*Photograph: Burren Eye Photography
SUCCESSIVE All-Ireland quarter-final exits has been the outcome for Clare’s intermediate ladies footballers but within the next two years they can secure the county’s promotion back to the top tier.
Speaking following Clare’s six point loss to Monaghan on Sunday, manager Graham Shine outlined the view that the county are more than capable of winning an All-Ireland title within the next two seasons.
Injuries, work commitments and the opportunity to line out in the NFLW in Australia were among the reasons for a high turnover of players as Shine started his tenure in Clare.
Only seven members of the starting team from the Clare side which lost to Tyrone by a point in the 2024 quarter-final lined out in Páirc Naomh Mhuire, Quilty for Sunday’s last eight tie with Monaghan. They were captain Caoimhe Harvey, Amy Lenihan, Chloe Moloney, Roisin Considine, Joanne Doohan, Grainne Harvey and Teresa Collins.
New players were blooded this year by Shine and his management which included coach Eoin Murray, Cooraclare’s David O’Brien and former county goalkeeper Emma O’Driscoll.
There is reason to be optimistic when looking ahead to the county’s future, Graham maintained. “Last December when I rang seventy players it was an eye-opener straight away, I didn’t expect this now and we built through it, we had tough nights at training and during the league but all the time we could see them building, the likes of Ellie Hanrahan, Emer Burke and Shauna Melican who are all established players on the time, you are just writing them into the starting team, the learnings is there’s massive talent in Clare but it will take time”.
Upcoming club championships will be examined to add further personnel to the panel next year, he confirmed to The Clare Echo. “I went to all the games last year, rang a lot of players but they had different commitments so they couldn’t come in, I’m really hoping we’ll get the girls back, add a few of the minors who are an exciting team this year, the group of minors who came in are very skilful really good footballers who have had good development up along and that is what it is about, development, year two, year three there’s an All-Ireland in this group if they stay together”.
Players that opted to sit out inter-county action in 2025 will return, he said. “A lot of the girls who took the year out will be back in November and December for training, the long-term injuries should be back in the next month to six weeks, please God all the young girls I know they will be going to college in different parts of the country but that we can bring them together again and put in a good winter for the National League and that is what it is about. We move on from this year and please God we can get back to Division 2”.
This was year one of an overall project, the Kerry native explained. “It has to be a project when you come in and you have Fidelma (Marrinan), Ciara McCarthy and Ciara Hickey who all left for different things, work commitments and travel so it becomes a building process, the girls have come on leaps and bounds, we got a good clipping from Monaghan in the league, the score today doesn’t justify the game, I’m proud of them, it is year one of a project, year two will be stronger and better again”.
Reflecting on their defeat to Monaghan, he admitted they were very disappointed with their showing. “We set out our stall at the start of the year and we had a tough year, we spoke about it on Friday night, everything that could be thrown at us was thrown at us but we still stuck to the same circle and the same group, it was always about championship and we came in here today, we thought we’d give Monaghan a right shot at it, they give us a good clipping above in Doonbeg during the league but we’re a different team now, the young girls have got a lot of experience. For the first twenty minutes, we started off unreal, going it at half time we were confident enough to be two points down, we were playing well and they got the goal against the run of play really, it was a bad turnover, they went up and hit the post and got the goal. I thought in the second half we would push on a bit but for some reason we didn’t, we had a couple of girls and it’s not an excuse but they had the vomiting bug, there was a bit of fatigue in the group for some reason, we didn’t push on and they did, fair play to them and best of luck to Monaghan in the semi-final”.
Energy was lacking from Clare in the second half where they only scored 0-3. “We had a bit of a vomiting bog that is the reality, this morning my phone rang at 11am and two of our starters were sick, we went through the warm up and Caoimhe (Harvey) played on, we had to take off Teresa (Collins) and to be honest they were our two main players against Wexford but they lacked energy today, the group lacked energy then and we went flat when Monaghan pushed up on us, they were physically stronger and had more guile than us and experience, we got flat and we were chasing, we are better when teams are chasing us rather than us chasing them”.
Goal chances fell their way in the opening half which should have been converted, he acknowledged. “I thought there should have been more pressure on the scoreboard to be honest, they got the goal which shifted momentum. Eabha Sherry is a superb free kick taker so she was popping over the frees and we found ourselves two points down, I thought we should have been five or six points up but the girls will take loads of learnings, they are young girls and I’m sure there was a pile of nerves in the group this morning for some of them it was their first All-Ireland quarter-final at this level, they can only learn from it and please God the group will stick together and we’ll move on next year again and it will be another year’s experience for them”.
Particular praise was reserved for the cohort of Clare players who combined their commitments with sitting the Leaving Certificate. “Last December when I came in and I started ringing seventy players, I was panicking when a lot of them were taking years out, it was a lot of experienced girls who I had built up great relationships with last year who said they were taking the year out and you have to respect them for it. Then we had our long-term injuries who came in from last year, Roisin Considine, Sinead Considine, Orla Devitt, Louise Griffin had fluid in her knee, they were four long-term injuries that weren’t going to come back, Roisin made it back three weeks ago. With the County Board, we had a big plan for development to bring in twelve players, give them a year of twelve minutes here and there, next we found ourselves in a position having to start the ten of them, what can you do only praise them, thanks so much to their Mams and Dads for letting them play during the Leaving Cert which is a massive gamble to take, bringing their school books down on the bus to Wexford to study for an exam, all you can do is be proud of them, this time last year three quarters of this team were playing minor, we lost today but we won a lot”.
