DUBLIN CAPTAIN SINÉAD Aherne settles into her seat in the lobby of the Croke Park Hotel as dictaphones are fired onto the table by the journalists who surround her.
Mayo, round two? The first question she’s greeted with is of course in reference to a repeat of the 2017 All-Ireland senior championship final in which she guided her side to the Holy Grail.
“Well, round whatever at this stage,” she grins, with all focus on the Lidl Ladies National Football League Division 1 final on Sunday.
They’ve locked horns since that day in Croke Park, of course, with the Sky Blues again coming out on the right side of a fierce battle by two points in February.
September’s showpiece finished up with 12 in the difference but it was late goals that proved key for Mick Bohan’s charges, with the scoreline an unfair reflection on the game in question.
In last year’s league campaign, they met as part of an historic double-header with the men at HQ and it was Mayo who came out on top by a single point.
“Close games over the last year or two so expecting another tight one,” Aherne adds.
Dublin have been beaten just once in 2018, and that was by Galway in the group stages of Division 1. It very nearly happened again in the semi-final but a late, late Nicole Owens goal saved the day to send them past the Tribeswomen as their quest continues for a first-ever league title.
That ability to find a way in tight games is encouraging, but there’s a lot of improvements to be made ahead of the final. Aherne knows they can’t afford to slip behind and be left chasing against Mayo like they did with their Connacht counterparts last time out.
“We obviously weren’t happy with the last day and I think we know we need to make a huge step up if we’re going to beat Mayo. Form-wise, they’re coming into on an upward curve and we have been off the boil a little bit.
“We can’t afford to give Mayo a head start the way we did against Galway because I think they have the quality to push it throughout the game.
“I think we have to minimise our mistakes. Their forwards are strong so we need to defensively keep it very tight. They’ve put up some really big scores so their forwards have been going really well so we need to be solid and make sure that they’re not getting on top of us in there.”
It’s well documented that Dublin enjoy using the league to experiment and try out new players and systems, and Aherne echoes that as she maps their journey to Parnell Park.
“The league is a different kettle of fish. Its been great to see players coming in, you obviously need that freshness and you need players challenging right throughout your panel.
“For us to be able to achieve good consistency and results despite that we’ve been changing teams around a good bit is great for the panel.
“Obviously we seen last year against Mayo, you need players coming off your bench that are going to propel you forward so it’s a hugely important aspect that you need to get right.”
She adds: “We just hope to bring our game on a small bit into championship.
“I think we’ve managed to do some things well but there’s obviously lots of things (to improve on). The standards and the number of teams that are challenging just continues to rise so we know that we’ll have a lot of work to do, not only for Sunday but to improve going into championship as well.”
Briefly aforementioned, but one often forgets that Dublin have actually never lifted the league crown so that’s surely top of their list of goals at the minute.
How much would it mean to win that title, to add that to the trophy cabinet? And of course, bringing that confidence and winning feeling onward into the summer’s action?
“It’s great to get another seriously competitive match to bring you into championship. It’s a national title, it’s obviously something that we’d like to win.
“It shows a measure of consistency in results and performance that can only be a bonus going into championship. The main thing is just trying to work on increasing our performance, our performance levels from the last day. We’re going to have to be on top of our game for Mayo on Sunday.
“Regardless of what’s gone before it, it’s two teams that are going for a prize on the day so I’m sure both of us will equally be as hungry to get that. For us, it would be a first [Division 1] National League title for Dublin so that would be huge.”
With Cavan and Tipperary also set for a cracking battle in the Division 2 decider, Parnell Park is most definitely the place to be on Sunday.
And with that record-shattering attendance of 46,286 still fresh in the minds from September’s All-Ireland final, Aherne and all involved are most definitely hoping that the interest levels will filter through to Donnycarney this weekend.
“It’s a great opportunity,” the St Sylvester’s sharpshooter concludes.
“The quality of the two games that will be on show will be right up there. It would be nice to think that the crowd that travelled last year to the All-Ireland final will be something similar.
“It’s a smaller stadium so to be able to fill it would be a great atmosphere.”
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