*Lizzy Roche. Photograph: Burren Eye Photography
LIZZY ROCHE will be the only Clare player to miss out on Sunday’s TG4 All-Ireland intermediate ladies football final.
Burren Gaels attacker Lizzy had been a first choice starter on the Clare team, lining out in the full-forward line for all three of their group encounters in the championship and had hit 0-05 from play in these three outings.
Forced off with 27 minutes gone in final group game versus Tyrone at the end of June with an injury that was later confirmed to be an anterior cruciate ligament injury, Lizzy will not get the opportunity to take to the field for All-Ireland final day.
Speaking to The Clare Echo, Wayne Freeman confirmed that the Carron native was the only player that they would be without for the final against Kildare. “Lizzie is the only one, I’m devastated for her, she has been great for us, I was really raging for her when it happened, she was even unlucky with how it happened, she scored doing it and to be fair to her in the opening twenty minutes of the Tyrone game, she was one of our better players and really driving at them hard, tackling and turning the ball over, I felt bad for her but we still have a full thirty.
“We’ve no injury concerns at the moment and please God it stays that way. We’ve a few niggles and knocks like every team, if you don’t have niggles or knocks at this stage of the year then I think you’re doing something wrong but we’re ready to go”.
