'Two teams with a chip on their shoulders': Galway boss braced for Kerry challenge

Daniel Moynihan's career so far has been building to his dream job with the Galway ladies footballers

Daniel Moynihan: "This was probably the aim when I first started with the Galway minors, to try and get to this stage and to not only get the job but be successful." Pic: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile

Daniel Moynihan felt it was important to gain experience with the Galway minor footballers and the Kildare senior ladies team before taking up the role as Galway senior ladies football manager.

The Ballinasloe native feels those experiences stood to him before taking up the role as manager of the Tribeswomen’s senior team in 2024, which he admitted has always been his dream job.

“I’ve been around the block awhile now in relation to ladies football," said Moynihan.

"I fell into the ladies football side of things. A few years back through Mary Hernon, I got involved with development squads and then fell into the minor job in Galway.

“Then, I took some time away from Galway going over to Kildare. I learned a lot from that job, it was a case of coming back into that minor job with Galway, all of sudden the senior job came up.

“This was probably the aim when I first started with the Galway minors, to try and get to this stage and to not only get the job but be successful. That’s the important thing, you can win Connacht and league titles but you’re ultimately going to be judged on whether you can get Galway over the line and win an All-Ireland, hopefully we can do that this weekend.” 

Since their narrow victory over Mayo in the Connacht final, Galway have cruised into the All-Ireland final. Comprehensive victories over Meath (by 15 points), Tyrone (by 19) and Mayo (by 17) in the quarter-final underline just how dominant Moynihan's side have been. While they have yet to face a sustained challenge, those results also highlight Galway's clinical edge and ability to ruthlessly punish opponents.

However, the lack of competitive games on Galway’s run to the All-Ireland final isn’t something that concerns Moynihan.

“You might look at the scorelines and think they weren’t competitive games but the way we prepared and performed. Gradually, there has been improvements in our play from the group stages leading into the All-Ireland semi-final,” explained Moynihan.

“We felt that we played really good football against Armagh, and we negated a lot of their threats through a lot of hard work. If you spoke to any of the girls after the game, they weren’t running around full of energy, they put a huge amount of work into it, that’s only going to stand to us going into an All-Ireland final.” 

Moynihan is expecting a tough contest against the Kingdom.

“Kerry are big and strong, they’re a physical team, they have a huge level of experience," he said.

"They got over the line two years ago as well which is also a big thing, they have their dangers, they have key footballers. Danielle O’Leary and Siofra O Shea in the full forward line, Mary O’Connell in midfield a real powerful player, they have a lot of players with a lot of talent. 

“They have that mix of youth and experience in their team, they have a lot of things going for themselves as well. Kerry will feel disappointed they didn’t get over the line last year and that drove them on getting to the final this year. It’s probably two teams that have a chip on their shoulders about last year going into the final this year.” 

The Galway squad has reached an ideal stage in its development, with experienced leaders such as Sarah Ní Loingsigh (34), Roisín Leonard (32), Olivia Divilly (30), and sisters Nicola and Louise Ward (29) combining with an emerging younger generation.

“This was the aim at the start of the season," said Moynihan, "not something you would shout about at the start of the season, but privately as a group even after last year we felt that we are one of the better teams in the country and that we could get back to Croke Park. We are delighted to be back here again."