*Danielle Griffin drives forward for Clare. Photograph: Ruth Griffin.
CLARE CAMOGIE manager Eugene Foudy has emphasised that maintaining high standards was the driving force behind his side’s push to finish the Division 1B group stage unbeaten.
By Gearóid Howley
Despite already securing a place in the league final, Clare showed no complacency in their final outing, overcoming Offaly on Sunday to preserve their winning streak.
Foudy believed that the ambition to remain undefeated provided all the motivation his players needed. “We were saying before the games that we wanted to keep raising our standards, getting into the final on the back of being undefeated was key for us and we played really well in the first half scoring 2-9 to their 1-3. When you make eight changes in the second half it can take from the momentum, but I thought our girls battled well and were deserved winners in the end”.
Dublin await in the Centra National Camogie League final next month. “We’ll play the league final and that’s our priority now. There’s a Munster Championship a week later and then we’ve a few weeks of a break to the All-Ireland series. There’s a lot of similar teams to what we’ve played in the All-Ireland, but we’ll keep building. Our focus now is the next three weeks, get the injuries cleared up and put our best foot forward to win that Division 1B title”.
With their final spot secured heading into the final two rounds, Clare were able to use the full complement of eight subs on both occasions in Ennis. “We got the opportunity last week and this week to get the bench going and bring girls on. Some girls like Ellen Casey have been injured, so we need to get minutes into their legs and we’ve a couple of more girls coming back from injury, Laoise Ryan and a couple of girls like that, Andrea O’Keeffe, Clare Hehir and Lorna McNamara had knocks today, we’re hoping they’ll all be back fit and well next week,” the Inagh/Kilnamona clubman noted.
