Captains Meet in Croke Park as they Gear up for All-Ireland Finals Weekend

The captains from the four competing counties in this
year’s TG4 All Ireland Senior and Junior Ladies Football finals
were present at GAA Headquarters today ahead of the big games which
take place in Croke Park on Sunday, October 1st.

A big crowd is expected to attend the showpiece of the Ladies Football
season as last year’s All Ireland senior champions Cork hope to
successfully defend their title against this season’s surprise package
Armagh. In the junior decider, Sligo will be hoping to win the junior
championship at the third time of asking against Connacht neighbours
Leitrim.

Cork won their first ever Brendan Martin Cup in 2005 and have gone
about retaining their crown in impressive style. Their emphatic
win over Waterford in the Munster Final signalled their intent to
defend their senior All Ireland title and at the quarter-final stage
the Rebel ladies overcame a resilient Mayo side before dispatching
Leinster Champions Laois in the semis to book their place in the
final.

Cork’s All Ireland winning captain from last year Juliet Murphy
will again lead her side out on Sunday and she is looking forward
to the challenge ahead.

“We’ve prepared really well over the last two weeks and we’ve
watched videos of Armagh and they are a quality side. They play
in a similar open style to ourselves so I think its really going
to go down to the wire on Sunday,” said Murphy, who was selected
as an All Star in 2005 and has won every major honour in Ladies
Football.

Armagh are looking to make history this weekend as they aim to
become the first county to win the junior and senior championships
back to back. Armagh have exceeded expectations by getting to the
final in their first year playing senior football.

The Orchard overcame Monaghan to take their first senior Ulster
title and then beat Waterford by seven points in the quarters before
claiming a dramatic one point victory over last year’s beaten finalist
Galway to secure their big day out in Croke Park.

Armagh’s All Star captain Bronagh O’Donnell is excited at the prospect
of another big day out in Croke Park.

“This year just gets better and better for us. We set out
to win the Ulster Championship and everything since has been a bonus.
We now find ourselves in the All Ireland final and we have nothing
to lose. There’s no pressure on us, we are massive underdogs and
everyone is looking forward to it. The whole county is behind us
and it would be unbelievable to win the Championship in our first
year playing in the senior grade”, said O’Donnell.

Sligo are making their third trip to Croke Park in as many years
and will be hoping to claim their first junior title after losing
out to Kildare in 2004 and then to Armagh in 2005. Sligo beat Wexford
and Clare to complete their hat-trick of finals appearances but
to lose three in a row would be heartbreaking. The Yeats County
ladies will be also be looking to avenge the one point defeat they
suffered at the hands of Leitrim in the Connacht junior final earlier
in the year.

Leitrim have looked impressive this season with victories over
Limerick and Longford on their way to the final. Leitrim have not
appeared in an All Ireland junior final since 1988 when they defeated
London to take their only championship title.

Geraldine Giles, President of the Ladies Gaelic Football Association,
was present at Croke Park to welcome the captains of the four counties
and is excited by the prospect of a great afternoon of football.

“Our All Ireland Finals have become our major showpiece of
the year and I’ve no doubt that both finals on Sunday will live
up to their expectations”.

“Once again our sponsors TG4 have been to the forefront of
the promotion of our sport and the additional live games from the
quarter final stages of our championship have been an added boost
to the profile of our junior and senior teams. The meeting of Connacht
rivals Leitrim and Sligo in the junior final and the first ever
meeting of the 2005 junior and senior champions, Armagh and Cork,
should provide much excitement on the day”

Both junior and senior games will be broadcast live on TG4. Ladies
Gaelic Football is recognised as the largest female sport in Ireland,
with over 100,000 participants in over 1,000 clubs in Ireland and
overseas.

The All Stars toured Singapore earlier this year and in November
of this year Ireland will play host to the first ever Ladies International
Rules Series. The All-Ireland Sevens take place in Malahide and
Portmarnock on Saturday, September 30 with club teams from all over
the country taking part.