Vivienne Egan banishes injury memories of 2024 with 1-1 in TG4 Connacht LGFA IFC Final
TG4 Connacht LGFA IFC Final: Annaduff player suffered ruptured ACL in 2024 Final
Two years after suffering a horror injury against Roscommon in the Connacht Intermediate Final, an injury that ruled her out of Leitrim’s historic All-Ireland IFC triumph, Vivienne Egan banished whatever ghosts there may have been by landing 1-1 last Sunday in Heartland Credit Union Pairc Sean Mac Diarmada.
The Annaduff woman ruptured her ACL in the 2024 TG4 Connacht Intermediate Final, the last time Leitrim faced Roscommon, so one understands why Leitrim’s 4-18 to 0-8 victory may have carried some extra significance! “I haven't played Roscommon since, so this is my first time playing them. This time two years ago, I got injured in the Connacht Final so it is very pleasing for me. I suppose you're always having it in the back of your head, but I pushed to one side and I'm happy out now, injury-free.”
Vivienne and her teammates heeded the words of manager Jonny Garrity as they laid the foundations for victory early on in Sunday’s Final: “I think that getting a good start was very important for us. That's what Johnny said, we get a good start, get a good foothold on the game and push it on from there.”
Equally important was the fact that Leitrim didn’t let up in their pressure on Roscommon: “We seemed to have just really, really strong start - we had a first, a good ten minutes, but after that we didn't let them back into it and we're absolutely delighted, I'd say, particularly with the start we got.”
Recovering after the disappointment of losing the Division 4 Final after extra-time was an added motivation for the Annaduff woman: "Everyone wants silverware. I know we got promoted, but you're still disappointed after losing by a point in extra time. Any time you get a good performance now, we're delighted after today.
“Everyone was on fire. Everything Muireann kicked was going over, she had an excellent performance and everyone just worked really hard. I think that was the most important. We just won the dirty ball and I think it was probably our best performance of the year, I would say.”
It leaves Leitrim heading into the All-Ireland series in fine fettle: “It's pleasing to go in with having given such a good performance and we're delighted. Probably a few poor performances in the league and to lose the league final and to bounce back like that. We're absolutely delighted and really looking forward to the next few weeks.”