The past twelve months or so have proven to be a
memorable time for the Lismore Camogie Club.
September 2013 saw the club regain the county senior
camogie final in Lemybrien against a Saint Anne’s side that had beaten the
Cathedral Town side in the 2012 decider between the two at Ardmore.
The Cathedral Town side went on to represent the
county in the Munster Intermediate Championship (the club championship is
graded on the level the inter county team play at) and beat opposition from
Cork and Clare (after a replay) to lift the Munster Crown for the third time in
the clubs history, and haven beaten the Ulster Champions in the All-Ireland
semi final, drew with Kilkenny side Ballyhale Shamrocks in the All-Ireland
Final at Croke Park before beating them in the replay at Clonmel.
In May Lismore lost out to Saint Anne’s in the Senior
League Final, but it was no surprise that the two would meet again in the
championship decider a little over four months later, although whether it will
be a surprise that the big two do not meet in future finals remains to be seen
as there is a number of clubs quickly closing in on the standard currently set
by Lismore and Saint Annes.
Had Lismore not got the result they did from that game
few could have complained.
Saint Anne’s really put it up to Lismore on the day
and had their chances to earn a draw or even win the game but it was not to be
for the mid county side.
Four minutes into added time at the end of the second
half, Karen Kelly stood over a free on her own sixty-five metre line but her
effort to force another meeting of the two went just wide. Earlier in the
second half, a Niamh Rockett effort appeared to sneak inside the upright but
the umpire waved it wide.
Lismore’s opposition on Sunday will be Tipperary side
Borrisoleigh who will be playing the game on their own sod.
They have come through a good Tipperary Intermediate
Championship, beating Kilruane 1-9 to 0-7, Moycarkey 2-11 to 0-14, Drom and
Inch 2-15 to 0-8 and Shannon Rovers 2-15 to 1-10.
Nicole Walsh is without doubt the Tipperary side’s
leading player and is their top scorer by some distance. She is also a quality
free taker and will punish teams for any in-discipline they show. Others that
could play a vital roll include Teresa Ryan at centre back, Aoife Delargy and
Julie Kelly in the middle of the field and Moira Maher in attack.
In the semi final’s Borrisoleigh had a narrow 1-12 to
2-7 win over Kilruane with Nicole Walsh mot for the first time proving to be
the sides leading mark person on the day accounting for 1-10 of her sides total
with Sarah Kinnane and Deirdre Corcoran also getting on the score sheet.
In the final, Drom and Inch provided the opposition a
The Ragg in a most local of local derbies.
On the day Borrisoleigh proved to be the better of the
two sides winning 2-13 to 1-7 with Nicole Walsh again finishing top scorer with
1-7. Deirdre Corcoran with 1-1, Moira Maher with 0-3 as well as Mary Bradshaw
and Sarah Kinnane also got on the score sheet for the winners.
19 different players have started for Borrisoleigh in
their last two games and the side for this weekend’s game could well be picked
along similar lines.
Carmel O’Brien is the side’s regular net minder and
she could well have Michelle Ryan, Shauna Rabbitte and Niamh McGrath in front
of her.
Further out the field Nora O’Brien and Teresa Ryan
have started the last two games with Cloda Scanlon and Noreen Stapleton
starting in the number seven position in the semi final and final respectfully.
In the middle of the field the Tipperary side has a
settled pairing of Julie Kiely and Aoife Delargy.
In attack Deirdre Corcoran, Nicole Walsh, Moira Maher,
Jane McCormack and Chrissy Kenny have rotated in different positions over the
past two games with Grace O’Mahony and Mary Bradshaw have filled the full
forward position.
Others that could play a roll for the Tipperary club
include Sarah Kinnane who has come on in the last few games and hit important
scores, Lauren Butler-Ryan, Louise Fahey, Patricia McElwee, Aisling Kiely and
Grace O’Mahony.
Lismore in their County Final win over Saint Anne’s
had a number of changes to the team that beat Ballyhale Shamrocks in the
All-Ireland Final replay back in March.
Tanya Morrissey has replaced Aisling O’Brien in goal. The
full back line of Sarah Coughlan, Shauna Prendergast and Marie Russell was the
same. Shauna Kiernan remained at centre back with Aoife Houlihan in the number
five position and Grainne Kenneally who missed much of 2013 moving from centre
forward to wing back in place of Sarah Fenton.
Shona Curran was at centre field in both the
All-Ireland and county Final but had a different partner last time out Laura
Buckley came in to play alongside the captain with Nicola Morrissey who was
Shona Curran’s partner in the All-Ireland moving to attack.
Lismore have a possible double goal scoring machine in
Catriona McGlone their hat-trick hero at Clonmel last March playing with Ruth
Geoghegan in the inside forward line.
The remaining other four positions in attack could
well be a contest between a number of players. Nicola Morrissey, if not
selected in the middle of the field in a swap with Laura Buckley, Johanna
Houlihan and Aoife Hannon would all be expected to start in three of the four
remaining forward positions, but where they start could well prove to be a lottery
such is their versatility. In the county final, the selectors opted to start
Sharon Williams in the final forward positions and could well start their again
this time round.
Sarah Fenton who replaced Johanna Houlihan in the
county final is another option to start in attack for Lismore is this game
while Niamh Molumphy who replaced Ruth Geoghegan in the same game is another
option, possibly coming in at corner back with Marie Russell moving out to the
half back line and Grainne Kenneally moving to attack.
Aisling O’Brien, Kate Heneghan, Sarah Geoghegan, Ellen
Curran who is new to the panel this year as is Alice Russell could also play a
roll if given the nod to start.
The Current Borrisoleigh Club was reformed in 2007 and
has won the Junior Championship in the Premier County in 2012 and the
Intermediate Championship this year.
The club has grown from strength to strength since it
re-formation has grown from strength to strength and currently has over 100
members.
Lismore this year celebrate the 40th
Anniversary of the formation of the club and have already marked that
anniversary with an All-Ireland and would love no doubt as they head for the
next major milestone begin a new era with repeating what they achieved towards
the end of last year and earlier this year.
Lismore will know going into the game that they will
be the favourite’s in the
eyes of some to advance from this game, but they don’t need me to remind them
that favourite’s do
not always win and those over the team will be making their charges aware of
this.
Lismore will travel to Borrisoleigh confident they
will win, but playing on their own sod, Borrisoleigh will also be hopeful of
pulling off a win and winning a place in the Munster Final. Lismore will also
be respecting the challenge of Borrisoleigh and will be hoping that the
experience they have gained in the last few years winning several county
finals, winning three Munster Finals and one All-Ireland as well as playing in
a higher grade in the county club championship will see them march on from this
game.
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