Waterford ladies football great Áine Wall will star in tonight's episode of Laochra Gael on TG4 at 9.30.
The Ballymacarbry forward won five senior All Irelands and eight All Stars with the Déise during the 90s. The stunning shots of The Nire Valley and the archive footage of the Ballymac and Waterford ladies make this a wonderful watch.
All of Áine’s family appear in the programme including her mother Mary who runs the Hanora's Cottage guesthouse. Marie Crotty, Michael Ryan, Michelle Ryan, Daragh Ó Conchúir, Geraldine O'Shea, Seamus Kennedy, Ann Dunford, Noirín Walsh, June Whyte and Catriona Casey also contribute during the hour-long show.
“There’s no doubt that Áine Wall is the best forward I’ve ever seen,” Michelle Ryan states at the start of the show. The old footage shows off her deadly finishing. For club and county, she fired goal after goal into the roof of the net. “She was launching scud missiles ever before the Americans!” Michael Ryan quipped.
Wall suffered badly with pre-match nerves. She recalled the 1994 All Ireland where she struggled to make it out of the dressing room. Once she hit the field however, she was a different animal. She went on to score 1-5 in that final against Monaghan. “It was like she was possessed,” said team mate Marie Crotty. “So different from the dressing room.”
The 1997 All Ireland final defeat to Monaghan hurt Wall and her team mates. Referee Finbarr O’Driscoll played 11 minutes and 52 seconds of injury time on that afternoon. “It felt like we had been completely robbed,” Wall admitted. “I’m still cross. It still hurts.”
