Ladies Gaelic Football

Peil Spring 2021

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www.ladiesgaelic.ie | SPRING 2021 | 19 FEATURE Ireland title, while restrictions had loosened and it was possible at the time to see more people. "I said to myself 'you should enjoy this – it doesn't come around very often.'" On the injury itself, Wall remembers feeling a 'pop' in her right knee, and experiencing the swelling sensation as if a balloon was being inflated in the joint. Team physio Hayley Clarke attempted to calm a stricken Wall, who wanted to play on but couldn't walk. A medical cart ferried Wall to a medial room, where she was examined briefly before being allowed back out to join team-mates seated in the lower Hogan Stand. "I was very upset just seeing the girls (again)," says Wall. "My close team-mate, Shelly Melia, sat on the steps beside me and I broke down again." But Sarah was back in time to watch her elder sister Vikki claim possession before powering through the Westmeath defence to crack home one of the goals of the season. When presented with the TG4 Intermediate Players' Player of the Year award, Vikki spoke about 'fearg an domhain' or the rage that burned inside her after seeing Sarah going off the pitch. And Sarah smiles: "I think she was seeing red a bit! It's all in our nature in our house – a bit from Mam and Dad! "But we use it in a good way – 'I'm going and nobody's stopping me!'" At full-time, there was another great moment as Vikki offered Sarah a piggy-back that was cut short when Vikki was summoned by TG4 for a player of the match interview. It's a clip that went viral as Vikki has to lower Sarah, who limps away, to the ground before fulfilling media commitments! "It was really funny," Sarah laughs. "I didn't realise it at the time – it was only afterwards back in the dressing room and there were so many people tagging me in the video! "We were both just laughing. It looked so funny! Vikki was saying 'I swear, I tried to keep going but people said I had to do it (interview)!' I said back: 'Everybody seeing your true colours!'" They've always been close, the footballing sisters and daughters of Tom and Caroline Wall. There's another girl in the family, Charlotte, whose passion is in another field – dog grooming. "I started out with football and some athletics," Sarah explains. "Vikki was a big soccer head – that's what my Dad did, he was mad into soccer. Above: Sarah Wall of Meath in action against Niamh O'Neill of Tyrone. Bottom Left: Sarah Wall of Meath in action against Caoimhe Condon of Tipperary. Bottom Right: Vikki Wall checks on her sister Sarah "IT WAS REALLY FUNNY,". "I DIDN'T REALISE IT AT THE TIME – IT WAS ONLY AFTERWARDS BACK IN THE DRESSING ROOM AND THERE WERE SO MANY PEOPLE TAGGING ME IN THE VIDEO!

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