The captains gathered in Dublin today ahead of this weekend's TG4 All-Ireland Ladies Football Finals in Croke Park.
Two cracking contests are in store as reigning champions Galway take on current Munster and National League winners Cork in the Senior final at 3.10pm while Armagh meet last year's runners up Sligo in the Junior game at 1.15pm.
Cork have never reached the All-Ireland Senior Ladies football final before but have dominated Ladies football in club competitions and at underage level for the last five years. The Rebels have won two of the last four Minor All-Irelands and three of the last four U-16 titles so in many ways this breakthrough at senior level was inevitable. Cork defeated Galway in the Suzuki National League final this season.
Galway have also been extremely successful at developing underage talent, claiming two Minor titles in 2002 and 2005 and an U-16 Championship in 2003. Last year, Galway won their first Connacht title before capping off a fantastic year off by winning the All-Ireland, putting on a brilliant display to beat John O'Leary's Dublin team in the final.
Cork captain Juliet Murphy is looking forward to Cork's first appearance in an All-Ireland senior final. 25 year old Murphy is no stranger to captaining teams to glory, having skippered her club team Donoughmore to two AIB All-Ireland club titles and Cork to a Suzuki National League and two consecutive Munster titles. The fitness centre manager is looking to go one step further and lead Cork to a TG4 All-Ireland senior championship.
She said: "We are excited to have got this far and we had two very tough games against Meath and Mayo en route. Our goal at the start of the year was to be in Croke Park on October 2nd and we have achieved that. This is our first final and we are up against the Champions who will be all out to win two titles in succession. We know it will be tough but we are really looking forward to it and are ready for the challenge."
Galway captain Aoibheann Daly has had a superb year as captain of her team. She will be looking to follow in the footsteps of last year's captain Annette Clarke and lift the Brendan Martin Cup for the second year running for the hugely impressive champions. "It is great to be back in the All-Ireland final. Winning your first final is supposed to be the best feeling but for me, winning it twice in a row would be an exceptional achievement by an exceptional group of players. Personally, it will be an honour to lead the team out and a dream come true if we lift the cup", she said.
The Junior final looks like it will be an intriguing battle between last year's defeated finalists Sligo and Ulster Junior Champions Armagh. Armagh have looked extremely impressive this year and have already beaten Sligo in the league. The winners of the Junior All-Ireland are promoted to senior level so there is a lot at stake.
The last three Junior winners, Kildare, Donegal and Galway, have all been extremely competitive in the senior ranks since winning the Junior Championship.
Also, the international football tournament is underway in Portmarnock with over 300 Ladies footballers from overseas taking part. Teams from Australasia, Canada, Europe, London, Britain, New York and North America have travelled to Dublin and will be special guests for the final on Sunday.
In addition, the All-Ireland Sevens take place in Portmarnock on Saturday, October 1st with 90 teams competing at junior, intermediate and senior level. Both the Junior and Senior games will be broadcast live on TG4.
