Pressure off as ladies seek league title

HAVING run eventual All-Ireland champions Dublin very close in last year’s All-Ireland senior quarter-final in Tullamore, it was a bit of a comedown for the Clare ladies seniors to have to play their league football in Division 3. However, their relegation from Division 2 was of their own making and even before this Saturday’s Division 3 league final, they have improved their league status.
Whatever the result in Parnell Park this weekend, Clare and Fermanagh will play Division 2 league football in 2012. Saturday’s final is a repeat of the 2009 All-Ireland Intermediate final, won by Clare in Croke Park. Clare’s progress to this year’s league final has been seamless. They won every game, bar drawing with Fermanagh in Clarecastle. That game finished Clare 1-18, Fermanagh 4-9.
The scoreline indicates both Clare’s primary strength and their main weakness throughout the league. In seven games, Clare scored 20-98, while they conceded 13-66. Their priority this weekend, and especially when they play Cork in the Munster Championship in late June, will be to maintain their attacking primacy but tighten up considerably defensively. In Eimear Considine, Niamh O’Dea, who is sitting the Leaving Certificate this year, captain, Niamh Keane, and Louise Henchy attacking from midfield, Clare have some of the best forwards in ladies’ football available to them. If they can balance that attacking prowess with tightening up defensively, they will again compete with the top counties in the country.
League-wise, having comfortably topped the table and made the last four, there was pressure on Clare to beat Wicklow in their semi-final three weeks ago. They emerged with a 5-13 to 2-12 win in Templetuohy, while Fermanagh scraped past Down, 4-7 to 1-15, in the other semi-final.
As evidenced by their semi-final total and their 4-9 against Clare, Fermanagh don’t score too many points but goals keep them competitive. Clare will be very keen to keep the green flag waving to a minimum from Fermanagh’s viewpoint.
Clare will have a full strength panel available on Saturday with Anne Marie Callinan, Ailish Considine and Laurie Ryan all available. Clare trained last Friday and Sunday, while all panel members were in action in Kildysart on Monday in the Cian Cleary Benefit Fundraiser.
“Everything is coming together. We’ve 28 players available for next weekend. It’s probably the first time this year that we have everyone,” Clare manager David O’Brien told The Clare Champion. He acknowledged that somewhat ironically, the semi-final was more pressurised than the final is likely to be.
“There was a lot of pressure on before the semi-final. If we hadn’t won that, anything that happened in the league beforehand meant nothing but it’s a final and it would be great to win it. We also want to go into championship on the back of a win but the primary goal was to win promotion and that has been achieved,” he said.
Clare can relax in the knowledge that they have been promoted but they would prefer to return with a cup on Saturday night than with a defeat as they prepare for Cork in the Munster Championship next month.
Clare will travel to Dublin on Friday night in preparation for the 1.45pm throw-in at Parnell Park. The game will be followed by the Division 2 final at 3.30pm and the Division 1 decider at 5.15pm. All games will be live on TG4.

Injury rules out Lynch

THE Clare ladies warmed up for Saturday’s final when they easily defeated a local All-Stars selection in Kildysart on Monday. The game was part of the Cian Cleary benefit day held in the GAA field.
While the Clare ladies played well, Coolmeen’s Grace Lynch, who played wing-back on the All-Stars team, sustained a chipped bone in her foot. The injury will keep her sidelined for four to six weeks and she is now in a cast. She is now a major doubt for Clare’s Munster Championship game against Cork, which is provisionally down for June 18.
A number of other Clare panellists, including Sineád Eustace and Niamh Greene, played with the All-Stars team, which also included the vast experience of Monica Lillis, Bernie Kelly, Sarah Cahill and Niamh Chambers.
The All-Stars team was managed by Eithne Morrissey, Mary Keane and Carmel Eustace.
Clare made several changes during the course of the hour’s football. Louise Woods, Marie Considine, Louise Henchy, Naomi Carroll and Ailish Considine played excellent football, which bodes well for Saturday’s final.