*Clare manager, Evan Talty. Photograph: Burren Eye Photography

Clare make the long journey to Newry on Sunday to take on Down in the opening round of the All-Ireland intermediate ladies football championship.

Acknowledging that they face a difficult task, team boss Evan Talty is happy that the squad has prepared well for the competition.

“We played in the round robin section in the Connacht championship which was competitive but we couldn’t win the Connacht competition as we are already the Munster seeds. Getting to play in the Connacht competition was massive for us. We had a tough league in which we were missing players. We had a much m,ore settled team for the Connacht competition as we had a few players coming back into the squad such as Niamh O’Dea and Roisin Considine and they injected a good bit of life into the group. We won the three games comprehensively and being in that competition brought a good bit of competition for places”, the team manager told The Clare Echo this week.

As Clare have no opposition in Munster at this level they are automatically seeded for the All-Ireland and they have been grouped with Down and Louth in the round robin section and Clare will have home advantage against Louth in two weeks time.

Roisin Looney is out long term because of injury but apart from that the Clare management will have a full strength squad to pick from on Sunday.

There are a number of dual players in the squad and Talty and his backroom team will be keeping their fingers crossed that they will come through without injury when they play on this Saturday. Niamh O’Dea will be in action for the Clare senior camogie team in their All-Ireland championship clash with Cork while both Laurie Ryan and Chloe Moloney will have soccer games on this Saturday with Athlone and Peamount respectively.

“With the benefit of LGFA streaming we probably have seen all the Down games. They got to the Division 3 league semi-final where they were beaten by Wexford, they were unlucky on the day at Parnell Park. They got to the All-Ireland quarter final last year. They are a good outfit. It’s a 50/50 game in Park Esler. It’s a tough journey up on Sunday morning and playing a Northern team away from home is always going to be a tough game”, according to the Clare boss.

Continuing he noted that “Down lost the Ulster final to Tyrone two weeks ago by six or seven points and Tyrone beat us by six or seven points. It’s a very tight group and in intermediate there are probably eight or ten teams than can win the All-Ireland”, said the manager who was speaking after putting the squad through their paces at Caherlohan on Tuesday evening.

The Keane sisters of Miltown Malbay who are going travelling this summer and Caoimhe Harvey who captained last year’s squad are not part of the championship panel.

Éire Óg’s Orla Devitt is the team captain with Niamh O’Dea as vice captain. “We missed Niamh for the entire league this year and she was a huge loss but she is back now and played the Connacht games”, Evan explained.

Heading to Newry Clare followers will be looking to the experience of Niamh O’Dea, Laurie Ryan, Ashling Reidy who won an O’Connor cup with UL and Ellie O’Gorman to lead the way on Sunday.

Advertisement

Related News

rineen ns 1
11 Clare schools removed from Hot School Meals scheme
green cross pharmacy killaloe
Two men arrested who drove into Garda car after series of burglaries in Killaloe & Roscrea
gerardine joe quinlivan 1
Springfield residents can sleep soundly as flooding nightmare ends
ambulance coast guard scariff 1
Bodyke hurler recovering after picking up head injury which forced abandonment of game vs Whitegate
Latest News
mikey o'neill sean kennedy 1-2
O'Neill rolls back the years to nab player of the week
clonlara v crusheen 23-08-25 oisin o'brien breffni horner 1
'We left it behind us against The Bridge' - Crusheen reflect on latest championship crusade
green cross pharmacy killaloe
Two men arrested who drove into Garda car after series of burglaries in Killaloe & Roscrea
naomh eoin v liscannor 03-08-25 darren nagle 1
Liscannor extend life in intermediate ranks & send Ennistymon into relegation decider
gerardine joe quinlivan 1
Springfield residents can sleep soundly as flooding nightmare ends
Premium
st josephs miltown vs doonbeg 30-08-25 conor cleary darragh burns 1
Miltown down Doonbeg and march onto quarter-finals
kildysart v kilmihil 29-08-25 conall casey stan lineen 1
Kildysart produce extra time kick to seal senior status & leave Kilmihil in relegation final
feakle v newmarket-on-fergus 08-08-25 oisin donnellan 1
'Next man up' the focus in Feakle despite injury crisis
Shannon, Ireland, June
Shannon will not receive 15 extra Gardaí despite claims of Govt TDs
Springfield3
€5.2m Springfield flood relief scheme 'makes fear & devastation of flooding a thing of the past' in Clonlara

Advertisement

Subscribe for just €3 per month

If you’re here, you care about County Clare. So do we. Did you rely on us for Covid-19 updates, follow our election coverage, or visit The Clare Echo every week for breaking news and sport? The Clare Echo invests in local journalism and we want to safeguard its future in our county. By becoming a subscriber you are supporting what we do, will receive access to all our premium articles and a better experience, while helping us improve our offering to you. Subscribe to clareecho.ie and get the first six months for just €3 a month (less than 75c per week), and thereafter €8 per month. Cancel anytime, limited time offer. T&Cs Apply. www.clareecho.ie.