Galway WFC, who travel to the Oscar Traynor Centre for a WNL clash against Bohemians on Saturday (2pm ), have been boosted by the signings of three experienced players.
Julie Ann Russell, Meabh De Burca, and Becky Walsh will all join Stephen Lally’s squad in the coming weeks for the remainer of the campaign.
De Burca is the only one of the trio available for the Bohemians contest, but Lally is delighted that the squad is improving.
“It makes everybody work that bit harder,” Lally says. “You want people fighting for places. It is what makes everyone a better player. If someone is in the team doing well they will stay in the team, they will keep the shirt, that is the way it is.”
Lally recalls valuable lessons learned from former Galway United manager Tony Mannion during his own playing career.
“Tony Mannion taught us that you deal with what you have, you play with what you have, the others will come onboard when they are ready, and if they aren't ready they won't be in there,” Lally adds.
“Tony never worried about who was injured or unavailable, it was up to them to get themselves fit, to be impressing in training. It taught me a fierce lesson, I'd have to train on my own in pre-season to make sure I was right when we were back together.
“If I didn't I would be so far behind, I would be out of the team, and I didn't want to be out of the team. He never worried about who was injured, he just focused on the 11 or 14 that could play on a given day. That is all he cared about.”
The victory over Cork City before the mid season break offered significant hope according to Lally. “We had to work hard for the win, I said that to the girls,” he says. “Nothing changes for us, in every game you have to work hard, to earn the right to play. I thought the way they came out of the blocks in Cork was terrific, especially in the first 30 minutes.
“We were two up and we could have been five up. I thought they did very well, we scored two great goals from headers. I told them that is what work rate gets you, they got the right reward in the first half of the game.
“The most important thing was that in the second half we didn't concede a goal. So that was a good thing, to keep a clean sheet.”
