McHale spreads the net as some big names opt out for 2025
Bree Hession was one of the stars of Claremorris' run to the currentaccount.ie All-Ireland Junior Club Football Championship Final in 2023 and is included in the Mayo senior panel ahead o the new season. Picture: INPHO/Tom Maher
13 is the lucky number for a number of club footballers across the county as that is the number of new additions to Liam McHale’s Mayo senior ladies football panel ahead of the 2025 campaign.
The manager has cast his net far and wide as the legendary All-Star prepares to embark in his second season in charge of the Green and Red.
His job has become more difficult however, with confirmation that a number of Mayo’s best-known players have made themselves unavailable for the year ahead, the Cafferky sisters, Lisa and Sinead, and goalkeeper Laura Brennan among them. Lisa Cafferky and Laura Brennan were both selected on last year’s Lidl National Football League Division 1 Team of the Year. Carnacon stalwart Fiona McHale has also opted out for 2025 along with former All-star nominee Éilis Ronayne and this, of course, is on top of the fact that some of Mayo’s very best footballers continue to ply their trade in the Australian Football League, with sisters Grace and Niamh re-uniting at the Adelaide Crows, and Dayna Finn, Rachel Kearns, Sarah Rowe and Aileen Gilroy also still operating at the very top of their game Down Under.
All that, however, has presented opportunities to up and coming talent within the county. The newcomers to Liam McHale’s squad include Bree Hession of Claremorris and Kayla Doherty of MacHale Rovers, two of the most exciting attacking prospects in the county at present.
Knockmore’s Clodagh Keane, who has proved a headache for many club defenders in recent years, also makes her panel debut and is certain to be a key part of plans for the season ahead. Westport defender Sherin El Massry returns to the panel following a phenomenal season which culminated in the club’s first ever senior county title success.
But while there is an air of new about this season for the Mayo ladies, and plenty of learning curves ahead for the players and management alike, there are plenty of big names and talent providing the foundations, with former two-time All-Star Danielle Caldwell and nominees, Saoirse Lally and Kathryn O’Sullivan, joined by rising stars of the game in the likes of Aoife Geragthy , Maria Cannon, Erin Murray and Sinead Walsh.
In addition, a number of key figures have returned to the fold, such as Kilmoremoy’s Ciara Whyte, who took a break from duty last year. Whyte was an integral part of Michael Moyles’ outfit who lost out to Kerry in Croke Park in 2022, and is likely to once again be a key player, with her experience a valuable asset to the new-look side. Her clubmate Mary McHale also makes a welcome return to the green and red jersey, and the 27-year-old will be eager to impress, while Charlestown’s Ella Brennan also returns to the fold following an ACL injury, and will certainly be vying for a starting 15 jersey in this season’s match-day panels.
Looking ahead to the 2025 season, McHale is upbeat about the potential of the squad.
“The talent of some of these young players is phenomenal,” said the Ballina native.
“We are really excited to see what the new season brings and training has been very competitive and positive over the past few weeks.” With a tough league opener against the Dubs in Parnell Park to look forward to at the end of the month, the Mayo ladies league campaign will certainly be used to gauge where this new-look team is at.
