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.
