All-Ireland Club Intermediate final: Clonduff (Down) v Gailltír (Waterford) (tomorrow, Croke Park, 1.30pm)
THERE is little doubt that the Clonduff team that beat Craughwell five weeks ago is completely different to the one that played in the Down championship in the few weeks after the county team had lost to Cork in the All-Ireland Intermediate in Croke Park.
The seeds for their improvement had to be sown immediately after they won their sixth Down title with a 0-10 to 0-7 win over Portaferry.
They seemed a lot more focussed by the time they played Eglish in the Ulster final and didn’t have to wait until the second half to turn the screw. It was the same against Craughwell in the All-Ireland semi, the Down team well placed to strike for home after holding their opponents to 0-6 to 0-4 after the Galway side had use of the first half breeze.
Yet there were flaws in both performances. They were able to accumulate 11 wides during the Ulster final and still take a second title to Hilltown.
In the semi-final they conceded a number of silly frees, particularly during the second half, that kept Craughwell in with a chance right up to the end when Clonduff were hanging on to a 1-8 to 0-9 lead. If they had eliminated some of those frees, there was a possibility that they could have coasted into the final.
One big thing that the Down champions have to date is the performance of the team leaders, the girls who also were to the fore when the county team came from nowhere to contest their first All-Ireland Intermediate final in two decades.
The Carr sisters and captain Paula O’Hagan deliver under pressure. It was Sara Louise’s goal in the 39th minute that gave them the lead against Craughwell, but her work-rate and strength under the high ball provided an outlet for her defence where sister Fionnuala was still the rock in the centre.
Meanwhile, the team captain missed only one free over the hour and her work-rate and fitness are always an asset coming up the final straight.
The beauty about graded competitions is that opponents seldom get an opportunity to weigh each other up, but Galltir will be aware of Clonduff’s key players just as the Ulster champions know about Áine Lyng and Emma Roche being regulars with a Waterford side that has risen up the standings in recent years.
Ciara Jackman is another on the Déise Senior panel, but the status of her sister Patricia could be a concern for the northerners.
Patricia Jackman, a brilliant under age star a decade ago and the driving force in her county’s progress from Junior through Intermediate, has been working in England recently. However she was on the Galltir bench for the 3-8 to 0-12 semi-final win over St Rynagh’s from Offaly, and wasn’t used.
Galltir are a much changed team than the one that Eglish beat at the semi-final stage a couple of years ago. They have a flood of underage talent coming through St Angela’s Ursuline convent who are through to meet Cross and Passion Ballycastle in next week’s Schools’ A final – including school captain Annie Fitzgerald who was a driving force for the club in their win over St Rynagh’s.
Clonduff have been improving as they have climbed their upward curve. Eliminating mistakes will help them further.
As many as nine were involved in Down’s All-Ireland defeat to Cork in September. That experience, albeit a losing one, will help them against Galltir. But it won’t win them the game.
Winning will have to come from a determination to play their best camogie on the biggest stage.
