Ladies Gaelic Football

THE TG4 2001 LGFA SENIOR FINAL When the 2020 TG4 All-Ireland Ladies Football Finals are played later this year it will be a momentous day for competition sponsor TG4, who will broadcast their 20th Ladies Senior Football Final. It was a magical day in 2001 when Mayo and Laois locked horns in the Senior decider, and who will forget how the O'Moore County put the anguish of seven unsuccessful finals behind them and ended Mayo's dream of winning three All-Ireland titles in a row. For a fledgling broadcaster it was the dream ending to their big production. Underdogs Laois won the final with the last kick of the game, a free converted by their top scorer Mary Kirwan, but the seconds before that will live long in the memory. For Mayo captain and goalkeeper Denise Horan it was a heavy burden to bear. Instead of launching a long kick out the field, which would have guaranteed her side a replay, she picked out Cora Staunton with a short kick that failed to cross the 21-metre line. Referee Marty Duffy was sharp to spot the infringement. Kirwan kicked the free, and Laois erupted into raptures of delight. Kirwan and Horan recount their joyous and heart-breaking memories of the day... Mary Kirwan (MK): I can't believe it is 19 years since the game. It's only now that you realise how big a deal it was. I don't know what way we prepared that day, I don't know if it was the approach our manager Goggie [Sean Delaney] took with us, there was no pressure on us. It was very strange. Later in my career I was more nervous, and while it was a nervy day with the big crowd and the big roar, that was all new to us, but we just didn't feel the pressure. Denise Horan (DH): '99 was the first win for us, but still 2001 is the one that stands out greater than all the others. Before the finals we always stayed in Maynooth in the seminary and I remember being out for a kick around the morning of the game. I was very, very anxious. The night before I had been thinking: 'We are the favourites; everybody expects us to win; we are good enough to win, and that's the very thing that will be our undoing.' You can't guard against that. I remember feeling there was no reason we shouldn't win this All-Ireland. That wasn't arrogance, it was just that above any year we were better positioned. We had a good win in the semi-final and there was no reason on paper why we shouldn't win it. But I knew that was the most dangerous way to be going into an All-Ireland Final. The reality is that when you are the champions the incentive for the other team is always greater. Three-in- a-row was a huge thing too, so the pressure really was great, and then you had Laois losing their previous seven All-Ireland Finals. For them the desire to win was huge. 2001 WAS TG4'S FIRST ALL-IRELAND. WHAT WAS THE BUILD UP LIKE? MK: Leading up to the game we trained in Crettyard. One night there was an awful amount of commotion. Not that there was a huge number of media there, but there was definitely more people watching us. Goggie made sure no one had a big head, everything was played down. He loved that buzz around All-Ireland Final day. He was such a character, Lord have mercy on him. DH: As captain there was a fair few interviews to do, but locally and nationally there was always a keen interest. You try to keep that to a minimum and not let it intrude too much and I don't think it did. That's something for every captain to deal with – it's part of the deal. You carry it so others don't have to. I was working in the media as a journalist at the time, I knew the deal and I knew it was just part of what had to be done. AFTER A SLOW START MAYO RECOVERED TO LEAD AT HALF- TIME. WHAT WAS THE FEELING? DH: Because we didn't have a great start, at half-time there wasn't a great sense that we had done the job. We knew how games ebbed and flowed. We knew the second-half was going to be tough. It was within our grasp but we knew there was no way that the best of them was gone after 15 minutes. MK: There was a couple of occasions during the game I remember thinking we were in bother. It was such a tough, intense game. I remember Claire Casey and Marcella Heffernan clashing heads, but everyone wanted that ball. It was ferocious. I felt that Mayo had been there twice before, looking for three in a row and they knew what the battle would be like. When you look at that Mayo team now...but we had great players there that day too. THREE POINTS DOWN, MIDWAY THROUGH THE SECOND- HALF LAOIS WIN A PENALTY. UP STEPS MARY KIRWAN MK: Goggie had us practicing frees and penalties before the final. In the moment you are just so focused. I remember standing up to it, taking a few deep breaths and thinking I hope to God it goes in. The power of the shot got it over Denise's hand. I do think it was an important part of the game, definitely and it drew us level. The free taking that day from both sides was very important. In All-Ireland Finals you have to get them. DH: I remember being frozen to the spot. It was high and not into either corner. I was quite frustrated afterwards, I thought 'Flip I could have got to that'. My reflexes were ready to go right or left and in a www.ladiesgaelic.ie | SUMMER 2020 | 21

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