A must-win match for the seniors

Fresh from their victory in last weekend’s All-Ireland minor semi-final, Clare ladies’ football followers now switch their attention to this weekend’s senior qualifier in which they face Kildare on Saturday at Carrick on Shannon at 1.30pm.

It will be followed by the meeting of Donegal and Westmeath and both games will be shown live on TG4.

Victory is a must from here on in, as defeat will signal the end of the team’s season. Clare haven’t had a good season but hopes of an improvement are high following the victory achieved by the minors in the All-Ireland B semi-final last weekend, allied to the availability of a number of experienced players for the first time in a number of weeks.

Ruled out of the game are Ailish Considine due to a cruciate ligament injury and Shauna Harvey, who suffered an injury in a club game last week.
Team manager John Burke confirmed this week that half of the 26-strong panel for Saturday’s game are members of the minor squad, which is looking forward to the All-Ireland final.

Minor players expected to be in the starting line-up include Marie Foran, Ashling Corbett and Amy O’Brien.
Both Fiona Lafferty and Emma O’Driscoll are available from this game while Louise Henchy is back in the squad having missed the league campaign. Their availability is a big boost and together with Niamh O’Dea, Eimear Considine and Niamh Keane, they will be expected to make things difficult for Kildare.

“Kildare were beaten by Dublin in the Leinster semi-final. They did well in the league and they would be hoping to be in the last four of the championship,” Clare boss John Burke said this week.
The Ennis man added, “Training has gone well for us in the last couple of weeks and last week’s victory by the minors is certainly a boost.”