Dublin’s Abby Shiels hopes All-Ireland win can be start of new era | BreakingNews.ie

As Dublin won their first All-Ireland ladies football title since 2020, key to their success between the posts was goalkeeper Abby Sheils.

Making crucial saves at vital times of the season, Abby’s performances were recognised in November when she won her first all-star award, in a year when she won her first All-Ireland title.

In a season where young players like Abby stood up, she looked back on 2023 with BreakingNews.ie, as the Lucan goalkeeper admitted the season surpassed expectations.

“It was a bit of a whirlwind alright, I don’t think we were expecting the year to go the way it was. The way we started off the year, it was definitely going in a different direction to how it finished.

“It was a really great year of just developing, becoming a new team, and obviously winning as well. It was just a matter of getting ourselves back to the standards we had set ourselves a few years ago.

“We lost to Meath in 2021, and then in 2022 we went out really early against Donegal in the quarter-final, so it was a matter of regrouping.

“We lost out on a few faces, that would be regular players and regular starters, and we got new people in, so it was regrouping and becoming a new team.

“There was a bit of pressure to improve on where we have been in the past two years.”

The improvement in the Dublin team could be seen from th performances of Shiels, who firmly made the number one jersey her own.

After battling Ciara Trent for the starting position, the Lucan woman wasn’t content with just starting for her county, as she was recognised as the standout goalkeeper in the country.

“For the last couple of years, Ciara has been unreal, and she’s been there. It has been a matter of me just doing my best to get up to the standard she set. If I can get beyond that, I would to keep driving and going forward.

“I put more pressure on myself to get to the standard I should be at, rather than being content with how I was. You set out the year hoping to play good, improve yourself, hopefully win an All-Ireland and win a Leinster, so that was nice to win an All-star at the end of the year.

“We had eight of us altogether, and 13 nominated, so it was a really good night for Dublin.

“We are all each other’s best friends. We spend as much of the week with each other as we do with partners and families. It is important to have that bond between us, because at the end of the day, these are the people you are going to war with, so you need to know they have your back on the pitch and on the pitch.

Soccer inspirations

For Abby, it was on the soccer pitch when she first made her mark as a goalkeeper.

Growing up, it was one of the best goalkeepers seen in the Premier League was one of her inspirations to build her game off, as the Dublin goalkeeper said what she learnt from soccer.

“I was always a bit of a soccer fan. I am a Manchester United fan, so I looked at the likes of Van Der Sar, or Emma Byrne, who played for Ireland.

“When you bring it in to football, I looked up to Ciara myself when she was playing, and Stephen Cluxton was always in the limelight when I was younger.

“Every aspect of my game probably comes from all four of those. Just watching the demand they have on them, they can control their teams and stuff. Even in soccer, looking at how their footwork is, their diving, catching high balls, it all comes into one.

“You can learn stuff from every sport. I was playing soccer a lot of my life, and I was in goals as well, so that’s how I ended up in goals in football. I had to adjust my game, but I did bring through a lot of stuff with me.

“Playing a bit higher off my line and stuff like that, a sweeper keeper is just as important in soccer if the ball does come through, whether that’s demanding the ball in high, that stuff is so important.”

New era

The last time Dublin won the All-Ireland, it was their fourth title in-a-row. While some players were part of that side, there is new players like Abby so have their first medal.

While the Lucan goalkeeper believes the chasing pack will be stronger once again, she is confident this is a special group of players.

“There is always room for improvement, we didn’t have a 100 per cent year. We lost to Kerry, our league wasn’t the best, so we will definitely be hungry for mer.

“The competition is definitely getting bigger. You are seeing different teams, like Armagh, Mayo were very close to beating Kerry in the semi-final.

“If we keep going in the right direction, there could be a few good years ahead of us. It is just a matter of keeping to our standards and improving every day that we take to the field.