Inagh aiming to make Clare camogie history

CLARE intermediate camogie champions, Inagh take on London club, Tara in the All-Ireland Junior Camogie Club Championship final on Sunday. The game is scheduled for Ashbourne at 2.30pm. It will be history in the making for both sides as they contest an All-Ireland club final for the first time.
Both sides have enjoyed a successful year. The London side bagged both the London senior league and championship titles. They overcame Ruairi Óg of Cushendall, Antrim 2-9 to 0-11 in the Ulster final and at home in the semi-final, saw off Myshal, Carlow, 2-6 to 0-6 on Saturday.
The exiles have a strong panel from which to pick and captain Denise Gilligan, who leads the attack, will be a formidable opponent to mark. Gilligan bagged 1-6 against Myshall and 2-6 in the quarter-final.
Inagh lost out on the league title in Clare in cruel fashion, when Truagh-Clonlara’s Michelle Caulfield goaled from a 45’ in the dying seconds of the game to snatch victory from the Inagh side.
However, Inagh sailed through the Clare Intermediate Championship and were on fire in the final against that same opposition of Truagh-Clonlara.
In the Munster final against An Rinn, Waterford, they had the game effectively wrapped up midway through the second half.
Inagh made a nervous start to their semi-final against title-holders, Four Roads, and they let the Roscommon side hold a nine-point lead with 20 minutes played. However, steely determination saw them chip away at that lead and as full-time approached, they struck two killer blows when Sinéad O’Loughlin and Sharon Rynne goaled within a minute of each other to snatch victory from a clearly stunned Four Roads.
Inagh work hard and have a great team ethic. They have goal-getters and point-scorers from midfield right through to the full-forward line, whereas Tara rely on Gilligan for much of their scores. This spread of scorers should stand to Inagh on Sunday.
The Clare club’s full and half-back lines battened down the hatches to hold Four Roads to just two points in the second half of their semi-final and An Rinn scoreless in the second half of the Munster final and they will be looking to repeat that form this week.
This is the fourth time since 2005 that a Clare club has reached the Junior Club All-Ireland final but the title has yet to come to the Banner County.
Newmarket in 2005, Kilmaley in 2008 and Corofin last year all contested the final but lost out to Leitrim Fontenoys (Down), Harps from Laois and Four Roads respectively. Inagh will be hoping they will be the ones to bring the Phil McBride Cup to the county this week.
The mid-Clare club have steadily climbed the ranks in the last few years, winning the junior championship in 2009 and the intermediate shield last year.
Victory on Sunday would see them achieve their biggest success to date.