O'Leary looks to lift Blues

Women's Gaelic Football final Dublin v Galway: John O'Leary and Dublin have seen six All-Ireland finals together, winning two. On Sunday he will look to improve that average when the Dublin women's Gaelic football team take the field in the All-Ireland senior final against Galway.

The side he took over following last year's narrow All-Ireland defeat to the recent standard-bearers of the woman's game, Mayo, only knows the pang of losing such games. What really sits poorly is that Dublin under-performed that day but in O'Leary they have a leader who knows all about redemption.

When Dublin football finally shook Meath off its back in 1992 they ran headlong into three highly frustrating years of Ulster dominance at All-Ireland level. Salvation arrived in 1995 with Tyrone failing where Down, Derry and Donegal had succeeded previously. O'Leary became the first Dubliner to lift the Sam Maguire in 12 years.

This Dublin team, like their male counterparts during O'Leary's era, have wrapped up Leinster three years in succession but now they must contend with the latest wave of talent in the women's game. Galway have beaten the All-Ireland champions three times this year - they hammered them by 14 points in the Connacht final. So for the first time in five years Mayo are not contesting the showpiece match for the Brendan Martin Cup.

Dublin return with the same backroom team and a panel improved by Fiona Corcoran's return from America.

"I just came in, we had four selectors there - the same backroom team - which was great from my point of view because I knew nothing about ladies football when it came to playing the opposition." says O'Leary.

"Apart from that nothing's really changed. If you look at last year's All-Ireland (team) I think this team has three personnel changes and four or five positional changes but that's just the way the team has evolved."

Last year's defeat hurt to the very marrow of their bones but in O'Leary they have a manager who knows all about hurt. Either side of the dark years of the mid-to-late 1980s and early '90s, when Meath and Ulster silenced Hill 16, O'Leary also experienced the joys of success.

"After having two years away with Wicklow, it was nice to be back with a Dublin team so I just found it much easier.

"There were things I could lean on, like pride in the jersey and things I had done as a player and what it meant to me. Talking about all things Dublin."

It wasn't too much of a challenge to motivate. Speaking to the likes of Mary Nevin, captain Martina Farrell and, of course, Angie McNally - who at 36 felt she couldn't walk away without an All-Ireland - the hunger becomes abundantly clear.

O'Leary only felt the need to tweak certain areas. No need for a weights' programme, instead he focused on sharpening their footballing skills: "I'm trying get to the stage where the ball is an extension of their body, a bit like Kerry in the men's - that they are completely comfortable with the ball in their hands."

Then there is the coming of Galway. They differ in many ways from their metropolitan opponents. Manager PJ Fahy - incidentally a brother of recently departed Offaly manager Gerry - had little background in training men's sides and only progressed to this level after following his two daughters' progression. The girls have since drifted away from the scene, but he has stayed.

Galway won the minor and junior All-Ireland in 2001, Fahy was a selector, and their upward groove has continued ever since. He was smart enough to realise his own limitations and draft in a quality trainer in Richard Bowles.

"When I decided to do it, I made sure I had good people around me.

"Richard was the Galway minor manager in 1999. I couldn't believe it when I got him, first time I met him, I felt I had hit the jackpot. He's a Limerick man but teaches in Athenry."

Mick O'Connell also came in as a selector and so began the rapid ascent. The training regime became hugely intense, they'll have 120 sessions done by Sunday. Like Dublin, they have the players and the talent. The victories over Mayo show they also have the grit.

With the weather due to stay clement and the Dublin crowd expected to come out - the Galway attendance has been diluted by the men's county football final being on the same day - the ghost of 12 months ago will be buried or a new tide will rise from the west.