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.
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