*Laurie Ryan in action for Banner Ladies during their quarter-final win over Burren Gaels. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill.
BANNER LADIES are bidding to be crowned senior champions for a fifteenth time this weekend but their hunger is “as strong as ever”.
One of the main reasons for the success enjoyed by the Banner ladies senior football team over the years is the role of manager J.J. O’Dea. That’s according to Laurie Ryan who is one of a number of players chasing a fifteenth Clare senior title on Sunday.
She explained, “JJ is a very understanding manager. A lot of us are dual players, involved in soccer, camogie or hockey, clashes that other clubs don’t have. JJ never pushes us to do training our bodies aren’t able for. He always says go out and enjoy playing and you can see that in the way we play”.
“Officials in the club like JJ, Dorothy Meeneghan make us so welcome. I was living in Athlone last year (she played soccer with Athlone) and couldn’t always make the training. We are like one big family. Girls come back year after year whether or not they have been overseas and all are made so welcome”, she added. Laurie will be playing in her seventeeth senior decider on Sunday.
The Banner ladies star agrees that the finals “are a great showpiece for ladies football. We missed out last year, the only time the final was played in Cusack Park. Of all the finals I have played, I never got to play any of them in Cusack Park. It was a fantastic occasion last year. While we did get to play a Munster club game there once, I would love to play a final there”.
Laurie told The Clare Echo, “the hunger for victory is as strong as ever. I moved back to Clare this year and this is bonus territory. We take great enjoyment out of each win. We know it’s not going to last forever. We were lucky to avoid relegation in the league and when we were well beaten in the opening round of the championship it was hard to see us getting to the final. Everyone has knuckled down and different girls have played huge roles. There is a great bond within the group. We have become closer as the years have gone on. The majority of the squad are based locally. Young girls like Caoimhe Cahill, and Eimear Burke have become real leaders and they will take over the mantle. We are lucky to be where we are”.
Concluding Laurie said “a lot would have seen Kilmihil and Kilmurry Ibrickane as the likely finalists this year. We are under no illusions as to the task in hand. Kilmihil have a strong panel with some fantastic players. We will be hoping to impose our own game as much as possible. They were brilliant against us in the opening round. We will have learned a lot about each other. It promises to be a great game”.
