Coyle ready to lead Lake County ladies against Laois
It’s been a season of leadership, rebuilding and belief for Fiona Coyle, and on Sunday she’ll captain Westmeath in the Leinster Ladies Intermediate Football Final against Laois at TEG Cusack Park, Mullingar. A home final, a proud captain, and a team ready to make its mark – Sunday promises to be a proud day for Westmeath ladies football.
In her first year wearing the armband, the St Mary’s, Rochfortbridge clubwoman is embracing the challenge ahead and is under no illusions about the task facing her side.
“We’re certainly not going to underestimate Laois by any means,” she said. “They’re a county with a really strong tradition in ladies football and they’re certainly going to be looking forward to being in a Leinster final now this Sunday.”
Last year, Westmeath came heartbreakingly close to silverware, losing out to Wexford by a single point in the final. That memory still stings but has also fuelled their hunger.
“We were beaten by a point in last year’s Leinster final and we definitely want to try and get over the line this year. We don’t want to repeat that last year,” she remarked. “We’re training really hard and there’s a big competition for places and that’s exactly what you want. We’re trying to get the best out of each other and hopefully just get a performance on Sunday.”
Momentum has built in the Westmeath camp, helped by returning players and fresh faces from a successful minor panel.
“Everyone is buzzing. That competition for places is huge,” she said. “We’ve got girls coming back now from injury, we’ve brought up a couple of the minor girls who have had great success in their Leinster final and they’re just really pushing us on as well; we can’t wait for Sunday.”
Looking back on last year’s final defeat, Coyle is adamant that while the experience matters, the focus is firmly on the present.
“We were just bitterly disappointed last year,” she said. “I think this year we’re really not trying to dwell on that too much. We’re just looking forward to a completely different opposition altogether. They have some excellent players and they have a lovely attacking style of football so we’re going to have to be ready for that. Last year is kind of done and dusted now and we’re just looking forward to Sunday.”
Under manager Frank Browne, Westmeath have continued to build and evolve after last season’s All-Ireland quarter-final exit, again at the hands of Wexford.
“We’re just trying to build on that run and just go one step further,” Coyle said.
It’s a squad with a nice blend of youth and experience, and Coyle is excited about the talent emerging.
“We’ve got a really nice blend of girls that have a lot of experience and then we’ve got some younger girls coming through,” she said. “We’re looking at the likes of Pip Ruane, Caoimhe Kilmurray, Amy Donnellan and Lara McCartan. All those girls are really young. But they’ve been there last year and they’ve had that experience of playing in a Leinster final. It’s brilliant now that we’re able to go ahead with that little bit of experience and those girls playing on Sunday.”
The team has undergone some changes this season, with several established names stepping away.
“There has been a little bit of change this year. Like, we’ve lost our captain, Lauren McCormack. She’s gone travelling to Australia. Look, she’s a huge loss. The likes of Kelly Boyce Jordan, Laura Kiernan as well stepped away. Laura Kiernan stepped away due to injury. Those girls, when you lose players of that calibre, you’re always going to feel their loss. There has been a few changes. Leanne Slevin, Rachel Dillon decided to step away for the year. But look, like that, we’ve just had these younger girls coming through and we’ve just been able to rebuild a little bit and they’ve been able to drive us on.”
For the team captain, who played in Westmeath’s 2021 All-Ireland Intermediate triumph, Sunday’s final carries deep significance.
“A lot of girls on the team, they haven’t tasted any kind of success. I suppose I’ve been lucky that I have played in an All-Ireland Intermediate Final and I did get over the line. That was against Wexford; we beat them well that day in Croke Park.
"But it’s a completely new team. There’s only a handful of girls who played that day who are still playing on the team now. We’ve really had to rebuild. It would be great now for this group to be successful on Sunday.
"There are an awful lot of girls on this team who haven’t tasted any kind of success at this level. It would just be brilliant for this group of players. We’ve really worked so hard this year and come through a lot of challenges. It would mean an awful lot to this group. I won the 2021 All-Ireland Intermediate Final," she added.