*Ellen Horgan. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill.
It’s right that the Clare senior camogie final is in the county grounds, it should not be played anywhere else.
That’s the view of Truagh/Clonlara captain Ellen Horgan who is anxiously looking forward to her side’s meeting with Inagh/Kilnamona on Saturday. “Three in a row would be a great achievement but you can’t get too invested in things like that and get distracted from the match”.
Ellen told The Clare Echo, “we take each year as it comes but one can feel a bit of pressure that you want to retain the title and reach the standards of the past two years. I suppose there is a tiny bit of pressure but in fairness we did approach the championship without complacency and topped our group which we set out to do”.
Recalling that the sides met in the final last year Ellen said, “we can’t look beyond Inagh/Kilnamona. We felt comfortable in the first half but then they came at us in waves and Clare Hehir got an unreal goal, and there was nothing in it at the end. There has always been a serious contest between Scariff/Ogonnelloe, Inagh/Kilnamona while Feakle/Killanena have been strong in recent times. They are progressing each year and they gave us a good test in the semi-final”.
With Truagh/Clonlara having such a long season in 2025, “it was hard” to get back into action, she admitted. “Despite the fact we learned so much and grew massively as a panel you do go back to square one. In March and in the league, panel isn’t as big or as deep as it is at the business end. Clubs are blooding minor players, playing juniors and struggling for players. It was tough to get it going again. A lot went away for a while and only returned in the last month or two. It’s great to have them back and we are happy to be contesting another championship”.
Ellen believes “the experience we gained should benefit us. We know how to prepare for big match days. We know how we set up and we know our game plan inside out at this stage. There have been changes in personnel but we can adapt to things like that. We had to study so many teams that we hadn’t played before. Our starting team is different, we have lost a few and we have got a few back, every year is a new challenge”.
Asked about the possibility of going a step further than last year’s All-Ireland final, she replied “we can’t afford to look beyond Inagh/Kilnamona, we couldn’t afford to look beyond any game in the championship. We concentrated on St Joseph’s first, then Tulla, we set out a plan and we were not looking beyond getting out of the group. Complacency could be a curse., there is no point in thinking what we had last year could happen again”.
The champions joint captain believes her team has great support. “There are a number of factors that drive us. We are extremely close knit as a panel, a lot of friendships, a lot of siblings, cousins, we all live within five minutes of each other. Our management set up is so professional, that really really drives standards, our committee is very supportive, really professional, our families, our parish. Clonlara is a small place, we all went to the same primary school, we have just one school and two pubs, everyone knows one another. There were many out last evening putting up flags. That’s the driving force behind the success we have had”.
Concluding Ellen said, “This week it’s about ironing out the small details, we are extremely excited and there is a great buzz around the place”.
