Ladies Gaelic Football

16 // Ladies Gaelic Football Association CLARE'S LAURIE RYAN PEIL Summer | Issue No 2 | Volume 14 hen the groups for the restructured TG4 All-Ireland intermediate championship were confirmed, one opposition surely stood out to Clare. Group 3: Clare, Down, Wexford and…… Kildare. Memories of the 2016 All-Ireland intermediate final in Croke Park came flooding back. 1-13 to 1-12, it agonisingly ended in a heartbreaking defeat for the Banner. Laurie Ryan was captain that day, and her eyes almost gloss up when it comes up in conversation two years later. She's still captain, looking out on Croke Park at the launch of the 2018 TG4 All-Ireland championships, but the pain is still there. "I suppose there's a lot attached to that game," she says when asked about the chance to put that hurt to bed as the sides do battle this summer. "We've a few girls that would have been playing here, still hurting over that to be honest. "Our old manager Neil Moynihan, his brother is over them and he would have stood in as a manager for us when we played our All-Ireland semi-final that year. "There's a lot attached to that game really. There'll be a lot on the line for both teams that day. We both have a point to prove." She adds: "It's tough for them coming back down to intermediate after going up (to senior). They lost a lot of players but they're rebuilding and they still have a very strong. "We know that we have a tough task ahead of us there again." Bouncing back from that All-Ireland decider defeat was tough, Ryan concedes. It was more the fact that the team had to go through transition as stalwarts hung up their boots while younger players were forced to mature and step up to the mark. Clare Captain Laurie Ryan Looks to the Championship Challenges that Lie Ahead by Emma Duffy. The W Challenge Ahead

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