‘People probably doubted us but we believed in ourselves’: Kate Geraghty hails Galway effort

Galway captain Kate Geraghty feels their league final defeat to Cork in April was a fork-in-the-road moment that led to Sunday’s All-Ireland triumph.Galway were hoping to win a maiden Division One league title earlier this season – having lost seven previous deciders – but Daniel Moynihan’s side came undone by the concession of two late goals against Cork at the Gaelic Grounds in Limerick to lose 2-8 to 0-9The manner of that defeat could have derailed Galway’s season but instead they embarked on an unbeaten run that included a Connacht final win over Mayo and then five straight victories in the All-Ireland series – beating Meath, Tyrone, Mayo, Armagh and Kerry.“I think sometimes you learn more from losing a game,” said Geraghty. “We knew we didn’t want to be back in a position where we had that feeling, it’s not a nice feeling.”READ MOREGeraghty was one of Galway’s best performers on Sunday, with the team captain delivering a display of genuine leadership from the full-back line as they captured a first All-Ireland title since 2004, and only their second ever after that breakthrough success 22 years ago.The Tuam Cortoon player made her debut in 2020 and says the honour of walking up the steps of the Hogan Stand to lift the Brendan Martin Cup was the stuff of dreams.“It was just an amazing feeling. It’s been a dream come true I suppose. That’s what you’ve trained for all year and that’s what you want to do at the end of the day, win an All-Ireland in Croke Park. It’s the best feeling in the world.”Geraghty was in the Galway full-back line for the 2024 All-Ireland final too, when Kerry opened the Tribe up for three goals to run out comfortable 3-14 to 0-11 winners.It was clear from the opening exchanges last Sunday that Galway were hell-bent on denying Kerry the oxygen of scoring goals on this occasion, with the Connacht champions deploying Siobhán Divilly as an extra defender.Kate Geraghty with Lily Bracken and Olivia Divilly in Crumlin Hospital. Photograph: Ben Brady/Inpho With Divilly operating in that sweeper role, it created a scenario where Galway always had four defenders back to screen Kerry’s three forwards. It also left Galway at a numerical disadvantage when attacking at the other end of the field.“I suppose people probably doubted us but we knew ourselves and we believed in ourselves. We have great man-markers and we had a bit of a sweeper system there, having Siobhán drop back and it worked for us,” said Geraghty.But Galway’s tactical approach didn’t allow for an open game of football to develop and instead the final became a slog of a match.Afterwards, when asked about the conservative nature of the contest, Kerry manager Mark Bourke was keen to point out the approach of his Munster champions was to play front-footed football.“We were not defensive, we did not play with a sweeper,” he said. “The two teams were so equal that it’s just so hard to [separate them].“But it was never going to be a 1-16 or a 2-14 game. So, 12 scores to nine is how it finished up. It shows it was a real championship game.”[ ‘It’s gut-wrenching’: Contentious late calls leave Kerry boss lost for wordsOpens in new window ]Galway are the fourth county in five years to be crowned All-Ireland women’s senior football champions – after Meath (2022), Dublin (2023, 2025) and Kerry (2024). There has not been a greater spread of victors since the late 1970s when five different counties won the competition between 1975 and 1979.However, Sunday’s final was a tame affair and the attendance of 26,471 was the smallest crowd at the Ladies Gaelic Football Association’s showpiece day since 2013.There were clear contributing factors to the drop in numbers last weekend – not least the fact Kerry and Galway supporters have been in Croke Park often this summer with the Kingdom’s men contesting their All-Ireland final only last week, while the Galway hurlers were also in the small-ball decider.The presence of Dublin and/or Meath in finals over recent years has also helped boost attendance figures so geographically last week’s senior final pairing also played a part in a drop of over 20,000 from 2025 when 48,089 watched Dublin against Meath.Attendance numbers are unlikely to be of much concern to Galway right now, though. After all, in 2019 they contested an All-Ireland final that still holds the record as having attracted a record crowd of 56,114.Galway lost that game to Dublin, so all that mattered to the players last Sunday was getting their hands on the Brendan Martin Cup.Leanne Coen of Galway shoots to score her side's second goal. Photograph: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile And if Geraghty was a central defensive plank in their win, Leanne Coen’s brace of goals were the game-defining scores. Galway trailed by two points just before her second goal with just six minutes remaining. That strike changed the momentum of the game.The Corofin player netted one in each half but when asked which was her favourite, she said with a smile: “I think the second one. I saw the scoreboard, I saw Nic [Nicola Ward] coming and I thought this has to be a goal.”Turned out to be a history-making one.