*Ciara Grogan. Photograph: Burren Eye Photography
Clare could hardly have asked for a tougher game in the opening round of the Munster senior camogie championship that a meeting with Cork.
The sides clash at Zimmer Biomet Páirc Cíosóg on Sunday at 11.45 in what is the curtain raiser to the much talked about Munster senior hurling championship first round clash of Clare and Cork.
In what is a repeat of last year’s All-Ireland, a truly memorable contest won by Clare, tickets for Sunday are like gold dust and it’s fair to say that the camogie sides will get to play in front of a big attendance with fans expected to be in the grounds early as they chase prime viewing positions.
For Sunday’s game against the Division 1A league champions, Clare will be without Muireann Scanlan who is facing a couple of months on the sideline after suffering a collar bone injury.
Clare have made no secret of the fact that they are chasing a place in the All-Ireland quarter finals and their race to achieve that will begin five weeks from Sunday when they will enjoy home advantage against Wexford.
They will follow that with another home game two weeks later when Limerick will be their opponents before completing their group games with away fixtures against both Tipperary and Cork.
After the disappointment of losing the Division 1B league final to Antrim, Clare took a week off before returning to training ten days ago ahead of this week’s fixture.
Joint captain from last year Ciara Grogan has rejoined the panel having returned from overseas while Doireann Murphy from Clarecastle and Andrea O’Keeffe from Inagh-Kilnamona have also rejoined the squad.
Roisin Begley from county champions Truagh-Clonlara is expected to link in with the squad this week having completed her hockey commitments for the season but she won’t be involved in this Sunday’s game.
Her clubmate Laura Foley who was also busy with hockey commitments in recent months, won’t be available to Clare at this time as she is focusing on exams.
Speaking this week ahead of Sunday’s game, Clare manager John Carmody said “look we are playing a great team, one of the best the game has ever seen. They won the league in style last week. They have built a serious machine and it’s up to all the others to try and get up to their level”.
Continuing the Kilmaley club man said “we have made no secret of the fact that our aim is to get to the quarter final of the senior championship and we will face our first game in that campaign in five weeks time. We have geared all out preparations towards peaking for that”.
The manager is delighted that the side will get the opportunity to play in front of a big attendance this week. “We are a young developing team and the girls deserve that”, he concluded.
