Lally fighting fit to lead Mayo ladies into battle

Mayo defender Saoirse Lally has certainly had a whirlwind 2024 to date. From being handed the senior captaincy to cardiac screening potentially saving her life, there's been a great ability by the Westport player to turn setbacks to positives as she and her Mayo colleagues hone in on the prospect of back-to-back Connacht senior football titles in Kiltoom against Galway this Sunday.

Lally has had her fair share of injuries over the years, including twice fracturing her collarbone two years ago which left her out of action for nine months.

But this was nothing to compare to the shock of being diagnosed with a condition linked to SADS (Sudden Adult Death Syndrome), after a routine screening at the start of this year.

“Our whole squad got cardiac screened in February. I never thought anything would ever come of it because I've played multiple sports my whole life and never once had an issue. So then once I found out that I had a condition called pre-excitation syndrome, it was a massive shock,” explained Lally at last week’s AIG LGFA Championship launch.

“Thankfully, there's no one else on the team that had it. But at the start I kind of thought, oh, this is it. I'm going to be out for the year, but once I got my the procedure done in Dublin it was a week's rest and then I was back in with the Mayo team again. It was such a relief and now I find it easier to catch my breath and stuff in trainings or in a tough game, which is great.” 

Saoirse Lally feels everyone should get a screening no matter what their background, with the adage ‘it's better to be safe than sorry’ ringing true.

“Obviously the Dylan Quirke situation was very sad and it's just a prime example of how important cardiac screening is and I think everyone should get it regardless of your age and your sport.

“I think managements should be pushing for it as well because I know a lot of players don't actually go get it done because they're scared that if something comes up they might never play football again or might never be on the panel for the rest of the year or be on the starting team. But you might only be out for a week so yeah, I think it should be really pushed and be made compulsory really.” 

Lally is like a springboard, always coming back for more, and in her sixth year on the Mayo squad she is now an established force.

The monkey came off the back last year with Mayo winning their first Connacht senior title since 2017, but Lally is expecting nothing easy as they search for back-to-back crowns.

"It's always a big rivalry. We know Galway inside out and they know us inside out at this stage," she said.

"We play each other so many times each year, but it always makes for a great game. We played them in the league this year and we only beat them by point and they could have easily won that game, they had a last-minute free. So it just goes to show how close the teams will be.

"They have a few Kilkerrin-Clonberne players back who always get to the All-Ireland club final, so they'd be a very strong side. They have the likes of Nicola Ward, who is a very attacking defender so yeah, it'd be a good challenge, but we're really looking forward to it."

Mayo beat Galway to secure their first victory of the 2024 LIDL National League back in January, but there will be many differences in personnel this time around – on both sides.

"We also have a few players back from injury, like Éilís Ronayne,” explains Lally. “She was out for a good bit of the league, so it's great to have her back in again. And we also got a good few younger girls, the likes of Alana Fitzpatrick started a lot of our league games this year, she's a very diverse player. Fionnuala McLaughlin as well from my club, she's brilliant. She started in every league game. It's exciting to see new players coming in but we also have a lot of experience as well, both on the bench and the starting team, so definitely a bit of a mix."

It brings to six, the number of Westport players involved in the Mayo squad, up from two last year. Westport lost the 2023 senior championship decider to Knockmore by just two points in their first appearance in the final and Lally is hopeful that club success may come in 2024.

“The club championship in Mayo is so competitive now, there's a couple of teams up from intermediate as well who will be pushing everyone. We were with our club's there for games in the league the last few weekends so that was nice to kind of mix with them instead of just going back in August. It's all on the day really at the club but our focus at the minute is county,” concluded the captain.