FOR the very first time, Galway and Kerry will lock horns in a TG4 All-Ireland Ladies Senior Football Championship Final.
These are two teams very much here on merit – and with huge levels of motivation.
The quest for Galway is to land the Brendan Martin Cup for the first time since 2004, while Kerry’s wait for glory stretches back to 1993.
Galway’s last appearance in a Senior decider was back in 2019, when they lost out to Dublin, while Kerry have been runners-up for the past two seasons, and the Kingdom will be desperately keen to avoid an unwanted hat-trick.
When the counties met this year in Division 1 of the Lidl National League, Kerry came out on top but now the stakes are at their highest as they renew acquaintances.
In 2023, they locked horns at Croke Park in a Lidl National League Division 1 Final, won comfortably by Kerry, while their last Senior Championship meeting was back in 2022, when Kerry won in the group stages.
For Galway, reaching the Final represents significant progress and huge strides have been taken since quarter-final defeats in 2023 and 2022, and relegation from Division 1 of the Lidl National League this year.
Galway regrouped following that League disappointment to land the Connacht title and now they’re within 60 minutes of a first All-Ireland title in 20 years.
The Tribeswomen lost out to Cork in the group stages of the All-Ireland series but after beating Laois to advance, they scalped Dublin and Cork in the knockout stages to reach Croke Park.
Kerry, for their part, bounced from the disappointment of losing the Lidl NFL Division 1 Final to Armagh as they conquered Munster for the first time since 2017, and they’re unbeaten in the All-Ireland Championship series.
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Alongside Cork, with 11 titles each, Kerry have won this competition more times than any other county, as they get ready for a 15th Senior Final.
A win would move them out in front on the overall roll of honour – and in the LGFA’s 50th year.
Victory for Galway would secure just a second TG4 All-Ireland crown, as they get set for a fifth Final appearance.
The two teams appear to be peaking at the perfect time and now the scene is set for a potential classic.
Looking for potential match-winners, Galway pair Olivia Divilly and Róisín Leonard are both in a rich vein of form.
In the TG4 All-Ireland Senior championship series, they are the competition’s joint-leading scorers, Divilly on 3-16, while Leonard has contributed 4-13.
Both have been superb of late, as has inspirational captain, Ailbhe Davoren (3-2 in the All-Ireland series), and in the victories over Dublin and Cork, Leonard contributed a combined 3-8.
On the Kerry side, Danielle O’Leary is her side’s leading scorer in the All-Ireland series, with 1-8.
Evergreen Louise Ní Mhuircheartaigh has 0-9 on the board and while this hasn’t been the most prolific of seasons for the Corca Dhuibhne star, she could explode on the big day.
Emma Dineen (1-5) and Síofra O’Shea (1-4), who’s now thankfully returned to full fitness following a serious knee injury, are other players who will be hoping to contribute to the Kerry scoring tally.
Sunday’s game could be a classic, with two teams excellent defensively but also possessing players from midfield up with magical scoring talent.
Their respective semi-final victories were cagey affairs for the most part but the old saying goes that semi-finals are for winning, no matter how it’s done.
So, which county’s long famine will end on Sunday, and will it be Kerry’s Niamh Carmody or Galway’s Ailbhe Davoren hoisting the Brendan Martin Cup skywards?
All will be revealed in the 51st All-Ireland Senior Championship Final, as Kerry go with an unchanged starting line-up, while Emma Reaney replaces Ailish Morrissey on the Galway team, in the only change in personnel.
Galway: D Gower; M Jordan, S Ní Loingsigh, K Geraghty; A Ní Cheallaigh, N Ward, C Cooney; M Glynn, A Davoren (capt.); O Divilly, L Ward, N Divilly; E Reaney, L Coen, R Leonard.
Kerry: C Butler; E Lynch, K Cronin, C Murphy; A O’Connell, D Kearney, A Dillane; M O’Connell, A Galvin; N Carmody (capt.), N Ní Chonchúir, S O’Shea; D O’Leary, E Dineen, L Ní Mhuircheartaigh.