After last year’s semi-final heartbreak manager Eugene Foudy is absolutely thrilled to see his side get back to the promised land of county final day but feels they will enter the game as outsiders.
“Before the championship began Truagh-Clonlara were most people’s favourites and that hasn’t changed. They’ll still be favourites and that’s not me just talking up the opposition. You’d have to acknowledge that they’ll start as favourites simply because it’s been four years since we’ve been at this stage.
“Truagh have played in the last three county finals, four if you include the 2021 replay so they’ll have a massive edge in terms of experience of the biggest day.”
After hearing his thoughts for a few minutes I ask him in jest has his side any hope at all. The Clare Senior selector and coach laughs and says he’ll try come up with some sort of plan.
“We’ve a lot of young players who will be playing in their first Senior final but they’re a great crop of young players and overall we do have a nice blend of youth and experience. As a club we’ve been in the last eleven semi-finals so in fairness we are used to the big games. This is a County final though and they are the current champions so we will try come up with some sort of plan to curtail them at one end while trying to fire over the scores at the other end.”
Whatever plan Foudy does settle on it will no doubt involve former Banner captain Clare Hehir and her recent switch to the forwards.
“Clare is a class player and has always been pure quality for the club and the county whenever she played.  She’s one of the best players this county has ever produced and to be honest she’s such an outstanding athlete she could play in any position but she likes the forwards and has been a huge asset since moved up there. Aoibhin Ryan has also been outstanding all season in the scoring stakes too so we don’t worry about where we get our scores from. What is most pleasing though is that all their scoring is a direct result of our attitude out the field and the huge workrate our players get through.”
With Truagh-Clonlara sailing through their group there was a train of thought they might be undercooked when it matters most but their titanic tussle with Scariff-Ogonolloe will have sharpened them up according to the Inagh-Kilnamona boss.
“That extra time battle will certainly have them primed but we’ve had a few battles ourselves. Feakle-Killanena really put us to the pin of our collar and we had a super game against Scariff-Ogonnelloe. It’s a quick turnaround from the semi-final so the fact that we had a smoother semi-final might mean we’re a small bit fresher. No matter what though it’s going to be a real high quality game and we are so looking forward to it. Camogie as a product is getting better and better and that’s down to the massive work done in schools and in the clubs. There’s great attendances at the games these days and that’s because there is a quality product on offer.”