and off-field issues, but both counties have obviously somewhat gotten their houses in order to reach this juncture.
Kerry’s slide and rebuild has been well documented. In 2018, they were relegated to Division 2 of the league, having been docked points for fielding an unregistered player. Manager Graham Shine stepped down mid-season, while there was a separate controversy as the sacking of minor boss Jonathan Griffin by email led to a number of county board resignations.
There have been other unwanted headlines, including the 2022 furore over the team’s limited access to the Centre of Excellence.
That same year, Galway had no official manager days out from the start of the league after Gerry Fahy stepped down. Among other grievances, one needs little reminder of the 2020 All-Ireland final fiasco; the venue/time change, the seven minute warm-up, and the subsequent over-and-back with the LGFA.
Those days appear to be in the rear-view mirror as Kerry and Galway share the biggest stage in ladies football. Opportunity awaits.
*****
2024 TG4 All-Ireland finals
Sunday 4 August, Croke Park, live on TG4
- Junior – Fermanagh v Louth, 11.45am
- Intermediate - Leitrim v Tyrone, 1.45pm
- Senior - Galway v Kerry, 4.15pm.
