*Ellen Casey. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill.
FACING OFF with Tipperary in the curtain-raiser to the All-Ireland SHC semi-final will be “a huge occasion” for Clare camogie.
Clare will line out in the Glen Dimplex All-Ireland senior camogie quarter-finals for the second year running and take on Tipperary in Croke Park at 13:30 on Sunday prior to the meeting of Clare and Limerick in the All-Ireland SHC semi-final.
Returning to Croke Park had been the primary goal for manager Eugene Foudy since succeeding John Carmody in the winter. “We’re delighted to have won and got back to Croke Park which was our aim since last year’s quarter-final”.
Following a 4-14 1-8 trouncing to Kilkenny, Clare bounced back to secure their place in the last six by defeating Offaly 0-16 1-8 on Saturday. “We probably didn’t do ourselves justice against Kilkenny and the scoreline looks a lot worse than it actually was. I mean with ten minutes to go, there were only four or five points in it but they brought on fresh legs and eventually ran out easy winners. But our girls knew that they still had that second chance against Offaly and they came back into training last week really eager and looking forward to bouncing back. They were determined not to let one setback destroy their season and as a result we weren’t going to let this game slip from our grasp,” Foudy said.
Speaking to The Clare Echo, the Inagh native stated, “It wasn’t easy though and we had to dig deep as Offaly have been very impressive this year in their first year back at senior and held a very proud home record that we found difficult to break.
However, we got there in the end and now we can look forward to an All-Ireland Quarter-Final against Tipperary next Sunday.
“Being a double header with the hurlers is brilliant and makes it a huge occasion. It’s a massive occasion for the girls and their families and equally so for the backroom team from Aaron [Considine] to Darragh [Moloney] and even Josephine (Taaffe} and Anne [McNamara] so we are eager to put our best foot forward and feed off the Clare support on Sunday,” he added.
