Erne Gaels star Bronagh Sheridan made history last Autumn when she became the first Cavan lady footballer to represent Ireland. Kevin Carney reports. It was a game to behold. Ireland hockeying the Aussies. One of the smallest nations in the world trouncing one of the most successful sporting nations in the world. It was an occasion for all gaels in Cavan to be particularly proud as one of their own, Bronagh Sheridan, put on a real tour de force. For Bronagh, it was an experience never to be forgotten. Mark it down. Tuesday, October 31st 2006 at Kingspan/Breffni Park - the evening that saw Ladies International Rules football kick off. The evening that saw the Erne Gaels star leave her imprint on ladies football, nationally, like never before. Australia's final tally of 1-2-3 (as opposed to Ireland's massive (6-26-16) had a nice ring to it but it was really a case of Sheridan and Co. running rings around the visitors at floodlit Kingspan/Breffni Park. It was all too easy for Jarlath Burns' International rules side as they crushed their opponents in unmerciful fashion at the floodlit Cavan venue in front of approximately 300 fans. In fact the only similarity between the ladies' inaugural meeting of the fairer sex and the mens' earlier test in Salthill was the appearance of a lively mutt on the field near the end of what was the proverbial mis-match. But what did she make of the Aussie whinging afterwards? Ireland were too rough, they said, and the use of the round ball handed the homesters too much of an advantage. "We're open to all sorts of suggestions from Australia if they feel that things can be balanced up a bit but I don't think they had any grounds for complaining," the 19-year old student opines. "We said that we had no problem in playing with the oval ball for the second test if that was what they wanted but they didn't take up the offer. "I know the series was lop-sided but I don't think there's any quick-fix solution out there but I'm sure Ireland will be more than open to ways to help the Australians better adapt to the game. "Maybe bringing in the tackles as in the mens' game might help their cause because it's at the heart of their game and possibly allowing players to make a mark anywhere around the field would be good too." One imagines that if Bronagh was asked to play with a squash ball, she would be no less adept at whatever rules were conjured up. "Now that would be something new and different," she quips. Certainly a move to introduce the oval ball for the next series wouldn't annoy the Drumlane native one bit as she has had experience of training and playing rugby with her college, Dublin City University. Thanks to the exciting skills and wholehearted commitment exhibited by Bronagh and her ilk, ladies football continues to go from strength to strength and last Autumn's two test series with the Aussies certainly added a new dimension to the development of the game. The meeting of Ireland and Australia marked a new chapter in the evolution of the fastest growing ball game in Ireland and Bronagh was understandably very glad to be part of the whole concept. "Of the two tests, the one in Breffni stood out for me for a couple of obvious reasons," Bronagh testifies. "Playing for the first time for your country was something else and then playing at home just make it an unforgettable experience - especially with the cheers of the crowd everytime I got the ball. "The only thing was I got a bit of a slagging from the girls after the match. They were winding me up about the home crowd giving me special treatment and all that but it was good fun." Bronagh accepts that the actual product - when it was delivered - didn't measure up to the pre-match hype and evolved into something of an anti-climax because of the weakness of the visitors' squad. However, quite rightly, she points out that Ireland could only prepare as best they could and play to the maximum of their ability for each test and matters regarding the quality of the opposition was out of their hands. Bronagh was an integral member of the 30 player panel and trained diligently with the rest of the Irish squad for the test series for two months in the run-up to the first test in Cavan. Even the training for the series evokes great memories for Bronagh. She confesses to having enjoyed every moment of her involvement with Ireland. From her initial interaction with the rest of the players and management team at the trials in Roscommon, Mullingar and Dublin through to the second test in Parnell Park, Dublin in early November. "Just to be involved at all was amazing," Bronagh enthuses "because there was such a good spirit in the squad and things were done so professionally by Jarlath Burns, Pat Costello and Hayley Boyle. "Each of the three of them brought something new and different to training which was really hard and physical but enjoyable all the same. "The other 29 girls in the panel were fabulous players, the best in the country and the training was at a greater pace and more intense than anything I've been involved with before. "We thought Australia were going to give us a much harder time of it and offer a strong challenge so we made sure that no stone was left unturned in our preparations and I think we did ourselves justice. "There was no expense spared in getting us together and all the stops were pulled out in making sure that our preparations were second to none," Bronagh explains. Reflecting on the first test in specific terms, Bronagh says she felt Ireland began the match in a somewhat tentative fashion. However things altered rapidly as Ireland got off the blocks. Fitter, faster and more adept at using the round ball, the Irish dominated proceedings from start to finish and showed a clincial killer instinct into the bargain. The homesters' procession of scores began in earnest with a classy Cora Staunton goal (5th min) helping catapult Ireland into a 1-4-3 (21pts) to no-score lead after just nine minutes. The Aussies hit the jackpot on their first raid up field in the 11th minute when Kathy Zacharopoulos goaled from the penalty spot. But the status quo was restored just two minutes later when Meath's Geraldine Doherty goaled. Australia's Daisy Pearse notched an over 16 minutes into the first quarter but the visitors weren't to score for a further 24 minutes such was Ireland's dominance. The lights remained stuck on green for the Irish as the second quarter saw Bronagh and target lady Mary Sheridan (Meath) cut a swathe through the Aussie defence. It was a superb all-round display by Ireland - one full of power, panache, fluidity and no little skill. Bronagh, for her part, added much to the mix in both Kingspan/Breffni Park and the follow-up test in Parnell Park. "I'd say, individually, we felt we had a point to prove and also as a team," says Bronagh in attempting to rationalise the reasons behind Ireland's superb performances in the first test in particular. "We recognised that we were the first Irish ladies international football squad, it was a great honour and we had a job to do and we needed to do it right and that's what we did." With speed, power and skill in abundance, Bronagh was like a lady to the manor born and thoroughly admits that playing alongside the creme de la creme of the ladies game left her spoilt rotten. "The speed of a lot of the girls is unbelievable and their passing is brillant - you never get a bad pass and their running off the shoulder is something else. "I genuinely didn't expect to start the match and I was nervous at the start but the way the girls played like a team, I soon settled down and began to play my usual game." That 'usual game' saw Bronagh merge seamlessly into the fabric of a quite outstanding team of expert sportswomen. Seldom before has an Irish team of footballers been so authoratative, dominant and impressive as the Irish ladies footballers of 2006 for whom Mayo legend Christina Heffernan (30) was the elder stateswoman. Now in her third year at DCU (where she'll be hoping to gain O'Connor Cup honours this year) Bronagh has clearly a bright future ahead of her in both the sporting and academic spheres. A member of the Irish under 19 international soccer team last year and sometimes Raheny United centre-half, the Drumlane native is hoping that the good times on the international front in '06 will be mirrored on the domestic front in 2007. She hopes that Cavan ladies can take a leaf out of Armagh's book and set the world alight this coming season. "Armagh beat us in the Ulster semi-final in 2005 and they went on to win the All-Ireland junior and then go up senior and reach last year's All-Ireland final so they wouldn't be a bad example to follow," Bronagh avers. The successful defence of their first ever Ulster JFC title - secured after a 2-9 to 1-9 win over Fermanagh - will be Cavan's realistic target in '07 but winning the All-Ireland thereafter is an aspiration Bronagh and her team-mates hold dear. She reckons apart from the usual suspects in Ulster, the likes of Leitrim and Clare will have something to say about who lifts the national junior title in '07. "Whatever we have achieved last year or in previous years is in the past and 2007 is a whole new year in which we've got to work hard and achieve our goals," emphasises Bronagh, daughter of PJ and Brigid Sheridan Like many another talented sportsperson, Bronagh has to seek to balance her time between her studies and her hobbies and she admits that it's tough doing that at times. But if there's one lady who has the skill, finesse and determination to juggle the near-impossible, it's Bronagh Sheridan. Tweet

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