Divilly: 'As a group we’re so close'

By Oisín Noone

THE disappointment of Galway’s All-Ireland final defeat to Kerry in 2024 remains fresh in Olivia Divilly’s mind, but the vice-captain believes the experience of that occasion can help the squad when they return to Croke Park on Sunday.

Two seasons on, the 30-year-old is preparing for another opportunity at the sport’s biggest prize. This time, however, she believes Galway arrive with a better understanding of what lies ahead of them, having already sampled the intensity and occasion of an All-Ireland decider.

“It’s brilliant to be looking forward to a final,” said Divilly. “It’s what you start out every year hoping to be playing for as long as possible and getting to play a good part. It’s good to be back and hopefully we will go a step further.”

Divilly feels that Galway’s familiarity with the occasion removes one of the unknowns before Sunday’s decider.

“I think it’s a good experience having played in Croke Park before in front of that crowd.

“When you come out you’re hit with the noise. It is a different occasion than quarter-finals and semi-finals. A lot of the girls on the panel were around there in 2024 as well. That will be a good experience and hopefully we’ll have drawn on it.”

That familiarity extends well beyond county football within the Galway squad. A large cohort of the panel come from Kilkerrin-Clonberne, whose remarkable run of five All-Ireland club titles in-a-row has helped shape much of the current county team.

“There’s 11 of us involved from Kilkerrin-Clonberne,” Divilly said. “It is nice to know that you’ve played in finals and won finals before. Even outside of that Kilkerrin-Clonberne group there’s a lot of girls who’ve won All-Irelands with their own clubs at intermediate or junior level, while others have won U-16 and minor All-Irelands with Galway. All of that experience is definitely positive.”

Preparation has remained firmly performance-driven throughout the build-up. Rather than becoming distracted by the occasion, Divilly says the players have trusted management to oversee that side of the preparation while concentrating on their own standards.

“We’re fortunate enough that for these two weeks our only focus is to get ourselves right and make sure we get a good performance on the day.

“In relation to the occasion or focussing on Kerry, we trust the management team with that. They do their homework and they prepare us and we just have to go out and execute the plan on the day.”

The review process following Galway’s comprehensive semi-final victory over Armagh reflected that approach. Despite winning comfortably, Divilly says the squad immediately identified aspects requiring improvement.

“We weren’t happy with our conversion rate up front and we’re focussing on retention of our kick-outs.

“We know that Kerry will put huge pressure on us all over the field, whether that is retaining our kick-outs or whether it’s getting shots off and execution further up the pitch.”

As vice-captain, Divilly is among a cohort of players that works closely with Daniel Moynihan and his backroom team.

“We all get on well. We have a leadership group of six and we’d always be in open communications and run things by each other and liaise with management as well. We have a really positive relationship and it’s nice and it’s special to be part of that group.”

Galway’s attacking threat has also been built on their ability to move the ball quickly and create opportunities before opposition defences can settle. Divilly, scorer of 2-24 over the past four games, believes that has become an important part of their game plan.

“We have been transitioning the ball at pace. It has been something that we have worked on.

“When we get into our attacking shape, the opposition might not be set up and it might be easier to get shots off. Retaining possession, especially against tough opposition, is probably the most important thing.”

That togetherness, Divilly believes, has become the defining characteristic of the current Galway squad.

“I think as a group we’re so close. It’s probably the closest and tightest-knit Galway panel that I’ve ever been on. The hurt from losing last year’s All-Ireland semi-final – we were heartbroken. We knew we didn’t want to find ourselves in a similar position again.

“We have used that hurt to drive us on and get back to an All-Ireland final, but also hopefully go one step further as well.”