*Photograph: Gerard O’Neill
PLAYING in a county final is special at any time but when you are one of four sisters on the team, it makes it that bit more special.
Rachel Daly will join her sisters Susan, Linda and Jennifer on the Scariff/Ogonnelloe team seeking to be crowned Clare senior camogie champions for the third year in a row on this Saturday.
Rachel, Susan and Linda are triplets while Jennifer is their younger sister and she helped Clare to win the All-Ireland junior title earlier this year.
There was never a doubt but that they would be involved in sport as their father John was very involved in rugby and their mother Diane was prominent in badminton.
Speaking to The Clare Echo, Rachel recalled, “Aoife Power’s dad Charlie set us up with camogie in Ogonnelloe where we got our first taste of the sport and we have been going since. We didn’t win much at underage, got to a few finals but Feakle-Killanena and Inagh-Kilnamona beat us. Our first underage success was at under 21 A level. We won our first senior title in 2019 and we have been going well since”.
Goalkeeper Rachel added, “we are all friends outside of camogie and it makes a difference. We do this for ourselves and our families and it means a lot to us”.
Motivation is not lacking within their ranks as they bid to win a first-ever three-in-a-row. “We know we have a good team and when you start winning you want to keep going. Once you are up there you have to keep going if you want to stay there”.
There is plenty of familiarity with their final opponents, Truagh/Clonlara who they have squared off with in the 2021 and 2022 deciders. “We have played them a good few times, they are a really good team. Each time we have played it has been very close, sometimes only a puck of the ball in it. We know that we will have to go hard on Saturday as they will be gunning for us. They do have extra motivation this year. We will be prepared. I expect it will be a good tight contest”.
For the second year in a row, the county final will be played in Cusack Park. “Playing in Cusack Park is massive. It’s great to have this final at county headquarters and we are so grateful that we can play on such a good quality pitch. This will be one of the best games of the year. We have great support from our community and hopefully we can give them something to celebrate again”.
