In cold days of January, your eye is on reaching an All-Ireland, says Higgins

If there is one picture that sums up Galway's workrate and commitment in the semi-final, it was the not so welcome image of Tipp's Eimear McGrath firing high into the Galway net.

However, a further look at the image shows Galway's determined defender Dervla Higgins in full flight mode, one arm outstretched as if Superwoman; the other holding her hurl in a vain attempt to block the shot.

It exemplified the attitude of the no-nonsense Athenry woman, who is eagerly looking forward to Sunday's match. In fact, she would have you believe she's been eying up this match since midwinter.

"When you come back training in January, you are hoping to end the season in the All-Ireland final, even though it seems a long way off.

"But this is back to where we want to be, so it's great.

"We had a tough run of it and we didn't really get going the way we wanted to at the start of the championship, but we had a young squad and gradually, we've knitted together.

"With every game, we have seen improvements and back to where we want to be.

She paid tribute to the high workmate and intensity the squad brought to the games against Waterford, and especially against Tipperary.

"The workrate against Tipperary was immense. We knew that they had a goalscoring threat and that we had to be intense as we could. It came down to a point, it was a dogfight."

But, then Cork are no slouches either?

"Cork are an unbelievable team. They are All-Ireland champions for a reason and have been in fine form all season. Coming in as underdogs doesn't really bother us too much. We are just going to keep our head and focus what we need to do and hopefully, we get everything right on the day.

"If you get your tactics right and your mindset in the right place, anything can happen," she said.

 

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