Lismore and Saint Anne’s to renew rivalry in senior camogie County Final

The period of time between Saint Patrick’s Weekend in 2013 and Saint Patrick’s Weekend in 2014 will long be remembered by many in Lismore for some time to come.

For the 25 players that made up the Lismore Senior Camogie panel the 2013/2014 season was not a good year, it was a great year. Any year a club win a title it’s a good year, when you win four, well then to most it is beyond your wildest dreams.

Lismore began the year winning the Denny Buckley Cup (Senior League Final) beating their great rivals Saint Anne’s in the final at Fraher Field.

The County Final in September was a repeat of the league final, this time the two sides clashed at Lemybrien and for much of the first half it looked as though Saint Anne’s would retain the final they won twelve months earlier.

But in the second half Lismore put in a great showing to win the game by two clear goals.

Lismore played in the Munster Intermediate Club Championship and reached the final where they beat Newmarket-on-Fergus from Clare in the final after a replay and went on to reach the All-Ireland, drawing with Kilkenny side Ballyhale Shamrocks at Croke Park and beating them in the replay at Clonmel.

Many will be making Lismore favourites to retain their county crown this weekend, but they will be the first to admit they face a very difficult task to beat Saint Anne’s.

The mid county side have already played and beaten Lismore in one final this year.

The sides clashed in the league final back in May at Lemybrien and on that occasion they won the Denny Buckley Cup for the first time on a 1-12 to 1-11 score line.

This is the sixth year in a row that the two sides are clashing in the championship decider and as things stand, it is a case of two wins for Saint Annes and three for Lismore.

To reach the final, both sides have recorded some impressive results.

Lismore in their three games collected all the points on offer against Butlerstown, Gailltir and Saint Anne’s in the round robin section of the competition, results that meant that they qualified for this weekend’s game without having to play a semi final.

Saint Anne’s reached the final recording wins over Gailltir and Butlerstown and lost their third game to Lismore.

They played Gailltir in the semi final at Walsh Park a few weeks back, coming through with a little to spare, but not without Gailltir making them fight all the way to the end.

Both sides will need no time to get to know the other side on the day and both sides will be expected to field teams in line with other years.

Saint Anne’s will include the lines of Becky Kavanagh, Pauline Cunningham, Claire Whyte, Mairead Murphy, Sinead Cummins, Charlotte Raher as well as their sharp shooters in attack Zoe O’Donoghue and Karen Kelly in attack, all of whom have played for Waterford this year at Intermediate level be it in the league or championship.

However they will also include the lines of Jennie Simpson as well as rising stars Labhaoise Dunbar, Bronwyn Grace, Sibeal Harney, Saoirse Bonner and Catherine Kelly could all play a vital roll.

Lismore too have a number of players that played Intermediate with Waterford this year that they can call upon, most notably Shauna Prendergast, Shona Curran, Shauna Kiernan, Nicola Morrissey, Ruth Geoghegan and their goal scoring here from their All-Ireland Final win back in March – Caitriona McGlone.

Lismore will also be able to call upon some up and coming young players in the likes of Sarah Geoghegan, Johnanna Houlihan and Sarah Coughlan as well as the more experienced players like Marie Russell, Aisling O’Brien, Grainne Kenneally, Laura Buckley, Niamh Molumphy, Sinead Walsh and Sinead Bennett.

Normally, when it comes to ending a preview of a game, I have a tendency to favour one team to win and state which.

Last weekend for the County Senior Ladies Football Final I decided to sit on the fence, believing that Ballymacarbry and Comeragh Rangers were too close to make a call on.

This weekend I find myself in much the same boat.

There can be no disputing that the best two teams in the county have reached this years final, but in the next year or two make have things to say about this statement as the gap between the top two in recent years and those coming behind them is getting closer and closer owing to the tremendous work that is currently being done within the county in developing camogie.

As pointed out already, Lismore and Saint Anne’s have shared the last five finals between them. They have also shared the last three league finals between the two. In all cases, Lismore hold a one win advantage in these finals.

However what has happened in previous games between the two will for over an hour on Sunday afternoon will be forgotten about. This Sunday’s final is a complete new game. The sides will start as former Waterford manager Michael Ryan has often said “Zero-Zero to Zero-Zero” on the score board.

For the second weekend in a row, when it comes to the biggest women’s game played within the county this weekend I am going to sit on the fence. These two sides are too evenly matched to decide who is will emerge winners.

Lismore will be favourites but favourites even in a two horse race do not always win. Saint Anne’s have already ensure this year that Lismore cannot repeat the year they had between Saint Patrick Day 2013 and Saint Patrick’s Day 2014 by claiming the league final, and that win will give them confidence going into this weekends game.

One result that has not happened between the two sides in big games in recent years is a draw. Could it happen this year? Sooner rather than later it is going to happen. In hurling we went from 1959 to 2012 without a replay being needed to decide the outcome of the All-Ireland Hurling Championship and then we got three replays in a row.

If a replay is needed in Croke Park to decide who takes home the silverware on offer, then why can’t it happen at Fraher Field.

Although the All-Ireland Football Final is on in Croke Park on Sunday afternoon, and it will generate a lot of viewers who have not being lucky enough to get their hands on one of the valuable tickets needed to gain entry. However, before the many from Waterford that will tune into the big game in Croke Park, they could do worst than to make their way to Fraher Field for a 2pm start to see Lismore take on Saint Anne’s.

The senior final on Sunday sees An Rinn and Cappoquin take in each other in the Intermediate final.

This could well prove to be another exciting game, where victory could go to either side, but Cappoquin get the nod here to win. This game has a 12-30pm start.