AFTER THE POSTPONEMENT due to Storm Emma and the Beast from the East and resultant re-fixing, two Galway clubs are finally preparing to hit the road to Dublin on Sunday.
In a repeat of the 2017 All-Ireland senior decider, Sarsfields will be seeking to exact revenge on Slaughtneil as they go head-to-head for the Bill and Agnes Carroll Cup.
But first up, Athenry will be flying the flag for the Tribeswomen in the intermediate final as they face Kildare’s Johnstownbridge.
“It’s great for Galway, great for Galway camogie,” Athenry captain Lorna Hannon tells The42 at the launch of the AIB All-Ireland club finals.
“Obviously we’ll be supporting Sarsfields and they’ll be supporting us. There’ll be a great Galway contingent in Croke Park. It might be a different story next year when we’re up in senior alongside them!”
For now, all is good though. Athenry are exactly where they want to be, and have produced a meteoric rise of sorts over the last few months.
After being relegated from the senior grade in 2016, the east Galway outfit bounced straight back up in October as they lifted the county intermediate title.
“We were obviously so dejected and so disappointed after going down,” Hannon recalls.
“It was a bad old year, we lost every match pretty much. 2016 was a bit of a lull in the club really. Like we said in the dressing room after, ‘We have to get back up straight away and the year to do it is the following year’.
“Athenry has such a tradition of camogie, we couldn’t stay down in intermediate. (We had) a great year last year, we didn’t lose a match so that puts us back up.”
Hannon’s not exactly sure what changed across the space of a few months. Everyone bought in, she reckons.
A few older players had left as they started families, younger girls fell away as they went to college. There was that period of transition, one which every team experiences.
“Katherine (Duane) came on and took us over,” she explains. “It obviously wasn’t easy coming taking over a team who had just been relegated.
“First evening back it was just getting together, to make sure we were all on the same page, that everyone was in on it to win the intermediate and get back up senior.
“From the get go, it was really positive around training and everything. Everyone just really enjoyed it which is the main thing. Girls came back. There was just a great buzz around training and everyone’s hearts were in it.”
Here they are now, in the national showpiece. Obviously, the aim from the get-go was to secure the county intermediate title and power back up a grade. But did they ever think they’d be in an All-Ireland final?
“One of our selectors, Veronica, from the first day was saying, ‘We have to make it to Croke Park, we can do it,’” she grins.
“From the first week, she was saying it. But winning the county, that wasn’t easy. There were good teams — Carnmore in the semi, Mountbellew in the final, we had met them in the league final and we knew they were good, fit and young.
“It was tough but we came out on top.”
And so, they’re in the top two sides in their grade in the country now. Not for the first time — they contested All-Ireland senior finals in 2007 and 2009 but were defeated in both by Tipperary side Cashel.
“I would have gone to them but I wouldn’t have really known what was going on,” Hannon, who’s 21 now and a student in NUIG, remembers.
“I would have been young. They lost the two All-Ireland finals so obviously it’s such a big deal for the girls that were playing back then to be back now, in another All-Ireland final.
“My younger sister would only have been seven back in 2007 and now she’s playing with girls that would have been playing back then. It’s come full circle nearly.”
It’s her — and her sister, Ciara’s — first time playing on the biggest stage in Gaelic games, a family occasion to be relished in itself. They’ve only been to watch Galway in the past.
“There’s such excitement really,” she beams. “We’ve obviously been there so many times as a supporter but it’s going to be so different running out.
“People still have their flags up nearly (after September’s All-Ireland hurling final win). It’s really positive. Any win in any grade is great for the club and great for the county. Everyone is just delighted for us and wishing us the best.”
To conclude, the challenge on the day and the side in their way of lifting the coveted title — back-to-back All-Ireland junior champions Johnstownbridge.
“We would know a bit,” she concedes, stressing that the focus is on themselves, on Athenry.
“They’ve won two All-Irelands obviously the past two years so (they’re) successful and stuff like that, but at the same time, we concentrate on ourselves at training. We wouldn’t discuss them too much, we’ll keep concentrating on ourselves.
“There’s great excitement, a great buzz.”
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Not a great match but well done Kerry. They did the necessary.
Thank god the Mcguiness/Harte brand of puke football lost yesterday. It’s killing the game as a spectacle.
It was replaced by the most cynical brand of the game carried out by Kerry. 10 fouls to 1 in Kerry’s favour in the first half. Kerry were the offenders yesterday and made the game the worst final in living memory
The reason Donegal’s ‘style’ is so destructive is that opponents feel they have to match it in order to beat it, creating the kind of awful spectacle we saw yesterday. The Dublin game showed that playing good football against Donegal’s ‘system’ is at best risky. Kerry did the right thing, including playing keep ball in the final stages, notwithstanding the crazy goal chace they allowed Donegal to get in the final moments.
A well deserved win and everyone who likes to watch the game should be relieved the team trying to play a bit of football came through in the end.
So we praise kerry for playing negative football like ulster teams have been accused and lambasted for in years gone by but we dont praise donegal for their ‘system’ which completely hammered dublin.. or the way tyrone played in years gone by beating this wonderful majestic kerry team in all ireland semi amd finals! Funny that eh..
You seem to be suggesting there’s some kind of hypocrisy at play, but none is evident, maybe you could outline it?
Some football actually broke out in the semi-final. Dublin trashed Donegal in the first 20 minutes and Donegal had to come out and play. When they did that, Dublin looked very exposed. Dublin made Donegal’s wrecking tactics look okay because, unlike Kerry, Dublin responded by playing football. Because Kerry matched Donegal’s tactics yesteray, it was particularly dour. The common denominator in all this is Donegal. You take Donegal out and you have great football. Kerry v Mayo = too brilliant games, Dublin v Kerry last year = one of the best games every played in Croker.
Hypocrisy among the southern media/supporters regarding puke/horrible football eminating from the north and nowhere else? Never… theres never been negative tactics used by southern teams unless they were made to do it by the dirty northerners if you believe what you read or hear
You appear to have a persecution complex.
What do you dispute in what I’ve written above? Are you suggesting these wrecking tactics don’t orginiate in Ulster?
Look, teams can play however they like within the rules, but let’s not pretend it is anything to watch for spectators. It’s negative, ugly, and boring to watch. Is it not?
I was at the dublin v kerry game last summer. An awesome display of football. Yesterday made me want to cry. The better the mcguinness and hartes of this world are no longer involved the better
Wrecking tactics? Never heard of these… i remember tyrone v meath quite a few years back when we were absolutely beaten and battered off the ball at every opportunity and there wasnt the cry of ‘horrible tactics’ etc, the cry was we need to man up and become more physical and in your face.. tyrone learned from games like those and changed their game! Peter canavan, geard cavlan and eoin mulligan, true wrecking defensive legends!
I see you’re studiously avoiding the central question! :)
No question that Canavan, Mulligan et al. are absolute legends of the game. Nobody’s disputing that. During the latter period of Tyrone’s successful run they were playing fantastic football, scoring some ridiclous scores, and entertaining many a crowd.
Yesterday, Donegal socred 2 points from play in the first half, and tried their dammdest to stop a game of football breaking out. This is a whole other plantet in terms of negativity. Is it not?
2 points from play and a handful from frees.. id put that down to good defending surely? You’re doing a disservice to kerrys defence there. . Wasnt a great game but not every single game is going to be free flowing and scoring is it..
Meath have a tradition of negativity, but in a different way
Were you watching the same game Petr, kerry continually fouled during the game. They have two wing forwards who can’t/ don’t want to play the game. O’brien should have been sent off in first 20 minutes
I note that Pat Spillane warmly embraced “puke football” when delivered by his native county!
Fighting puke with puke out of necessity.
There was no puke football against Cork or Mayo!
Watching Donegal is like watching sh*t on a stick.
No puke football needed against Mayo..they play football the way it should be played..like Dublin really..just unlucky this year, let down by the most incompetent ref that ever has been.
Mayo do play good football but they can’t blame to ref. No more excuese from Mayo, they need to stand up and win.
Nor against dublin
Totally agree with Petr. Mayo are a great team and the two tough tests they gave Kerry may well have made the difference in the final, but don’t stoop to blaming the ref – it does Mayo a disservice.
Agreed. The likes of Killian O’Connor will ensure Mayo win it before very long.
Did you watch the Cork game? Maybe it didn’t look like puke because Cork were too naive to put men behind the ball but Kerry had only 2 men in the Cork half for the majority of that match – O’Donoghue and Geaney. Everyone else stayed back. If you were at the game it was very obvious.
Painful to watch..but hopefully the hurling replay will erase the memory…
Just witnessed two special buses drive by in Denny Street Tralee. That says it all. Well done boys! Ciarraí Abú!
A sad day for GAA yesterday. Gamesmanship,unsporting behaviour from Kerry
players and supporters, off the ball tactics,particularly against Murphy.
Kerry were one dimensional. Their ” system” was to hoof it into Donaghy.
This must be the poorest team to win Sam in twenty years !
I’ll give you 2/10 for that one Michael
Well done Kerry on winning both senior and minor titles.A great honour for the Dr Crokes club to captain Kerry.The last Dr Crokes player to captain Kerry was the famous Dick Fitzgerald a hundred years ago.Well done to all involved.
Bloody hell, I’m sick of the puritanical, hypocritical bulls**t that people have been spouting the last 2 days about so called puke football. The fact is, any team plays to its strenghts, doing otherwise is the definition of stupidity. Tyrone’s success in the 00s was based on a defensive style as they lacked the attacking options enjoyed by the likes of Kerry (Canavan et al aside), but had numerous abrasive defenders. In fact, it’s often forgotten that Kerry adopted similar tactics during Tyrone’s dominant period which bore some fruit.
McGuiness, like him or loathe him, took a team of largely average players and brought them an all ireland and another final appearance, display clear progression from all out defence to a counter attacking side. It’s also convenient to ignore the fact that Donegal had the highest scoring average of the 2012 championship, somewhere in the region of 18 points per match, put up 15 scores in the Ulster final this year and put 3-14 on the unbackable favourite in the semi.
Fact is that every team plays to win, Kerry yesterday were evidence of that, good value for the win most definitely but proof positive that negative tactics are far from the sole preserve of Northern teams.
Kerry had to play negative to counter Donegal. When they play the likes of Mayo or Dublin it’s actually worth watching, which is handy for those who watch the game.
So Kerry had to play a defensive style but you’d much rather prefer if Donegal played a style that would get them hockied? Sunday wasn’t the first time Kerry have employed the blanket defence when it suited them.
The fact is that regardless of system, a game is only boring when teams neglect to score or try and score, and at the lower levels every year produces matches where both sides try not to lose. Someone the understands the game would realise that every match isn’t Real Madrid vs. Barcelona, the Dublin vs Kerry semi last year, while very entertaining was a clash of 2 teams not bothering to defend.
The system employed by McGuiness while predicated on defence and work rate, generates excitement too with the quick turn from defence to attack and counter attacking from the half back line.
Hey Kerry footballers make sure you keep Sam clean down in the bog of Kerry !!!!!!!!!
We bulk buy the Mr Sheen down here boy!
Very nice keep it clean for the dubs next year
To Any of the Kerry supporters on their way home there is club football championship on in Kilkenny this evening if ye wanna see a decent game played as the good lord intended
I wouldn’t call the most popular tourist destination and home of tourism a ‘bog’…not from kerry myself but I’m sure if u were to kerry you’d realise
Not one player there yesterday would lace Johnny Doyles boots. That Kerry tramp that kicked away the ball at the end shouldn’t be let onto a football pitch again.
They wouldn’t have to, johnny would be doing it for them.
What was the foul count again ?
Add the incentive to the attacking team . Make goals 5 points or have certain lines which only 1 or 2 forwards can go back past . Teams wont change unless their odds of winning will increase
We’ll said Michael Eden, Kerry are dirty winners