WITH PROGRESSION TO the TG4 All-Ireland semi-finals already secured for both Mayo and Dublin, much of the talk ahead of this weekend’s Group 4 meeting between them surrounds off-field matters.
Mayo, who soldier on without the 12 players that departed the squad earlier this month, have plenty of motivation heading into this tie against a team who beat them in two national finals in the last 10 months.
Dublin came out the right side in last September’s All-Ireland final and the Division 1 final back in May. They also ran out winners in the February league meeting between the sides.
“We had the All-Ireland last year and league final this year and they were probably the most entertaining matches I played in,” Dublin goalkeeper Ciara Trant tells The42.
“I know when we go out to play Mayo it’s going to be a good match. It’s going to be a tussle that’s physically and emotionally draining. But that’s what you want to play for.
“It’s just tense. You don’t know who’s going to win, you can go either way. I think both sides just leave it all out there, we empty ourselves. You’re not going to get a result against Mayo unless to empty yourself and give it everything.”
Mayo boss Peter Leahy, who came in as a coach last summer, had a war of words with Mick Bohan in the lead-up to the All-Ireland final over comments he made about Cora Staunton.
Incidentally, all-time leading scorer Staunton is no longer part of the Mayo set-up, citing “player welfare issues” as the reason for her departure.
“You couldn’t not hear about it being all over the national media and stuff,” Trant says of Staunton’s departure. She feels the upheaval may even give their opponents an extra edge for the remainder of the season.
“We had our own stuff to focus on. It’s Mayo’s business and I think if anything it gave them that extra bite for their performance against Cavan – you could see how much it meant to them after that match.
“They’ve perhaps a bigger reason now to win or an extra thing spurring them on. It makes them possibly a more dangerous outfit than before. It’s brought them together a lot but we just have to focus on ourselves. Focusing on the opposition isn’t going to win you a game or an All-Ireland. It’s just all focused on Dublin for the next week ahead.”
Trant is a secondary school teacher in St Michaels Holy Faith in Finglas. She embraces the summers off, which free her up to revolve her days around football.
“Recovery is a big one,” she explains. “It’s easier to get your head in the right place. Maybe you don’t have as many distractions to take your head away from football to keep you mentally a bit fresher.
“It’s all the time thinking football but that’s what I enjoy more. It gives me more time to be in the correct headspace going into a training session or towards a match. It suits me, I won’t change it for as long as I’m playing for Dublin.
Trant continues: “I go out for lunch sometimes and meet up with people, go for walks. It’s usually get up eat for football, get your rest, do something, eat for football, it all kind of shifts around what I have in the evening.”
Like any elite sportsperson, Trant is always investigating different areas to improve her game – be it studying Richie McCaw’s mental approach or dissecting other goalkeepers on Youtube.
“At the moment I’m reading lots of books. I’m on Richie McCaw’s at the moment which I’m really enjoying. This summer I’m trying to educate myself a bit more about sports and mindsets in sports.
“I watch stuff online as much as I can. I got to play for a year under Cliodhna O’Connor which was nice. She was one of the greatest goalkeepers in Ireland so that was great. I’ve had really good goalkeeper coaches – Ronan McGann, Liam Swift have been great and now Ryan O’Flaherty at the moment is fantastic.
“I think I’ve learned more in the last year and a half about the position than I did ever before. He makes training so good and every time I go out I’m learning something new so I’m learning more from him than I have from anything else which is great.”
The goalkeeping position has evolved in the women’s game just like the men’s. Retaining possession is paramount from kick-outs and Trant recalls some valuable advice she received from a former manager.
“He said to me, ‘You’re just taking a free. You’re just restarting the game. Don’t think of it as a kick-out.’ So that helped.
“Obviously you’re learning from the way the lads game has gone from restarts has helped me and helped Dublin and hopefully in Ladies football we can learn from that and make it better. The position has gained a lot more respect over the last couple of years, which is good.
“I played midfield before I played in goal so straight away when I was stuck in the nets I did have an appreciation for kick-outs and what kind of ball a player likes to receive in a kick-out.”
Like many of the best netminders, Trant didn’t start out between the posts. Before the 2012 All-Ireland minor semi-final, Dublin’s two goalkeepers were away on holidays and the St Brigid’s player stepped in to fill the void.
Dublin lifted the minor title that year and five years later Trant started in goals as the Sky Blues claimed Dublin the senior All-Ireland crown.
“Six years. I don’t think I’m getting outfield now. I’d like to have ambitions to play outfield, particularly with club, but I’m happy enough in goal. I think I do it well and I think if you’re good at something you take enjoyment from it.
“I enjoy it and the girls in the team trust me and have faith in me in goal so that kind of spurs me on a little bit more.”
Trant rounded last season off with her first All-Star award, but 2017 has firmly been parked as the Dubs set their sights on retaining the Brendan Martin Cup.
“Mick is very good especially at focusing on where your head needs to be coming up to a game or a series of games. Immediately after we regrouped after Christmas it was parked and the focus was on trying to perform in the league.
“Our goal at the start of the league was to win it so we put the heads down straight away and focused on that. We had a nice long break after the All-Ireland to enjoy it and then it was parked and we moved on.
“We have our own standards and under Mick in the past two years we haven’t come off the pitch ever being entirely happy with the result. Even last year’s All-Ireland final it wasn’t our best performance of the year, even though we managed to grind it out and get the win.
“So it’s all the time about chasing those standards and that’s sport. It’s never going to be the perfect performance but he’s all the time trying to make us improve. At the weekend against Cavan, okay we racked up a good score but offensively and defensively we were poor and there’s a lot we need to tighten up on for this weekend.”
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