*Clare defender, Grainne Harvey. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill

CLARE SUPPORTERS are being urged to get behind the county’s ladies football side in Sunday’s All-Ireland semi-final.

Following the elimination of the Clare senior hurlers and footballers over the past fortnight, Chairman of Clare LGFA, Seán Lenihan is appealing to Banner supporters to now shift their energy behind the county’s ladies footballers.

Managed by Evan Talty, Clare face Laois in the All-Ireland intermediate semi-final this Sunday at 3:30pm in St Brigid’s GAA club in Kiltoom which as Lenihan flagged is “on the outskirts of Athlone Town which is only a little over an hour from Ennis”.

Support for the ladies on Sunday is fully deserved, the Miltown Malbay native stressed. “They have trained as hard as any of the Clare GAA Hurling or Football Teams. They have paused their social lives, have turned down shifts at work to attend training and matches and have incurred significant personal costs and sacrifices in making themselves available to train and play for the Banner County”.

He added, “Since getting involved as Chairman, I have seen at first hand, the massive effort that they all put in and so I am calling on all Clare supporters to show up in large numbers on Sunday. We saw how influential the ‘Yellow Wall’ was for the footballers and hurlers and it would be great to see a big crowd there to cheer on the Clare ladies football team as well”.

Lenihan was adamant that additional support from the public would make a difference to the Clare cause this weekend. “Not taking anything away from the challenge that Laois will bring but we are only one hour away from being in an All-Ireland Final in Croke Park on July 31st. The girls and management have certainly prepared as well as they could, and the public support now might be just the nudge needed to get them over the line”.

“No stone has been left unturned by the Team or Management in their preparation for Sunday so it’s down to the Gods at this stage”, he concluded.

Tickets for the match are available through the website universe.com with further information available on the National LGFA website or on the Clare LGFA social media channels.