Galway meet Donegal in inaugural All-Ireland U-20 final

11-team championship run on pilot basis

HISTORY will be made at Kilcoyne Memorial Park, Tubbercurry this afternoon (Saturday) as Galway and Donegal go head-to-head in the inaugural All-Ireland U-20 Football Championship final (throw-in: 1pm).

Run by the Ladies Gaelic Football Association on a pilot basis, the competition was introduced in an effort to bridge the gap between minor and senior level, giving players the opportunity to gradually develop and gain experience before hopefully stepping up the ranks.

Galway enter the fixture against a unique backdrop having not played a minute of competitive football since late May and then qualifying for the decider without kicking a ball last Saturday week.

That's because their round-robin programme ended prior to their bye as wins against Meath (2-14 to 1-8), Mayo (1-16 to 1-8) and Cork (3-4 to 1-7) put Galway in pole position before suffering the only setback of their campaign versus Dublin (2-13 to 4-16).

That latter result in the capital threw their progress into doubt and left an anxious wait as the pause button was pressed on the competition until after the Leaving Cert exams.

Drama was in high supply when it resumed in last Saturday week's closing round when the already-eliminated Meath held Dublin to a draw and Cork defeated Mayo.

A win would have sent Dublin through to the final. Instead, however, the combination of results left Galway and Cork deadlocked on match points at the summit of affairs, with Kevin Joyce's charges going through by virtue of their head-to-head victory over the Rebels.

Goalkeeper Eadie Ryan (Kilconly) has been in ever-present, while their back line in their most recent fixture against Dublin was made up of Ellen Jordan (Caltra Cuans), Jess Ross (Naomh Mhuire), Saoirse Coleman (Naomh Mhuire), Aoife Nash (Salthill-Knocknacarra), Caoimhe McCabe (Caltra Cuans) and Aoibhinn Madden (Kilkerrin-Clonberne). Leanne Seoige (Naomh Anna Leitir Móir) and Ruby Quinn (Claregalway) have also started matches in defence.

Team captain Klara Banek (Oughterard) and Saoirse Murray (Caltra Cuans) have formed their regular midfield pairing. Aisling Murray (Caltra Cuans), Sarah Banks (Tuam-Cortoon), Katie Slattery (Dunmore MacHales), Isabelle Murray (Dunmore MacHales), Alisha O'Malley (St. Fursey's) and Ava Heneghan (St. Fursey's) were in attack last time out.

O'Malley, last year's Galway U-18 captain, has been the side's scorer-in-chief (3-29, 3-12 from open play) followed by Saoirse Murray (1-3), Isabelle Murray (1-3), Ava Heneghan (0-4), Sarah Banks (0-4), Aisling Murray (1-1), Katie Slattery (1-1), Aoibhinn Madden (1-0) and Klara Banek (0-2),

While Galway, Meath, Dublin, Mayo and Cork were on one side of the competition, six Ulster counties competed on the other before Donegal emerged final victors against Tyrone. Cavan, Monaghan, Fermanagh and Down were also involved.

Midfielder Lucy Ward was named player of the match while attackers Sara Thomas, with a hat-trick, and Maeve Brady netted in that decider (5-10 to 1-14). Managed by Paul Gillespie and Dessie McNamara, they reached the final by topping a group against the Red Hand County (6-14 to 2-10) and Down (4-13 to 0-8) before getting the better of Monaghan in the semi-final (2-7 to 0-9).

Galway are bidding to win the first U-20 All-Ireland, having won the last U-21 All-Ireland before that competition was discontinued in 2017. Emma Reaney's incredible individual haul of 5-2 was the centrepiece a 10-15 to 0-10 final rout of Mayo back then. Stephen Glennon managed a star-studded team that included current seniors in the Ward twins, Nicola and Louise, Olivia Divilly and Shauna Hynes, plus a whole host of players who went on wear maroon and white at the highest level.