Gailltir Look to Retain Provincial Title This Weekend

Gailltir Camogie Club go in search of a third Munster Club Championship title in four years on Saturday afternoon next when they take on Tipperary Intermediate Champions Toomevara at Cappamore in County Limerick, with the game having a 12-30pm start.

The ladies from the Barony will head to County Limerick with the mantle of favourites on their shoulders. Just two weeks ago they had an excellent win over Cork Club side Newcestown on their own patch, a game that will have helped the reigning Munster Champions at this level going into this game as the Tipperary club have not had a competitive outing since winning their Championship in the Premier County some weeks back.

Gailltir’s opponents this weekend played in the Junior Grade in Tipperary up to last year after falling down the grades over a number of years having played in the top grade some years back.

But while they will go into this weekend’s Munster Final as the underdog, they North Tipperary Club will not be short of confidence having won back to back championships in the Premier County.

Just two years ago they were beaten in the County Junior ‘A’ County Final by a single score against Thurles Sarsfields but they learned from that defeat and came back last year to beat Shannon Rovers on an impressive 3-20 to 0-7 score line. In fact the North Tipperary Club were beaten in two finals before they won one, showing that the old saying that you have to lose on to win one is often true.

Gailltir might take some confidence going into this game from what happened to their opponents in their last two competitive outings.

In the County Semi Final that had to fight hard beat Newport-Ballinahinch. Here Toomevara raced into a very early 1-5 to no score lead, but by the break their opponents had done enough to fight back to be on level terms, in doing so scoring three goals as the sides turned around locked 1-8 to 3-2 score line.

In the second half they leaked another two more goals, which might suggest that if the Gailltir players can click as we know they can, then there are goals for them in this game. In Toomevara’s win in the County Semi Final it was their ability to pick off points which won the game for them as they ran out winners on a 3-14 to 5-5 score line.

And it was much the same in their County Final win recently at The Ragg. With 25 minutes played they found themselves 2-4 to 0-4 behind, but again their ability to pull off points when needed from players like Elaine Young, Mary Flaherty, Aoife Ryan and Kelly Anne Quirke that saw them emerge winners on a 0-19 to 2-10 score line.

All year Gailltir have proven very impressive and they will be hoping to bring that form into this game. In fact Gailltir’s fine form goes back further than this past year.

Twelve months ago they won a second county title in three years and followed it up with a second provincial title in the same time span and they went on to contest and All-Ireland Final earlier this year where they lost out by a single score.

Going so near to winning an All-Ireland Final without doing so can have two effects on a side. It could make a side and think what might have been or it can make a side to go out and try and make sure that there will be no more ‘oh so near’ storylines in the future and this is what we have seen from Gailltir in the past few months as they have gone about things in a very impressive fashion.

In this year’s senior championship which had seven clubs taking part which is something to be welcomed split into two groups, one of three the other of four.

Gailltir played in the three team group where they had wins over Cappoquin and Dungarvan and in the quarter finals they played An Rinn who finished bottom in the four team group and recorded an excellent win.

The semi final was always going to be tougher against Saint Anne’s but again Gailltir ran out winners and in the County Final played some weeks back at the WIT Arena  in Carriganore Gailltir proved far too strong for a Cappoquin side who did very well to reach that stage of the competition.

The Gailltir management team will be hoping that Áine Lyng will be fit to play in this game. The two side All-Star nominee carried an injury into her side’s last game and it forced her off early in that game. If she was to lose out it would be a blow to her side but they know that they have the talent within their ranks to make up for her possible absence.

In their last game Gailltir had very solid performances from the likes of Clodagh Carroll, Emma Hannon, Trish Jackman, Aoife Fitzgerald, Ciara O’Sullivan and Shauna Fitzgerald, and with others like Ciara Jackman, Margo Heffernan, Claire Dunne, Kate Lynch, Anne Corcoran, Emer Walsh, Annie Fitzgerald and Leah Sheridan who would be expected to deputise for Áine Lyng if she was not deemed fit to start, you can see how strong the team is.

And when you add in the likes of Emily Mahony, Elena Gallagher, Hannah Flynn, Róisín Flood, Sorcha Cantwell, Sarah Maher Jodie Tuohy and Clodagh Hoctor all on the bench against the Cork side but all with big match experience they will be a difficult side to beat.

            In last year’s competition Gailltir went all the way to the All-Ireland Final and if they get over this latest hurdle on their road to appearing in back to back finals you have to feel they stand a good chance of doing so, even if there is the prospect of a All-Ireland Semi Final should they win before they get to play in Croke Park again.

            Will Gailltir win against Toomevara I hear you ask? I feel that they have an excellent chance of not just winning here but going all the way in the Spring of 2020 to what they want to see happen.