LEINSTER RIVALS KILDARE and Laois battle it out for the Premier Junior camogie championship on Sunday and with two exciting clashes between these sides already this year, this weekend’s finale looks set to be a cracker.
Kildare defeated Laois in June in the Leinster Junior final but the O’Moore County gained revenge with a win in the group stages of the All-Ireland campaign just two weeks later. Since then both sides have been in excellent form and Laois easily saw off Westmeath in the semi-final three weeks ago before Kildare sent five goals past Down to book their place in Croke Park.
It is 23 years since Kildare last tasted glory in the competition, while Laois have never had their hands on the trophy. Laois captain Sarah Anne Fitzgerald is hoping they can change that record this time around and push on in the future.
“The year is going very well and a win does bring confidence,” says Fitzgerald. “Everyone hops on the bandwagon when you’re winning but we have been getting great support from people, the county board and our own clubs who have given us great support this year.
Advertisement
“We hope we can win for them and push on; I mean you only have to look at Offaly, they are prime examples of how it should be done. They won Junior and now they are looking to get to senior semi-finals every year and are fielding two teams. You would be hoping a win for Laois would bring on camogie even more in the county but this year has been such a good year that there has already a good buzz around everything, and our underage are doing very well.”
Fitzgerald believes that the fact that the two sides are so familiar with each other is not something that will have too much impact on the final.
“I suppose you don’t really know how to go about it after playing each other twice this year already, and it is honours even. In that sense the element of surprise might be limited, so I don’t really know what might happen.
“I suppose if you ask me after the match on Sunday I’ll tell you how it went, but we do know each other very well and we know what they are going to bring and likewise they know what we are going to bring as well so it has advantages and disadvantages in a way.”
Lilywhite captain Clodagh Flanagan will be hoping that her county can continue the upward curve that they have been on in recent years and add the Premier Junior title to the Division Three crown they won last year as well as a couple of Leinster Junior crowns and the Junior A All-Ireland in 2010.
She admitted that after defeat in the last four of the championship last year, the entire squad came together to discuss what needed to be done to push on and under new manager Jim McMullen, she feels that their hard work has paid off so far.
“Ourselves as a group of players made a decision last September or October, that we needed to do something different and that we were willing and prepared to work harder to get here,” she says.
“I think it was a combination of the attitude of the players who wanted to go that bit further and also Jim’s experience in terms of management and training and what he brought. I think that the whole structure improved this year and we demanded it to be better.”
The chance to play in Croke Park has been a goal of the team all year long but Flanagan, a winner at GAA HQ with Kildare’s Ladies footballers in 2004, pointed out that getting there is not merely good enough.
“It’ll be amazing but as we said earlier Croke Park can’t be the deciding factor. There is a match to be won and we as a group of players aren’t going to be overawed by the Croke Park factor even though for the majority of the panel it’ll be a once in a lifetime experience for us all. We are obviously going to cherish every moment of it but the match and the final is the most important thing and that is forefront of our minds.”
Friends reunited as Laois and Kildare set to face off again… for All-Ireland glory
LEINSTER RIVALS KILDARE and Laois battle it out for the Premier Junior camogie championship on Sunday and with two exciting clashes between these sides already this year, this weekend’s finale looks set to be a cracker.
Kildare defeated Laois in June in the Leinster Junior final but the O’Moore County gained revenge with a win in the group stages of the All-Ireland campaign just two weeks later. Since then both sides have been in excellent form and Laois easily saw off Westmeath in the semi-final three weeks ago before Kildare sent five goals past Down to book their place in Croke Park.
It is 23 years since Kildare last tasted glory in the competition, while Laois have never had their hands on the trophy. Laois captain Sarah Anne Fitzgerald is hoping they can change that record this time around and push on in the future.
“The year is going very well and a win does bring confidence,” says Fitzgerald. “Everyone hops on the bandwagon when you’re winning but we have been getting great support from people, the county board and our own clubs who have given us great support this year.
“We hope we can win for them and push on; I mean you only have to look at Offaly, they are prime examples of how it should be done. They won Junior and now they are looking to get to senior semi-finals every year and are fielding two teams. You would be hoping a win for Laois would bring on camogie even more in the county but this year has been such a good year that there has already a good buzz around everything, and our underage are doing very well.”
Fitzgerald believes that the fact that the two sides are so familiar with each other is not something that will have too much impact on the final.
“I suppose you don’t really know how to go about it after playing each other twice this year already, and it is honours even. In that sense the element of surprise might be limited, so I don’t really know what might happen.
“I suppose if you ask me after the match on Sunday I’ll tell you how it went, but we do know each other very well and we know what they are going to bring and likewise they know what we are going to bring as well so it has advantages and disadvantages in a way.”
Lilywhite captain Clodagh Flanagan will be hoping that her county can continue the upward curve that they have been on in recent years and add the Premier Junior title to the Division Three crown they won last year as well as a couple of Leinster Junior crowns and the Junior A All-Ireland in 2010.
She admitted that after defeat in the last four of the championship last year, the entire squad came together to discuss what needed to be done to push on and under new manager Jim McMullen, she feels that their hard work has paid off so far.
“Ourselves as a group of players made a decision last September or October, that we needed to do something different and that we were willing and prepared to work harder to get here,” she says.
The chance to play in Croke Park has been a goal of the team all year long but Flanagan, a winner at GAA HQ with Kildare’s Ladies footballers in 2004, pointed out that getting there is not merely good enough.
“It’ll be amazing but as we said earlier Croke Park can’t be the deciding factor. There is a match to be won and we as a group of players aren’t going to be overawed by the Croke Park factor even though for the majority of the panel it’ll be a once in a lifetime experience for us all. We are obviously going to cherish every moment of it but the match and the final is the most important thing and that is forefront of our minds.”
Jimmy Barry-Murphy: All-Irelands should be decided on a Sunday… but that’s not my call
‘Some people will say to me some of the referees have an agenda against me’ – Davy Fitz
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Camogie Croke Park GAA Kildare Laois Showdown