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18 // Ladies Gaelic Football Association CLARE'S LAURIE RYAN Volume 14 | Issue No 2 | PEIL Summer A large chunk of the starting 15 were still minor, playing their part in their emphatic All-Ireland minor B final win over Meath last August. Seven, she thinks to be precise, but that shows the amount of rebuilding that was done. "That's a huge number and a huge turnover," The Banner defender notes. "We had a squad of 19 I think up here in Croke Park and nine or ten of them stepped away. Some teams react very well to it, some teams don't. In fairness to our girls, they did react fairly well but the few retirements really put us back a bit. "We kind of had to rebuild again and we're back in a good place now and hoping to push on. We have that mix of youth and experience back again and hopefully that will pay off now." The last few months have been quite turbulent, she agrees, as Clare just avoided relegation from Division 2 of the Lidl Ladies National Football League, amassing six losses and one win. "We didn't have the best league but everyone's put that to the back of their mind. We had a bit of a change of management there after the league and I think the spirits really lifted within the squad. "We had a few players come back in and join us which has been fantastic. We're hoping that what we've done in training will really show off now when we go out and play championship." One welcome addition to the management team is the appointment of veteran Clare defender Martin McMahon as coach. McMahon first played senior inter-county football in 2008 and also captains his club Kilmurray Ibrickane. "It's great to have such a well-known and experienced voice in. He understands where we're coming from and what it takes to be the best. "It's great to have his point of view. He's been a breadth of fresh air really since he came in and everyone looks up to him as well." McMahon's positive impact most definitely isn't going unnoticed. The side got their summer up and running on a good note two weeks ago as they beat Limerick on a scoreline of 7-15 to 1-3. Clare line out in the intermediate championship but as they're the only team in Munster in that grade — Cork, Kerry, Tipperary and Waterford are all senior — and Limerick are the only junior side, they were pitted against each other with silverware up for grabs. "It was great to get that game," Ryan continues. "Munster Council organised it for both of us because neither of us had a provincial (final) to look forward to. It's a long time to go from league to championship without having a competitive game. "Even getting the preparations right and the girls getting used to playing a match for a trophy, or something on the line. It was a nice start. "We're the only group of four and we have some of the big names. There's no one you could call in that group. You have to win two matches to get out of it, at least. "It's going to be really, really tough. We've a very young team and getting them into three competitive games in the space of a month is going to be tough for them as well, whether they're up for it or not." Players want games though, she insists: "Everyone's looking forward to it. It's really exciting that you get three games in the space of a month. I suppose our biggest challenge is our dual players, trying to manage them. "We're lucky enough that it's been organised well so we have no clashes or anything like that to worry about. But even getting them through injury-free with five games in four weeks is going to be a big ask. "We're lucky with our dual players, there's great understanding between management so it's great. They're big players for us." While Clare host some inter-county dual players including Niamh O'Dea, Ryan isn't one of the group. She plays a bit of club camogie and played junior with Clare one year but has stuck with the big ball since. She's kept on her toes off the field too, always busy with her PHD studies in University of Limerick. She was one year left of that, but stresses that it is difficult to balance it all. "Definitely," she nods. "I suppose where I am in college, I'm basically in a job really. It's 9-5 research, it's nice. "I'm in an office with a lot of people who wouldn't have any interest in sport so that's nice as well, you're not talking about it all the time! "They're very flexible with me as well, once I get my work done they don't mind me going early for training. They've been really understanding but it takes some amount of time management, which I've had to really get good at!" One thing's for sure – there'll be plenty of time management done over the next few weeks as we hit the business end of the year. But it's a challenge she's well and truly relishing. "We're hopeful and really looking forward to the test." Simple as. " I suppose there's a lot attached to that game, We've a few girls that would have been playing here, still hurting over that to be honest. There'll be a lot on the line for both teams that day. We both have a point to prove. We know that we have a tough task ahead of us there again." "For our younger girls, they want to win and when they heard that (there was silverware on the line) it motivates them more. A lot of us have never won anything with Clare so it was nice in that sense. "It was nice to get a cup at the end of the day." With that confidence added their their mettle, focus now turns to the All-Ireland intermediate championship and it's Down first up.