“Everyone is fighting for their place” | Graham Shine and Roisin Ambrose readying themselves for Sligo visit

Graham Shine’s side hammered Kilkenny in the opener, and are hoping they get a big crowd to cheer them on in Newcastle West this weekend.

The Limerick Ladies Football team welcome Sligo to Newcastlewest on Sunday, for the second round of the All-Ireland Junior Championship, with throw in at 2pm. Graham Shine’s side hammered Kilkenny in the opener, and will be hoping for a big crowd in West Limerick this Sunday afternoon.

The ruthless manner of the Shannonsiders victory against the Cats was pleasing to manager Graham Shine and he is hoping for similar accuracy when his charges line out against the Connacht outfit this weekend.

“Every girl knows that they’re fighting for their place, it makes training really ferocious, everything is going really well but you still have to perform on the day, you still have to win. You’ll get nothing for performing if you don’t win. We’re looking for a big win on Sunday.”

Limerick will welcome Sligo in the first of back to back games in Newcastle West where they can secure a place in the All-Ireland semi-final this weekend with victory.

One win from their remaining pair of games should be enough but regardless Shine is hoping to get the job done this Sunday where a large crowd presence could prove key against a side that were operating in the second tier last year.

Shine described his side as “passionate about Limerick,” and says that he wants people to “give a bit back to them.”

“I’m hoping for a big crowd, these girls put in ferocious work, and they’re really passionate about Limerick, they won’t miss a hurling game, they won’t miss a football game, give a bit back to them, and get to Newcastlewest at 2pm on Sunday. It’ll be well worth the entrance fee because these girls will give it everything.”

Captain Roisin Ambrose is also hoping for a big crowd this weekend, as her team come up against a Sligo side who lost to Down in the opening round.

As always, Limerick will be hoping to go far this year, as they look to get back to a first All-Ireland final since 2018. But Ambrose insists they will take it one game at a time, and won’t get carried away with themselves.

“It’s definitely exciting, we’re playing a team that we’re not too familiar with in Sligo, they just came down from intermediate, we don’t know too much about them. It’s lovely that it’s on in Newcastlewest, hopefully we will have great support for the game.”

“We want to be in Croke Park, we want to be playing on All-Ireland final day, I think our first step this year is to get to the semi final, if we get to the final happy days!”

Undoubtedly, the goal for the Shannonsiders will be to get over the line this weekend, reassess and go from there, as they look to go as far as possible this year.

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