'This has been one of the greatest years of playing football with Mungret' says captain Aine Ryan

MUNGRET ladies football team will look to double their haul of sliverware this season as they contest the AIB Munster Junior Club Championship Final this Saturday against Cork junior county champions, Midleton. Their Munster decider takes place in Mallow Sports Complex at 3pm. 

In what has been a sensational season for the Mungret team, they now have the opportunity to become Munster champions and move on to the All-Ireland series. This Saturday's game is made even more special as it is the first time a ladies team has reached a Munster decider in the clubs history. 

Captain for the side Aine Ryan has been playing with the club for 17 years, with 2024 standing out as "one of the best" years she has experienced so far.

Speaking about the break through year this team is currently going through Aine went on to say: "This year has been one of the greatest years I have had playing with Mungret. We set our sights early on in the season to get a really positive vibe going while also setting our sights on success. This year we have been blessed with having so many girls coming to training, which meant we could all push on and train well, resulting in two extremely competitive ladies teams in the club."

The positivity and drive from this Mungret team is certainly evident this season, after the team experienced a number of years of heartbreaking defeats, coming up short in a number of semi-finals. 

Aine has been involved in the majority of these defeats and she went on to speak about the difference in the team from last year to 2024. 

"I think we were very unlucky with some of our defeats in recent years and I think it got to a point where we knew that we had to get 100% commitment from everyone if we were to be successful and I feel like getting extra personnel into the team this year like an S&C and some additional coaches helped us throughout the season.

"I also believe having the support of the whole club behind us, after years of the ladies football almost being a separate entity, and just having the entire club together has helped us immensely and the club now has a lovely sense of community and support that we have felt throughout the year."

After their one-point victory in the Limerick Intermediate final against Knockainey, the team then progressed on to a Munster semi-final, dropping down a grade in the Munster Championship, which saw them facing Abbeydorney of Kerry in the semi-final. 

The city side produced a huge performance in that semi, which saw them travel to the Kerry venue, and book their spot in the Munster final after putting up a 4-12 to 2-10 scoreline against Abbeydorney.

This historic final for Mungret will be a testing affair with Midleton making light work of their semi-final opponents Shamrocks, 6-16 to 2-6.

Despite this it's all to play for on Saturday with Mungret ladies set for a historic day regardless of the result.