*Andrea and Teresa O’Keeffe. Photograph: Ruth Griffin.
ANDREA O’Keeffe’s contributions from midfield throughout the Clare Credit Unions senior camogie championship was a key factor in Inagh/Kilnamona winning the title for the fifth time.
On Saturday, she hit two points as Inagh/Kilnamona defeated Truagh/Clonlara 2-14 1-14 to win the senior championship.
After delivering another superb performance on Saturday she was unsurprisingly very happy with the outcome. “We are delighted”, she told the Clare Echo. “We knew it was going to be a massive battle. We were delighted last week when we won the semi-final. That was a really tough game. We only had a week to re-focus for the final and a week is a short time to do that”.
Encounters between Inamona and Truagh/Clonlara are generally very tight, she noted. “It’s always a great match when we meet and the fact that today’s game went to extra time shows that there is very little between the teams”.
Clare Hehir goaled with a 20m free in the final minute of normal time, only for Roisin Begley to equalise with a pointed free to force extra time. “It’s never over till it’s over. They levelled and we had to start all over again,” she recalled.
Hunger had been mounting within their dressing room, she explained. “It’s been a few years since we won this title. We were disappointed last year and we felt we had a lot to make up for”.
Jason McCarthy’s influence was to credit for their fitness levels, Andrea stated. “Fair play to Jason (McCarthy) and the lads. They had us running up and down and we weren’t happy at times but it paid off today. We knew we had the fitness when it came to extra time. We just had to put our heads down and take off the shackles”.
She continued, “we will enjoy tonight and then we will think about the Munster club championship. We will take inspiration from what Scariff/Ogonnelloe and Truagh/Clonara have done in the past few years. Clare camogie is up there with the best and we hope we can keep that going”.
