
Síofra O'Shea impressed Kerry have kept up standards from All-Ireland win
Kerry forward Síofra O'Shea says she is pleased Kerry have been able to keep up the standard of football that saw them win the All-Ireland last year.
After going over 30 years without winning the All-Ireland, the Kerry ladies finally got their hands on the prize when they defeated Galway.
Advertisement
This season, they have shown no signs of slowing down, with a Division One title already secured, and a Munster final against Waterford this weekend.
This is despite a change in management, with Mark Bourke taking over from Declan Quill and Darragh Long, along with the retirement of key players.
One player who has been vital to their success is O'Shea, who is pleased Kerry have not dropped off so far this season.
"We lost our opening game to Armagh, we learnt from each game and went on a good winning run which lead us to a league final, where we put in our best performance of the year in that final was definitely satisfying.
Advertisement
"We gave so much effort to win the Brendan Martin Cup. When you do win it, that feeling you get for 30 minutes or so, that is a feeling you want to get back.
"You want to get that again. The celebrations we had after it, that is probably the feeling you are chasing again.
"With a new group, you want to write your own story. Being the hunted, you could get carried away with yourself, but we have been kept fairly grounded.
"Standards are a big think, and Mark Bourke has come in and kept those standards high. His level of training, what he expects of us while we are at training, and way from training is massive."
Advertisement
After final defeats in 2022 and 2023 to Meath and Dublin, it looked as though the moment may have passed for Kerry to win and All-Ireland.
With experienced players having gone down this road before, and management considering what to do, a huge effort by the squad, with the return of O'Shea from injury, ended decades of heartbreak.
The Kerry forward paid tribute to the former management of duo for helping them achieve their dream.
"When you get to an All-Ireland, and lose, you think will we ever get back here again. Then you get back the next year and you think you have done everything in your power to win an All-Ireland, and you fall short again to Dublin
"After that, do we go our separate ways as a group and the management leave, or do we give it one more go? When we decided to give it one go, we just decided to put absolutely everything into it.
"That is when we saw the level we could get to and the hard work that needs to be done. Last year, no one was going to stop us, the hurt fuels that fire."
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


BBC News
3 hours ago
- BBC News
Leinster quartet injury doubts for URC final
British and Irish Lions squad members Tadhg Furlong, Garry Ringrose, Hugo Keenan and Josh van der Flier are injury doubts for Leinster's United Rugby Championship final against the Ringrose and Keenan are nursing calf injuries while Van der Flier's hamstring issue will be assessed before Saturday's game against the South African side at Croke Park, Dublin (17:00 BST). Tight-head prop Furlong has endured an injury-plagued season and last played in Leinster's Investec Champions Cup semi-final loss to Northampton on 3 May. The 32-year-old has managed just eight appearances for Leinster while he missed all but one of Ireland's Six Nations matches. Centre Ringrose has missed the play-offs since coming off injured against Zebre on 10 May, while Van der Flier sustained his hamstring problem in the URC quarter-final win over Scarlets. Fit-again back Jordan Larmour is available to face the Bulls after being part of the extended matchday squad in last weekend's semi-final win over Glasgow, while wing Tommy O'Brien came through that game with no issues after returning from a foot injury.


BBC News
4 hours ago
- BBC News
Leinster 37-19 Glasgow: Three things we learned
Scots downed in Dublin… againFor a Scottish rugby player, heading for Dublin must be about as much fun as heading to the dentist – you know there's going to be Scottish side has ever won at the Aviva Stadium and Irish rugby's haunted house spooked Glasgow into playing well below their were very good. There was a lot of pre-match chat about them being off the boil, but the sight of Scottish opposition on home soil was the perfect followed a similar pattern to many Irish v Scottish match-ups in recent times, and the hex the Irish have over their Celtic cousins shows little sign of being broken any time can be proud of title defenceDespite the disappointing finale, Glasgow can be proud of the defence they put up of their URC title in what has been a very testing injury list has been savage. Sione Tuipulotu, Huw Jones, Zander Fagerson, Scott Cummings and Jack Dempsey have all missed big chunks of the season. They're not the only been a struggle and Warriors have had to dig far down into their reserves to find players to step into the fact they made it to the last four, and dispatched a good Stormers side so impressively in the quarter-finals, is an achievement in Smith – will he stay or will he go?Franco Smith looked emotionally drained when he spoke to BBC Scotland in the bowels of the Aviva Stadium after Saturday's seasons away from your family, living every moment of highs and lows of a team you have invested so much into emotionally, will do that to South African was in no mood to offer any guarantees he will still be at Scotstoun next is clearly unhappy at the direction of travel under performance director David Nucifora with regards to player recruitment, and you wonder if the head coach perhaps feels he has done all he can at Glasgow this space...


BBC News
4 hours ago
- BBC News
Historic yacht race returns to Cornwall after 40 years
A historic yacht race has returned to Cornwall after 40 Royal Cornwall Yacht Club said the Yachting Monthly Triangle Race, now known as the Yachting Monthly Celtic Triangle Race, which set off on Sunday, began in Falmouth in 1984 before it disappeared off the racing club said the competition was taken over by the Royal Torbay Yacht Club in Devon between 1986 and 2018 before a hiatus from 2020 to 2024. The competitors are due back around 20 Davis, deputy race officer, said: "This is a long-standing race but it's come back to the Royal Cornwall and we are delighted to have it back." Mr Davis added: "We are thinking of running it again next year, provided competitors agree to the idea."The Royal Cornwall Yacht Club said the 600-mile (965km) offshore racing event involved 33 yachts competing in two classes; solo and double handed. There were more than 60 people competing, said Mr Davis."It's an important race because it's quite a long one and you can use it as a qualifier for other races," he added. "It's a test of endurance, seamanship, navigation - all that stuff."It's a very very social event as well, which is important. It's for the very good Corinthian sailors."He said the yachts would complete a route, similar to a triangle, between the Celtic ports of Falmouth, Kinsale in Ireland and Treguier in northern Brittany.