*Hermitage FC captain, Candice Brennan. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill.
WITH THE league trophy already secured, Hermitage are determined to add to the season’s winnings on Friday when they take on Bridge United in the CDSL ladies shield final.
They suffered a heartbreaking loss to Tulla United in the Cup semi-final. “Tulla were awarded a penalty inside the last four minutes which they converted”, joint team manager Sarah Coote told the Clare Echo.
“We started the season with a draw against Ennis Dons and we then lost (1-2) to Tulla but from then on we won all games in the league to claim the title,” she added.
Losing the cup semi-final to Tulla has deprived Hermitage of the opportunity to try and reverse last season’s cup final which they lost to Moher. “We won the cup and league double two years ago. Our squad ranges in age from 19 to 54, Mary Jordan being the senior member of the side and she played in goals for the team last week. We have beaten Bridge United twice this season but they have players back in the squad now so we are not taking anything for granted”, commented Sarah who jointly manages the side with Mark Moloney.
The squad has been boosted this year by the return of Emma O’Donoghue, Ashling Hughes, Sue Higgins and Naomi O’Shaughnessy.
Candice Brennan is the team captain. The Cloughleigh native recalled, “I played at underage level on the boys teams with Park United but when they folded I joined Hermitage”.
Candice who plays in centre midfield described their cup semi-final loss as heart-breaking. “We know we ae facing a big challenge. We would like to finish the domestic season with a victory to add to our league win. We are still in the Munster shield and only last Sunday we had a 2-0 win with goals from Susan Higgins and Rebecca O’Farrell over Peake Villa at the Fairgreen”, the captain explained
For next week’s Clare shield final, Hermitage will be without a number of their squad due to injury and these include Emma Ikiebey who has scored ten goals this season, Mary Allen, Naomi O’Shaughnessy and Emma O’Donoghue while Doireann Murphy has concentrated on camogie with Clare this season.
