Rogers hopes ladies can take revenge on dubs

Jenny Rogers is hoping that Westmeath Ladies Footballers can go one better that their male counterparts this weekend, by beating Dublin in the Leinster Senior Final at Dr Netwatch Cullen Park.

The 26-year old leads the Lake County into their first Senior provincial decider since 1995 on Sunday, and is hoping to take some inspiration from the men, who really pushed Dublin early on, before a quick brace of goals in a 30-second spell paved the way for a comfortable win.

“The lads really put it up to them and showed that they were up there for the first half,” she said.

“The two goals really turned the game and it was hard to come back from that. Dublin are such a strong side and the ladies team are going to be equally as tough.

“We are going to try and go one better, and hopefully we can try and stay with them for the whole game, and play our own game. We know that it is going to be a huge challenge, but hopefully we will be able to concentrate on our own game, and trying to take the game to them as well.”

Dublin’s Ladies have been just as dominant as their male counterparts in the recent past in Leinster, and Rogers knows it will be tough to break that mould.

“They have won numerous Leinster titles and they have beaten a lot of the other teams in Leinster by quite a big margin, so we know it’s not going to be an easy task.

“We have a huge challenge ahead of us, but we have been working hard all year. Playing the likes of Dublin is where we want to be. They are one of the top teams in the country, so we know it’s going to be a huge challenge for us, but one we are really excited about.

“We have put the head down over the last few weeks, and we are really concentrating on what we have to do - trying to improve our game and play to our strengths.”

Rogers says qualifying for this weekend’s final is hugely indicative of the progress in the county, since she first came onto the Senior squad 10 years ago.

“I started playing 10 years ago when we were very bottom of the ranks and losing every game,” she said.

“A core group of us stayed together all the way up along and we are developing now I suppose and we are at the right age, where we have new players also coming in and strengthening the panel.

“We have a mixture of experience and younger girls, which is a great combination.

“2011 was really where all the work we had been doing over the years started to drive on.

“We have been steadily building since then. This year we have got the wins in the Championship and reached the Division 2 league semi-final, so we have made steady progress and we are hoping to keep it going.

“Playing Dublin in the Leinster Final is where we wanted to be, we are trying to raise the standard, and hopefully there is a great future for the young girls coming up.”