Tag Archives: Clare ladies football

With Banner Ladies the dominant force in Clare ladies football, the defeats, however few they are can seem easier to recall than the successes. Few gave Kilmihil a chance of upsetting the odds in 2019 when they faced Banner Ladies in the final for the fourth year in a row. However, the East Clare side produced a display filled with courage and grit as they dethroned a Banner Ladies outfit aiming for nine county titles in a row. Banner Ladies manager JJ O’Dea is hoping to avoid the hurt felt by his charges two years ago. “That defeat hurt us badly. It really hurt. The worst thing was we felt we didn’t put in a performance that we would expect of ourselves so that made it hard to take. Our eye is on the ball this year. We hope to have a good day in Doonbeg and play our attacking brad of football. We want to move the ball fast …

Despite Kilmihil playing in their fifth final in six years, manager Kevin Callinan insists his side are focused on producing players for the future. “We would have a small pick but we try and build for the future. This year was a time to rebuild for us so to get to the county final is great and will only improve the players’ development.” Kilmihil won four out of their five round robin games with their only defeat coming to Banner Ladies with both sides already qualified for the knockout stages. They continue to be without the Considine sisters – Eimear and Ailish, who are both forging successful careers in the AFLW and rugby respectively while Edel McMahon (rugby) will not feature. Carol O’Leary and Jenny Kelly are unavailable. Callinan admits it is not easy to produce players in an area as small as Kilmihil but he is happy with the continued progress being made at underage. “There is unbelievable work …

Eoin Brennan looks ahead to the senior, intermediate and junior championships, beginning this weekend SENIOR Having unceremoniously snatched back their senior crown last September, Banner Ladies are gunning for their 12th title in 14 seasons and remain still the team to beat despite an ever-evolving panel. Kilmihil were the last to lower the Banner in a near-perfect final display in 2019 in what was their fourth consecutive final appearance. That breakthrough came nine years after West Clare Gaels did likewise against the Ennis side, with last year’s welcome return to a final proving a sobering experience. 2019 Intermediate winners Cooraclare made an immediate impact in the top tier by reaching the semi-finals at the first attempt, something which newcomers Kilmurry Ibrickane will hope to emulate by becoming the dark horses for the prestigious crown. The county senior ladies football championship comprises six teams in one group, with the top four teams advancing to the semi-finals (1 v 4, 2 v …

Ivan Smyth speaks to Clare ladies football coach Evan Talty ahead of today’s crucial clash with Westmeath AFTER conceding 16 goals in their five games across the league and Championship so far this year, Clare manager Evan Talty is keenly aware of the need to address his side’s defensive issues. When Clare travel down to Tuam Stadium on Sunday afternoon to face Westmeath (throw in 2pm), they will need to produce their best defensive display to have any hopes of reaching the semi finals of the All-Ireland Intermediate Championship. After holding Wexford to 1-8 in an opening round league win, Clare have since shipped 4-13 to Kerry, 4-18 to Meath (both league games), 4-7 in an opening round Championship defeat to Leitrim and 3-6 in their final round group win against Fermanagh. Talty admits that the defensive displays have “not been good enough.” “It’s not been good enough from us defensively this year. You cannot win football games conceding three, …

Ivan Smyth catches up with the Clare skipper ahead of their do-or-die clash with Westmeath AS Clare prepare for a do or die clash against Westmeath, Caoimhe Harvey is keen to ensure the hard work that her side put in during the third lockdown does not go to waste. After losing their All-Ireland Intermediate semi-final on November 28 of last year, Harvey would have expected to be able to quickly go about avenging that defeat. However, the third lockdown saw all GAA action called to a halt with players across the country forced to train at home. The Clare captain insists her side were eager to make up for lost time when they got back on the pitch. “We were out until late last year but we couldn’t go back until April. There was uncertainty when we were returning with questions about whether it was safe to be back. We followed the guidelines so we’ve been training away ever since. …

Eoin Brennan previews the Clare ladies football team’s crucial clash with Fermanagh With their championship lives on the line and no room left for error, can Clare’s true colours finally shine through through this Sunday? That’s the challenge thrown down by manager Evan Talty after a hugely disappointing opening All-Ireland Championship opener against Leitrim left his players embroiled in a winner-takes-all showdown for the final quarter-final spot in Longford town this Sunday. Now it’s up to them to see what are they made of. I told them coming out on Sunday that this was going to be championship football. You can play all the challenges you want but when Leitrim were in their faces and their hunger and desire was far greater than ours, we didn’t react well. “The question is now can we bring the intensity that Leitrim brought against us into Sunday’s match against Fermanagh. We’ve now had a game under our belts so there’s no excuses. It’s …

Ladies National Football League Division 2A round 2 Kerry 4-13 Clare 3-11 CLARE, following a shaky one point win over Wexford last weekend, travelled to Kerry in Round 2 of the league and gave one of the better performances of recent seasons despite going under by five points in the end against a competent Kerry outfit, reports Michael O’Connor. The opening minute had the Clare entourage fearing a whitewash as the visitors to Austin Stack Park were down (1-1) with not even 90 seconds played with Hannah O Donoghue grabbing the Kerry goal. The water break in the first half appeared to kill the Clare momentum after positive responses from Aisling Reidy, Lizzy Roche, Fidelma Marrinan and Cliona Blake. Strong words from the Kerry management saw Clare under the cosh at the resumption with Louise Galvin and Megan O’Connor on target to send Kerry four clear. Clare managed to stem this scoring spree but were unable to get on the …

National Ladies Football League Division 2B Round 1 Clare 0-12 Wexford 1-8 CLARE got their League campaign off to a winning start in Cusack Park, rallying against a formidable Wexford side to come from behind in the second half to snatch the win by a single point, reports Muireann Duffy. Clare had a commanding start to the opening half, taking the challenge to Wexford who took longer to find their feet. A direct attacking style suited the homeside, who made easy work of cutting straight through Wexford’s defence, but the roles would be reversed in the second half. Fidelma Marrinan caused an early headache for Paul Carty’s side, proving a strong attacking threat and pointing two frees in the opening 10 minutes, but unforced Clare errors at the other end of the pitch quickly gave Wexford their way into the match. Claiming four points from frees, Wexford put themselves ahead in the 13th minute despite Clare playing the better football. …