Lismore and Ballyhale Shamrocks set for battle at Croke Park.

Sunday is a big day for Lismore.

Down the years the area has had great days to cheer about and celebrate. No doubt sometime in the future many of these days will be recalled should someone decide to put the history of the area down on paper.

There was great disappointment recently when the nearby Ballysaggart hurlers just fell short in their quest to win the All-Ireland Junior Hurling Club final, but this weekend, the people of the area have the opportunity to possibly witness an All-Ireland title come to the combined parish of Lismore and Ballysaggart.

The Lismore Camogie Club in 2014 are celebrating 40 years in existence. How fitting it is therefore that the celebrations include the club playing at GAA Headquarters on All-Ireland Club Final day against Kilkenny and Leinster champions Ballyhale Shamrocks.

In the Kilkenny County Final it took Ballyhale Shamrocks extra time before they came out on top on a 1-9 to 0-11 score line against Piltown. As is the case right throughout their journey to Croke Park this weekend it was Kelly-Anne Cottrell that proved to be the sides leading score getters finishing with 1-7 of her sides tally. On the day Emma Nolan and team captain Emilie Darmody also chipped in with some crucial scores.

Just twenty four hour later they were in action again easily accounting for Oylegate-Glenbrien from Wexford and then beat Lucan Sarsfields in the Leinster semi final.

In the Leinster Final, Camross from Laois provided the opposition. The Kilkenny side again came out on top in a game that created just eleven scores, winning on a 3-3 to 1-4 score line, proving the value of scoring goals in a tight game.

In their semi final win over Galway side Portumna at Moneygall, Ballyhale Shamrocks needed two second half goals which came against the run of play to advance to this weekend’s All-Ireland Final.

The winners started brightly, and with twelve minutes played, they held a 0-3 to 0-1 advantage.

They however failed to work on their early lead and allowed their opponents get back into the game. As Tara Ruttledge put over two ‘45’s and two frees to give her side a 0-4 to 0-3 at the break.

The Galway side extended their lead four minutes into the restart again through Tar Ruttledge and while they were in front at this stage there was some concern that they had not scored from play up to that point.

The game was forty minutes old and the Galway side had taken a 0-5 to 0-3. The Kilkenny side won a clash ball inside the Portumna half of the field and Keeva Fennelly having gained control of the ball ran at the Portumna defence unchallenged before placing the ball low and hard to the right of Niamh McClearn.

The Kilkenny side could well have extended their lead seconds later and would have but for the brilliance centre back Maeve Moran who did well to deny Emilie Darmody.

Even at this stage of the game although the Kilkenny side were on top, the Galway side were still in with a great shout. They looked to be about to come right back into contention eight minutes from time when corner back Lindsey McClearn put Katie O’Brien through but referee Cathal Egan halted the game after he spotted that the centre field player had caught the ball three times.

Two minutes later, the game was however effectively over bar the shouting.

Portumna won a free which was hit short to Katie O’Brien but an alert Ballyhale Shamrocks defence was able to dispose the midfielder from attacking their defence. Shortly afterwards Mags Fennelly a sister of Kilkenny hurling legend Michael stretched the Portumna backs and she fired to the top left hand corner of the net past Niamh McClearn to give her side a 2-3 to 0-5 advantage.

The Galway side however in the time that remained which included seven added minutes never gave up and they hit further points from Tara Ruttledge and Hazel Tracey but they needed goals and they did not come their way.

If Ballyhale Shamrock’s recent run of games has proven to be impressive, then the same could well be said of Lismore.

In the county semi final after a tight first half against Galltir in the county semi final, Lismore in the second half really upped their game and ran out comfortable winners with a number of their inter county players showing great leadership.

In the county final Lismore again had to call upon all their experience to over come the challenge of Saint Anne’s the champions of the previous year.

The two sides have become great rivals over the past few years and when they play little separates the sides and so it again proved to be the case at Lemybrien.

The 2012 champions proved to be marginally the better of the sides in the opening half and retired holding a slender lead.

Changes were made at the start of the second half and they worked quickly. Laura Buckley set up Sinead Bennett for an early second half goal which turned the game in favour of the eventual winners. The remainder of the game proved to be an even enough affair with both sides enjoying period of dominance but it was Lismore that came out on top winning by six points, Shona Curran’s and Sinead Bennett’s goals proving to be decisive.

In the Munster Intermediate semi final which the Waterford senior champions play in, Carrigaline for Cork provided the opposition for Lismore in the Munster semi final.

The first half proved to be a very tight affair at the end of which the home side held a 1-4 to 0-6 advantage, four of Lismore’s scores coming from the stick of Aoife Hannon, the other two coming courtesy of Ruth Geoghegan.

The second half began with Aoife Hannon drawing the sides level, but shortly afterwards she was helped from the field and removed to hospital after picking up a head injury.

The cork side had added two points before this to their first half tally to go back in front.

Shona Curran hit a long range free for Lismore before Caithriona McGlone hammered the ball to the net for a crucial goal after which Shona Curran and Caithriona McGlone riffled over points to ease Lismore into a third Munster Final in four years.

The Munster final saw Lismore take on Newmarket-on-Fergus. The two sides are very familiar with each other and so a close game was expected but with conditions proving to be deplorable on the day, the game was always going to be a lottery.

It was no surprise that the game in Latten-Cullen ended in a draw and even after extra time the sides could not be separated. So poor were the results on the day that if one side was to win out it could be said that it would be unfair on the other side.

When the sides clashed a week later at the same venue, things were a little more clear cut. In the drawn game, it was the Clare side that had the better of the starts but let it slip, but this time around it was Lismore that started the brighter of the two sides and never let their early lead slip, eventually winning  by three points.

Munster and County Champions for the third time in Four years, Lismore now faced a tricky All-Ireland semi final against Liatroim-Fontenoys from Down.

There was disappointment when forty-eight hours before the game was due to take place, because of the weather conditions it was called off.

The calling off of the game allowed some from Lismore to take in the other semi final and when the Lismore game was re-fixed a week later it possibly allowed the Kilkenny champions to have a look at who they would be facing in the All-Ireland final as the game was re-scheduled for nearby Crettyard in County Laois.

When the game did go ahead, Lismore played with the strong wind at their backs in the first half and built up a five point lead at the interval. There may be some that were questioning if a five point cushion would be good enough to see them through. However you are always in a better position to be five points up than behind and while the Down side in the second half did manage to come back into contention, they were not fully able to eat into Lismore’s half time lead as the West Waterford Club at the third time of asking came through an All-Ireland semi final.

This game is not going to be won easily.

Ballyhale Shamrocks will once again be looking to Kelly-Anne Cottrell for much of their scores. However they are a “no one woman team”. The likes of the six Fennelly’s that are likely to start – Ciara, Brena, Roisin, Orna, Margaret-Mary (Mags) and Keeva all are likely to pose Lismore some trouble. Team Captain Emilie Darmody has chipped in with some crucial scores along the way. While the likes of Jacqui and Edel Frisby and Eimer Fitzpatrick are also likely to be a treat.

For Lismore, they are solid throughout the team. Aisling O’Brien is a goalkeeper of some quality. Sarah Coughlan and the Prendergast’s Shauna and Sandra are rock solid all year.

Marie Russell, Shauna Kiernan and Aoife Houlihan could well prove to be a formidable half back line with Shona Curran dropping back from the middle of the field to give a helping hand.

If Lismore are hard to break down at the back, they are equally as hard to stop going forward.

Nineteen year old Aoife Hannon is a free taker of note. She will not miss many from any angle of the field. The game could well be won or lost on free taking, and if it proves this way the Lismore lady will not be found want of asking.

She will be assisted in attack by the likes of Caithriona McGlone and Ruth Geoghegan, two players with a real eye for goal, while the likes of Johanna Houlihan, Laura Buckley, and Grainne Kenneally will also be doing all they can to bring a first club camogie All-Ireland final victory to the Déise County.

Camogie in Waterford has grown a lot over the past decade or so. The numbers playing and the level of interest in the game has grown a lot, but there is significant room for even greater participation be it as players, mentors, administrators or supporters.

A win for Lismore on Sunday in Croke Park could well do so much good work for the game in the county.

Lismore just like their opponents this weekend have shown great commitment and which ever does come out on top will be worthy winners.

Lismore are celebrating forty years together of the present club this year. They no doubt have plans in place to mark the occasion with different events over the coming months.

Would there be a better way to mark the occasion that to come out of Croke Park on Sunday with the All-Ireland Cup on display in the front of the team bus when they pass over the bridge beneath Lismore Castle later that evening.

It won’t be easy for them to win on Sunday. It is very possible that they will win. They have to believe that it will happen. They have shown great determination and hunger over the past twelve months. They have already won the County Senior League and Championships. They have won the Munster Intermediate title and now go in search of a quadruple.

The indications are that Lismore are going into the game with a panel of twenty-five fully fit players. Here’s hoping that by around 2-30pm on Sunday that the twelve months of hard work put in by the panel will get its ultimate reward.

With no other big fixture on locally this Sunday, it would be nice to think that Lismore will not want for support.

The support that Ballysaggart got recently was well documented. They received support from right across the county and beyond. The support they received was often four, five and maybe six times what live in the parish.

When the ladies take to the field, they deserve the same support and even greater support. The effort that they put in is on par and beyond what male teams put in. they often have to put in an even greater effort as for some reason there is lesser resources available to the ladies.