Ballymacarbry and Brian Boru’s do Battle in Munster Club Championship

Ballymacarbry Senior Ladies Football team make the short journey to Clonmel on Sunday afternoon to play Tipperary champions Brian Borus in the Munster Club Championship.

The two sides have met on a number of occasions in recent years and the County Waterford side who recently won a thirty-fifth county title in a row have come out on top when it counts most, with the most recent win coming in last years championship when they ran out 1-17 to 0-8 winners at New Inn.

This years Brian Borus side is a good one. They had a 1-9 to 1-7 win over Aherlow in the Tipperary Senior County Final recently.

They have some very experienced players in their line up with Laura Morrissey, Jennifer Grant, Cliona O’Dwyer, Mairead Morrissey and Eimer Myles possibly their best known players as they are key players for Tipperary who lost out in this years division three league final replay against Waterford while they also helped the Premier County win a first ever Intermediate Munster Final this year and helped them reach this years All-Ireland semi final where they narrowly lost out to Clare.

In Patricia Hickey, Orla Fleming and Amy Sweeney the South Tipperary side also have some quality players that can cause this Ballymacarbry side some problems.

Twenty years ago I heard people claim that the glory days for the Ballymacarbry Club will come to an end, but they are still going strong and maybe are as strong as ever and will continue to be for some time.

Heading into the last few County Finals there was expectations that maybe Comeragh Rangers might be the side that would bring an end to their long dominance within the game at this level in the county, but so far they have not managed it.

In their most recent competitive game they hit three goals over the course of the hour, two of which without raising any white flags in the game would have won them the game.

In reporting on their recent county final win I said that this is a class Ballymacarbry act.

Right throughout the team there is players that could walk onto any team at any level.

Lauren Fitzpatrick is a quality goalkeeper who has played in that position for Tipperary in recent years. Teresa McGrath is another player that has worn the blue and gold shirt of Tipperary.

There is also an abundance of players in the side that have worn the white and blue of Waterford.

The Ryan sisters, Michelle, Louise and Sinead are all vastly experienced players. So too are the three Wall sisters – Linda, Mairead and Aileen who right now is one of the top players in the game at a national level.  Linda has been part of the majority of the sides that won the last thirty five county finals while Mairead is one of the most under rated players in the country.

The McGrath Sister Michelle and Karen are also quality players. Both missed the start of the year playing for the county but were back for the business part of the year for Waterford and as they have done so many times in the past, the two played a huge part for Waterford.

But there is more to the Ballymacarbry outfit that the senior intercounty players playing with Waterford or Tipperary.

They are able to call on some high quality players in the likes of Becky Hogan, Laura Mulcahy, Eibhlis Cooney, Marian Ryan and Lauren Guiry amongst others, while they also have some very good players in reserve if needed.

This could well prove to be a very good match at the Clonmel venue. Ballymacarbry will go into the game as favourites, and should come through to the next phase of the competition, but things might be a little tighter then the final result of the most recent clash between the two clubs.