THE CLONDUFF CAMOGIE club know all too well about the rarity of playing in All-Ireland finals.
Down and Cork contested last year's All-Ireland intermediate final. Bryan Keane / INPHO
Bryan Keane / INPHO / INPHO
For 10 members of their panel, Sunday’s intermediate decider against Waterford’s Gailltír won’t be their first outing in Croke Park.
Last September, they stood alongside their Down teammates to contest the All-Ireland intermediate final, looking to secure the trophy for the first time in 20 years.
But they came up against a Cork outfit who had suffered defeat in six finals since 2006, and their ravenous desire to end that losing run proved to be the difference on the day.
It wasn’t the result they envisaged, but the Clonduff camp are hoping to channel that hurt into a victorious display when they return to Croker.
“The last time there with the county we had a bad day at the office,” says Clonduff’s Paula Gribben, who lined out at midfield for the Mourne County that day.
“It comes down to how we use that.
“That mixture, coming into Croke Park isn’t a bad thing to have.
“Hopefully our experienced players can pass on a bit of knowledge to our younger players. We’re looking for a different outcome this time around than we had last time.”
Indeed, not everyone in the Clonduff camp was involved with the county team in last year’s All-Ireland, and they won’t be carrying that emotional baggage into the clash with Gailltír.
But not letting another chance at glory pass them by remains their mantra for the weekend.
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The older players in the group are taking the lead with communicating that message to the group, while a recent guest session with Antrim hurling star Neil McManus further reinforced the importance of seizing these opportunities when they come around.
Antrim star Neil McManus. Ryan Byrne / INPHO
Ryan Byrne / INPHO / INPHO
“Somebody highlighted to me, it’s probably us older ones who have the experience – we realised and value this day more than sometimes the younger ones do, because they don’t realise they have walked onto a senior team and next thing they’re in an All-Ireland final so sometimes they’re not as appreciative as it as much – so that can be a good thing.
“We were away at a training weekend there about a week ago and Neil McManus he took a session for us and then he was speaking to us afterwards.
He highlighted, especially to the younger ones – ‘girls, at the minute, you think you’re living you’re glory days but after another very few days, you’re going to realise that these kinds of days don’t come too frequently – so make the most of it and if you’re on the losing side – nobody really remembers that you got there.
“Everybody’s saying at the minute – oh it’s a great achievement that you got this far but, within the team, we realise it is, but we’re here to win it.
“They’re probably listening to us day in day out, so whenever a new voice comes in, it probably does make them that little bit more focused.”
There is a perception out there that Down is not a traditional camogie county.
And looking back over the years, Gribben suspects that that belief led to confidence issues among Ulster-based sides whenever they faced opposition from the south.
Paula Gribben pictured at the AIB Camogie Club All-Ireland Finals Media Day. Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
She thinks that sense of doubt may even have affected her own club when they last reached an All-Ireland intermediate semi-final in 2014 and lost out to Kilkenny side Piltown.
“Because it was a team from Kilkenny, we had a doubt in our head,” she recalls.
“We led the whole time up until the last five minutes and it probably was that that didn’t get us over the edge, that we hadn’t prepared mentally enough to get over that game.”
Clonduff had to face down tradition in this year’s final-four tie too, when they came up against Galway outfit Craughwell.
Gribben celebrating after the semi-final win over Craughwell. Laszlo Geczo / INPHO
Laszlo Geczo / INPHO / INPHO
They ensured they wouldn’t be denied a second time as they rallied back from a two-point deficit at half-time to ultimately clinch the victory.
“Whenever we went in against Craughwell, we had our game plan and if there was anything that had to change, we did so in the first five minutes because we were sticking to our plan.
“Yes we were two down but we never panicked, Craughwell only scored one from play. We felt in control of that game that way, obviously we gave away a few frees and we’ll have to look at that.
With the county and with ourselves doing so well, I think that, in the last six months or so, the profile of camogie in Down has improved and in women’s sport I think that is much needed. The 20 X 20 campaign is massive at the minute and hopefully that’s going to keep building.”
The Clonduff parish has a population of about 1,600 people, and similar to most rural clubs, the GAA grounds are the centre of the community.
The Down champions have developed into a formidable outfit in club camogie over recent years, having featured in that 2014 semi-final.
As they look to go one step further this time around, they know they’ve already achieved something historic in the club.
And everyone in the locality is backing them to complete their march to glory.
“It’s amazing. We can’t believe the support that there is, everybody has got behind us. This will be the first Clonduff senior team ever to play in Croke Park.
You have grown men there telling you that they’ll have a tear in the eye when you’re coming on out on the pitch.
“When somebody like that says that to you, who you didn’t even realise followed the camogie – you realise, God, we are doing something massive here. Again, we don’t want just for Clonduff to just have a run out in Croke Park.
“This is a camogie match and we’re in it to win it.”
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'You have grown men telling you they’ll have a tear in the eye when you’re coming on out on the pitch'
THE CLONDUFF CAMOGIE club know all too well about the rarity of playing in All-Ireland finals.
For 10 members of their panel, Sunday’s intermediate decider against Waterford’s Gailltír won’t be their first outing in Croke Park.
Last September, they stood alongside their Down teammates to contest the All-Ireland intermediate final, looking to secure the trophy for the first time in 20 years.
But they came up against a Cork outfit who had suffered defeat in six finals since 2006, and their ravenous desire to end that losing run proved to be the difference on the day.
It wasn’t the result they envisaged, but the Clonduff camp are hoping to channel that hurt into a victorious display when they return to Croker.
“The last time there with the county we had a bad day at the office,” says Clonduff’s Paula Gribben, who lined out at midfield for the Mourne County that day.
“It comes down to how we use that.
“That mixture, coming into Croke Park isn’t a bad thing to have.
“Hopefully our experienced players can pass on a bit of knowledge to our younger players. We’re looking for a different outcome this time around than we had last time.”
Indeed, not everyone in the Clonduff camp was involved with the county team in last year’s All-Ireland, and they won’t be carrying that emotional baggage into the clash with Gailltír.
But not letting another chance at glory pass them by remains their mantra for the weekend.
The older players in the group are taking the lead with communicating that message to the group, while a recent guest session with Antrim hurling star Neil McManus further reinforced the importance of seizing these opportunities when they come around.
“Somebody highlighted to me, it’s probably us older ones who have the experience – we realised and value this day more than sometimes the younger ones do, because they don’t realise they have walked onto a senior team and next thing they’re in an All-Ireland final so sometimes they’re not as appreciative as it as much – so that can be a good thing.
“We were away at a training weekend there about a week ago and Neil McManus he took a session for us and then he was speaking to us afterwards.
“Everybody’s saying at the minute – oh it’s a great achievement that you got this far but, within the team, we realise it is, but we’re here to win it.
“They’re probably listening to us day in day out, so whenever a new voice comes in, it probably does make them that little bit more focused.”
There is a perception out there that Down is not a traditional camogie county.
And looking back over the years, Gribben suspects that that belief led to confidence issues among Ulster-based sides whenever they faced opposition from the south.
She thinks that sense of doubt may even have affected her own club when they last reached an All-Ireland intermediate semi-final in 2014 and lost out to Kilkenny side Piltown.
“Because it was a team from Kilkenny, we had a doubt in our head,” she recalls.
“We led the whole time up until the last five minutes and it probably was that that didn’t get us over the edge, that we hadn’t prepared mentally enough to get over that game.”
Clonduff had to face down tradition in this year’s final-four tie too, when they came up against Galway outfit Craughwell.
They ensured they wouldn’t be denied a second time as they rallied back from a two-point deficit at half-time to ultimately clinch the victory.
“Whenever we went in against Craughwell, we had our game plan and if there was anything that had to change, we did so in the first five minutes because we were sticking to our plan.
“Yes we were two down but we never panicked, Craughwell only scored one from play. We felt in control of that game that way, obviously we gave away a few frees and we’ll have to look at that.
The Clonduff parish has a population of about 1,600 people, and similar to most rural clubs, the GAA grounds are the centre of the community.
The Down champions have developed into a formidable outfit in club camogie over recent years, having featured in that 2014 semi-final.
As they look to go one step further this time around, they know they’ve already achieved something historic in the club.
And everyone in the locality is backing them to complete their march to glory.
“It’s amazing. We can’t believe the support that there is, everybody has got behind us. This will be the first Clonduff senior team ever to play in Croke Park.
“When somebody like that says that to you, who you didn’t even realise followed the camogie – you realise, God, we are doing something massive here. Again, we don’t want just for Clonduff to just have a run out in Croke Park.
“This is a camogie match and we’re in it to win it.”
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AIB All-Ireland intermediate club camogie Clonduff Camogie homegrown heroes Paula Gribben