*Sinead Hogg and Niamh Mulqueen celebrate at the final whistle.
CLARE’S JUNIOR camogie side came from four points down to record a dramatic one point win over Armagh and seal their place in the All-Ireland final.
Sixty minutes now separate Clare from getting their hands on the Kathleen Mills Cup with Tipperary their opponents in the decider which has been confirmed to take place on August 6th at 12:50pm in Croke Park.
John Carmody’s recorded a 0-22 2-15 win over Armagh in Ashbourne on Saturday to advance to their first final at the grade since 2008 when it was then Clare’s first team managed by the Hanley brothers Colm and Eoghan alongside John Nihill that secured All-Ireland glory defeating Offaly.
On Saturday, Clare hit the last two points via freetaker Sarah Loughnane of Sixmilebridge and midfielder Grace Carmody to edge out the women from Armagh.
An ability to claw back was evident earlier in the game with Clare hitting the last four points of the first half to draw level and make it 1-08 0-11 at the sounding of the half-time whistle.
Clare produced a strong finish with the midfield pairing of Carmody and Broadford’s Niamh Mulqueen stepping up along with the lively Caoimhe Cahill in attack.
Speaking after the game, Grace Carmody who received the player of the match award noted that their efforts to reach the decider had been ongoing for some time. “We’re so happy to get over the line, we’ve been quite close the last three years so we’re very happy to get over the line and give it a go in the final”.
She added, “Once you keep performing and performing you will get the results, thankfully we got over the line, it will stand to us in the final to have had such a good battle”.
An opportunity to play in Croke Park is one to appreciate, the Kilmaley player noted, “You dream of going to Croke Park, we don’t always get these opportunities so we’re delighted to get the opportunity and have a right go at it in the final”.
“We’re training with the seniors every night of the week with the likes of Clare Hehir, Orlaith Duggan, Niamh O’Dea, Chloe Morey, they really drive us on in training and you don’t want to run into them,” Grace concluded.
