BY RYAN FERRY
HIUDAÍ Ferry is back at the helm for the Gaoth Dobhair senior ladies this year and is hoping his young side can become a little more ‘streetwise’.
A health scare saw Ferry take a back seat last season but thankfully things are on the mend and he’s enjoyed being back in the thick of pre-season preparations.
Gaoth Dobhair lost out by 5-7 to 5-5 in their first league game against Ardara last week and that was disappointing.
However, Ferry’s team should improve as they become more acquainted with each other.
“I was away from it myself last year,” Ferry told the Donegal News.
“I had a triple bypass last April and Sean ‘Nancy’ (Gallagher) and Brian Gallagher and Pol Scullion and a couple of the girls – Catherine McCole, Roisin McFadden and Sinead Gallagher – kept things ticking over.
“We lost about eight or nine strong girls and some days it was a struggle just to get a team together.
“Luckily this year we are a bit stronger. Patrick Scullion and Brian McGee have joined the others in the management team and we have a good group in place.
“Eimear Friel has come back from Qatar and Maryanne Ward and Fia Coyle that played with the Harps are back.
“Eva Diver is playing and Brian McGee’s daughter Eva and we have a couple of girls from Cloughaneely who will hopefully be allowed to play for us as well.
“We have the Friel sisters – Hannah and Molly – and Aoife Meehan and Aoife Doohan, who have been training hard and they’re just waiting on the word from Croke Park now that they can play.
“We’re trying to get a group together but we came up against a strong Ardara side at the weekend.
“They were older and wiser from the First Division.
“We were winning by five at one stage in the second half but they managed to get a couple of goals on us.
“They were stronger and our girls were maybe not streetwise enough.
“In fairness they are training away. You have girls away at college and ones working so it’s hard to get the full team out.
“We’re going to Buncrana this Sunday and hopefully we can get a good performance.”
Gaoth Dobhair won the Donegal Junior Championship in 2022 but a large chunk of that team have moved on.
Thankfully numbers are good and the LGFA continues to develop but it is still a challenge to find the right continuity.
“It’s a big issue with girls drifting away.
“We lost a lot of good players and before that we were really able to hold our own with most teams.
“You have to rebuild when they go away and take in minors.
“Last year was kind of the end of the run for us but I managed to talk them out of it and said we would go again.
“I don’t know how long we will go for.
“We’re trying to develop their skills and teach them how to read a game.
“It’s a learning thing. The girls did well last year for what we had but I think this season, we will have to try and pick it up and become more streetwise.
“This league will be a tough enough one.”
Gaoth Dobhair will be hoping to do well in Division 2 of the All-County League and they want to make their mark later in the season.
“We will be in the Intermediate Championship.
“We would like a shot at it.
“Last year we played Fanad in Magheragallon. Fanad were older and stronger but we took them to within a couple of points.
“We played well to be honest. If we had some of the girls that are back now for that match we would have given it a really good shot.
“Fanad went on to win it and there was nothing really between us. A kick of the ball.
“But it’s just about trying to pull everyone together. We have girls scattered away at college and some working in Belfast.
“We’re looking to try and get a settled team and get the best players on the pitch but we will have a good bench as well.
“It will take a couple of games for things to settle down.
“It will be a long enough season. We have been training all winter and there’s big effort.
“But there’s a lot of strong and clever teams there like Ardara who are coming from the First Division so we will have to learn quickly.”