Mary O’Connell and Na Gaeil bidding to break new ground in Kerry decider

A few short weeks on from their male counterparts competing in a first-ever top-tier decider in Kerry, Mary O’Connell and the ladies footballers of Na Gaeil are also set to break new ground in Killarney this weekend.

Intermediate county champions in the Kingdom back in 2018, the Tralee-based outfit defeated Finuge/St Senans at Denis Dowling Park, Coolard on September 28th to reach their maiden Kerry LGFA senior championship showpiece.

A fortnight earlier at Austin Stack Park, the Na Gaeil men’s side competed in the Kerry club senior football championship final for the very first time and produced a commendable display before losing out to Dr Crokes on a score of 0-20 to 1-12.

There is a strong connection between both senior teams within Na Gaeil and O’Connell is hoping club supporters will come out in their droves when her side face Southern Gaels in their historic Kerry SFC decider at Fitzgerald Stadium tomorrow afternoon (kick-off 2pm).

“It’s big for the club. We made intermediate finals and junior finals obviously over the years, but this is the first time we’ve been in a senior final in the history of our club. It’s a big day out and the senior men made their first senior final there a couple of weeks ago with the club championships. It’s good for the club,” O’Connell explained.

“You’d hope that there is good support. There has been good support this year and there was a lot of underage girls that came out to support us in our semi-final. We’d hope that there’d be a big enough crowd coming for the final as well. Hopefully we can put on a good performance for them.”

Whereas Na Gaeil are newcomers as far as senior county finals in Kerry is concerned, their opponents Southern Gaels will be featuring in a top-tier